Why did Jennifer Hudson wear that jacket? Is this what they --Oscar de la Renta and Andre Leon Talley who dressed her -- think women with the slightest bit of lushness to their bodies should do? Cover them up? 
Sure, there were lots of great looks on the red carpet, particularly by veterans Nicole Kidman and Cate Blanchett. And Maggie Gyllenhaal and Gwyneth Paltrow both worked the red carpet in dresses by edgier designers that lent a modern sense of glamour to the awards; younger stars like Kirsten Dunst and Anne Hathaway (left in Valentino) opted for classic designers.
But the one we all really wanted to see -- the actress with the most buzz -- was Jennifer Hudson and her look fizzled.
See the Oscar dresses that did work, which stars wore them and then vote on best-dressed. (Photo Credit: A.M.P.A.S.)
Comments
She’s come a long way from her arrogance on American Idol. It is her first time at these awards so maybe we should cut her some slack? Maybe she should have done some research into past women’s garments for the awards.
I LOVE her jacket – it is wonderful! And… adds such a nice ‘edge’ to the ensemble.
I think you are toooo obsessed with what you think is “fashionable”. Just cool it and let people express themselves even though it doesn’t meet your standards!
Ditto! I think Hudson looks great. Her jacket jazzes up the brown dress. As for the remark about her arrogance, I don’t understand what that has to do with her red carpet ensemble. I don’t watch “Idol” because I cannot bear even the tiniest dose of Simon Cowell. However, in all of Hudson’s pre-Oscar appearances, of which there have been many, she has always come across as a humble and personable young woman.
I rather doubt she gives a hoot about what the self-annointed fashion experts say. After all, she has an Oscar and they do not.
Oh, she gives a BIG “hoot” about what people think about how she looks at the oscars! They ALL do. Please, stop with the disingenuousness! She just showed her true pedestrian roots is all. But she’s young. Maybe there’s hope. And to be honest, when she sang her solo in the red dress, it was as if she was missing those low notes on Amer. Idol all over again! As for all her fans and apologists out there: Get Real!
She was not responsible for her outfit. She has “People”, stylist, etc that make all those decisions for her @ this stage of the game. She is talented & beautiful & not a size 2 so get over it!!!
Yes, and in this case, her stylist was Andre Leon Talley the Great, and her dress made by Oscar de la Renta. How pedestrian is that?
However, they blew it bad, and blew it in a major way, dressing her in this disappearing-act of a dress color, and adding that silly little Joan Jetson jacket to the whole mess. The dress looks like it might be pretty, but it also looks like it came straight off the rack at JC Penney’s.
It’s as if the designer and Talley are trying to say “yes, we’ll dress her, because she’ll win an Oscar, but we’ll only do it grudgingly, and we’ll add something alarming, something to catch the eye, but it will be horrific, instead of elegant, because she’s a woman of size, and we all know, those women cannot ever look sleek and classic.”
God knows, a designer can’t be caught dead actually making a woman with great curves and some flesh on her bones look fabulous, even though it is entirely possible. To do so would undermine years of fashion industry conditioning of its clientele towards thinness and an absence of curves, unless the curves are breasts. Some say this attitude is a form of hatred towards women, but we’ll leave that to the psychiatrists.
Now, if they were that concerned about a larger woman showing her arms in a dress like that, then they could have dressed her in something with a slightly loose elbow or bracelet sleeve, and given her a bit of fullness to the skirt, instead of that shapeless sack. They also could have given her a dab of gorgeous color such as eggplant, deep emerald green (not that seafoam like Beyonce wore) clear blue, or even a slightly darker shade of salmon, like that Zac Posen dress worn by Gwyneth Paltrow. As it was, she just rather blended into the woodwork, except for that hideous jacket thingy, and the only reason for that monstrosity was to detract from her size and the bit of flesh on her arms.
The biggest damn shame of it is that the designers don’t care one whit, good or bad. Either way, it’s publicity. And she, most likely, had not even the tiniest bit of choice in the matter, either.
