Getting The Red Carpet Jitters

The Oscars may be a celebration of great films, but the march down the red carpet that leads to the ceremony has become an all-important if nail-bitingly stressful showcase for the world's top designers.

"On Sunday the 25th, we build the Superbowl of fashion," says Oscar.com fashion expert Tom Julian. "You are only going to see beautiful actresses and wonderful designers, and talking about a lot of trends," he added.

In short, you can expect to see a reflection of the latest trends designers just showed on the runways of New York and Europe, broadcast live around the world and worn on the backs of some of the world's most famous actresses.

3"The beauty of the Oscars is the global award show," says Julian. "It is all about haute couture one of a kind gowns and the fact that we are going to see gowns we never seen before. Hence fall 2007. So the haute couture collections will all be about what's to come."

This year, that means you can look for 1950s-style vavoom on the Oscar red carpet. "The New York runways were all about silhouettes inspired from the glamorous '50s," Julian notes. "Sculpted ball gowns; a little bit of a deluxe statement with fur and fur-trimmed gowns and fur details that are unexpected. And a little bit of an Asian story with kimono sleeves and origami type details. So we think a lot of designers are going to be ending up presenting those ideas on the red carpet."

Many Academy award nominees begin to get red carpet jitters as soon as they hear their names read out. The Golden Globes break the ice a bit, but many agree there is nothing like the Oscars for fashion.

Julian got a hint of what to expect this year, at least from one nominee, in a recent visit with Rinko Kikuchi, supporting actress nominee for her role in "Babel." "It was interesting to talk to her, because she was so enamored of this world, and as she said, her character was one type of character in 'Babel,' but she's a very dynamic person, and she wants the viewers to understand that she's got a lot of faces and a lot of personalities," Julian says.

More specifically, he says, "We think she's done Chanel very well. She's done some young, sexy looks as well. So I'm looking forward to seeing her and chatting with her on the red carpet."

But what about Rinko's competition in the category, her "Babel" colleague Adriana Barraza? The character Barraza played, notes Julian, "was very much of a normal everyday woman." He predicts Barraza "will come to life very glamorous… on Oscar night."

She might take a cue from Brenda Blethyn, who wowed the press and public with her glamorous arrival at the Oscars when she was nominated for a very un-glam role in the 1996 movie "Secrets & Lies." "The fashion press just adored her," Julian says.

The beauty of the Oscars is that it's "all about haute couture one-of-a-kind gowns, and the fact that we are going to see gowns we've never seen before," says Julian.

The much anticipated build-up to Oscar night can be both a blessing and a curse.

Cate Blanchett, for example, has stunned photographers and the public before, raising the bar for any subsequent march down the red carpet. "Cate always tops the fashion list," notes Julian. "She's an international fashion plate. She is known for her acting roles as well as her selection in international design. We've seen her wear names like Jean Paul Gaultier. We've seen her set trends with an embroidered hummingbird in the back of a black gown. And we've seen her win an Oscar [wearing] an unexpected color like yellow, thanks to the Italian designer Valentino. So we do have really high hopes for her. She's been wearing some interesting designers for this past award show season and we have a feeling she will be in haute couture Oscar night."

That's a pretty good bet.

2One more side effect of the harsh glare of Oscar night attention is the loss of real daring on Hollywood's biggest dress-up night. What star wants to risk getting raked over the coals by Joan Rivers and miscellaneous fashion commentators?

Over the years, there have been plenty of risk-takers out there: Celine Dion wearing a Dior suit backwards. Madonna mixing two or more designers in one outfit. And, of course, the reliably flamboyant Cher.

"I think daring has been appropriate for the '60, the '70s, and some of the '80s," says Julian, "and now given the way the media covers the event it's hard for someone to be that daring."

Of course, it could still happen: "Last year was phenomenal with Dolly Parton," Julian recalls. "Dolly in pink. Dolly in cheap beads and expensive gem stones. Who could pull that off but Dolly Parton?"

The 79th Annual Academy Awards airs Feb. 25, 2007 on ABC.