In pictures: The fashion trends at this year’s Oscars

While the gongs were given out on stage, the red carpet always steals focus as Hollywood’s great and good strut their sartorial stuff. Here we take a look at this year’s Oscar trends...

RED

Nude may well have been the colour of the Golden Globes - but when it comes to the big one, the girls took the red carpet to heart. And, even though they were walking on red, there was no way these girls were blendingn in.

From Michelle Williams in Louis Vuitton to Natalie Portman in Haute Couture Dior and Emma Stone in Giambattista Valli, the hottest girls of the night were sporting the hottest colour. Even those not at the ceremony picked up on the colour of the evening with Diane Kruger in a stunning Monique Lhullier column dress with sheer panels and a lace front. Our very own Jane Seymour and Janet McTeer proved that it wasn’t just a colour for the youngsters.

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WHITE

Almost as if they’d all got together beforehand and worked it out - if you weren’t on fire, you were ice cold white.

Gwyneth Paltrow divided opinion in her stunning custom made Tom Ford column dress and matching cape and Jennifer Lopez caused her own mini scandal in a plunging, cut-out Zuhair Murad gown. Did she slip? Or did we all imagine it? Rooney Mara, meanwhile, stuck to her tried and tested colour palette, but took a softer approach than her previous red carpet outings in Givenchy.

COLOUR

Very few were brave enough to try for a colour that wasn’t red. Viola Davis continued to wow us all with her individual style. she stayed true to stunning jewel colours in her emerald green Vera Wang embellished gown and Penelope Cruz declared that her specially made Armani Prive strapless gown in lavender was one of the most favourite dresses she’s ever worn.

EMBELLISHEMENT

The young ‘uns might not all have been walking the red carpet - but that doesn’t mean that they didn’t glam up for Sir Elton at his AIDS Foundation veiwing party. KMiley Cyrus was almost unrecognisable in a gloriously embellished long sleeved backless grey gown from Roberto Cavalli and Katy Perry popped on a silver and black sequinned dress by Blumarine. Given that she was a nominee, Jessica Chastain was obviously going to try for the dress of her life and she seemed to have achieved that in her hand-embroidered Alexander McQueen gown - casually worn with nearly $2million woth of Harry Winston’s finest diamonds!

FRONT AND BACK

Hey, just because you look good from the front, doesn’t mean that you don’t want your adoring public to admire your rear. If you’re J-Lo, you’re used to people ogling your bahookie, but a little help from Zuhair Murad doesn’t necessarily go amiss. Her fellow presenter, Cameron Diaz, changed our of her pale Gucci and into a stunning, tight, bright Victoria Beckham. If the colour didn’t grab you, then the detailing on the straps and the signature zip certainly would. They obviously weren’t the only stars to take note of their rears with Glenn Close, Kelly Osbourne and Rose Byrne all opting for interest in the back. Serena Williams went for retina scorching yellow which showed off her best asset to perfection.

OTHERS

Never one to go with the flow, Angelina Jolie proved that she’s, well Agneline Jolie in a black velvet Atalier Versace structured gown with a thigh-high (although we think it might possibly have been slightly higher than that) split. Looking more relaxed on the red carpet than we’ve seen her for a while, she wowed the worldwide audience who were expecting icy Angie. David and Victoria looked their usual stylish selves - although it helps when you design your own frocks and they were joined by presenter Tom Cruise and his missus, the equally stylish Katie Holmes. The award for worst outfit of the night has a hands down winner though in the shape of Singer Bleona Qereti. Everytime we look at this, err, dress we notice another horror.