Selquet
It is beyond boring how catty and cruel the media can be – it’s bad enough we all have to suffer along with Joan and her daughter all the time until we could all barf – the fact is that the girl’s outfit was different and cool. Lay off, folks. If you wanted to lay on to something, why didn’t you mention Cameron Diaz’s hideous hairdo? Not that was something bad! Not a peep out of the frenzied media about that, though. Strange!
Helen Mirren had the most beautiful dress of all. Kirsten Dunst’s was awful.
Although I’ve been a big fan of Jennifer, and loved her in the movie, I thought her performance at the show was mediocre. Perhaps she was just very nervous, but part of the time she was sharp, others flat, and she is starting to yell, which increases her wide vibrato into a full-fledged wobble. She is young, and hopefully she will get with a good teacher who will teach her the subtleties of Byance.
Jennifer looked beautiful. She is young and innocent I feel she is setting a good role model for young ladies.
Come on………at least she has HAIR and has not checked in and out of rehab in the same week. Those children we should be worried about, not what is being worn at the Oscars.
I agree with most of the comments. The jacket was just worn on the red carpet. The dress underneath was beautiful. No big deal. Although I wasn’t crazy about the jacket, I noticed that she just wore it on the red carpet. She did not wear it when she accepted her award. The dress was beautiful to me. I didn’t think it was so awful as the fashion critics suggested. I thought Nicole Kidman and that big red bow tied around her neck was worse than Jennifer’s jacket but the fashion critics seemed to like it. Go figure. It’s all about individual taste.
I think Jennifer’s red dress worn for her performance was much nicer. That said, I am surprised you’re not commenting on Merryl Streep’s outfit with the clunky orange jewelry and bad hair that added a Halloween-ish scheme to her look.
Is it just me, or is that an odd look for an event that historically calls for formal attire?
Shelley
Truthfully, it’s all in the eye of the beholder. If the person loves what they are wearing and makes them happy, that is all that matters. No wonder people have eating disorders and self-esteem problems. With all the troubles in the world, should WE REALLY care what people are wearing, unless they are indecent?
They were all lovely, in their own way, and have more talent in their little pinkies than some critics have in their entire bodies.
HMMPH! JMHO
Shame on Leon for dressing Jennifer in this boring and uneventful gown. We all knew Jennifer was the “winner” where was the “fabulous and exciting” that Leon is known to boast! No fault of Jennifer, but girl, stay away from the Hollywood Bitches! Good Luck and continue to grown and prosper in your career…and dress the way you sing…total DIVA!!!
Its her choice, and it was decent and attractive, she does’nt have to show off her boobs and bare her shoulders like the others to attract attention, which all goes to show that she has character and confidence in what she does, and that is what got her the Oscar, is’nt that more important ?
I think Jennifer looked great. The dress was not the best,but it is not her fault. She had people dressing her. But in that red dress she was beautiful, her voice sound great. I think people are just looking to tear her apart for no reason.
Wow, I can’t get over that one comment about Jen being arrogant on ‘Idol’.Someone obviously has no idea what they’re talking about! I mean,come on,Jennifer was way humbled, more so than a lot of others on the show AND at the Oscars. I think the jacket was a little bit too much, but the dress looks fine. Just because Jennifer is not Beyonce doesn’t mean jack squat! I mean, come on, stop acting like you’re all professionals when it comes to the Oscars! I bet you’ve never even been to the Oscars! So how on earth can we judge the style choices of these stars when we’re not even them? It’s probably a lot of pressure! I am in no means excusing some of these choices, but most of them want to look stylish and hot, and EVERYBODY has a bad day. Like you woke up this morning looking like a dream! It takes work, people! Get with the program!Jennifer is just fine…She sang her heart out on Idol, was humble about her success,and was one of the most successful Idol finalists. When YOU can do that, give me a call, and maybe we can judge the red carpet. HUMBLE opinions are so much better than snotty ones!
This dress that Jennifer Hudson wore didn’t fit her body. She’s an interseting case with getting an Oscar and then they dressed her in this. I can’t believe that they got her to wear that. The dress that she wore during her performance was way better. This dress just made her look huge. A high empire waist like that makes you look bigger.
Wow