2012's style moments that made our heads turn
Over the course of 2012, there were many big fashion moments from Angelina Jolie at the Oscars to Miley Cyrus' short 'do. Here are the top moments that made our heads turn:
Angelina Jolie at the Oscars. Jolie's leg that peeked out of the high thigh-high slit of her Versace gown on the red carpet. The actress' pose that accentuated the slit launched a thousand memes. Her companion Brad Pitt gets an honorable mention for his scruffy appearance in a Chanel fragrance ad that left many scratching their heads.
Michelle Obama and Ann Romney's matching hues. The wives of the presidential candidates turned out to the second debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney in practically the same shade of hot pink. But they weren't by the same designer: Romney's was by Oscar de la Renta, and Obama's by Michael Kors. A potential matching prom dress-style embarrassment was chalked up to timing: October's breast cancer awareness month.
Marc Jacobs' Louis Vuitton show. Louis Vuitton's fall catwalk in Paris featured models dressed in their very best traveling clothes stepping off a reconstructed retro steam train. Valets carried the vintage-inspired hat boxes and vanity cases, showcasing a refined modern look.
Two-tone Stella McCartney dresses. Stella McCartney's two-toned "silhouette" dress became a hit with many celebrities. The dress features one color on the bodice and back, and a graphic opposite on the sides and sleeves. Kate Winslet has worn several versions, and Brooklyn Decker, Kate Moss, Edie Falco and Liv Tyler have, too.
Beyonce's back-from-baby body. Beyonce showed off her post-baby body at the Met Gala when she wore a skin-tight,fish-tail train gown by Givenchy that was largely sheer save the bodice beading and feathered train. .
007's slim suits. Daniel Craig's wardrobe in "Skyfall" is impeccably tailored and quite tight. Unlike the James Bonds who came before him and all liked the traditional looser, longer cut of a Savile Row-style suit, Craig, whose wardrobe is created mostly by Tom Ford, takes his suits Euro style with tapered legs and shorter rises.
Supermodel reunion at the London Olympics. Gold was the new black at the closing ceremony with a parade of supermodels wearing gilded gowns in a tribute to British fashion. Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell both had on Alexander McQueen, Georgia May Jagger's was by Victoria Beckham, Karen Elson was in Burberry, and Stella Tennant donned a Christopher Kane Swarovski-crystal catsuit. The soundtrack of course was David Bowie's "Fashion."
Another supermodel reunion at New York Fashion Week. Alexander Wang's show has become must-see viewing, partly for influential hipster clothes, but also for the model line-up, a who's who of top catwalkers. It was a coup even for him, however, to get the likes of Gisele Bundchen, Carmen Kass, Frankie Rayder and Shalom Harlow, who all very rarely do shows, to walk in February.
Miley Cyrus' cropped cut. When Cyrus cut off the long hair her fans had become used to, she took some heat. She has said repeatedly, though, that she was pleased with the new punk-pixie look and was sticking with it. Short hair turned out to be a big trend, with Alicia Keys, Rihanna and Anne Hathaway all ending the year with much shorter locks than they started with.
Julianne Moore at the Emmys. Moore's neon-yellow Dior Haute Couture outfit (really a sweater and ball skirt) spawned a love-it-or-hate-it debate among armchair style critics. What was largely left out of that conversation, however, was that it was Raf Simons' big celebrity debut for Dior. He took creative control of it after the John Galliano scandal. At least Simons can claim the better reviews when it came to his showdown of next-gen designers at historic French houses against Hedi Slimane at Saint Laurent Paris.