My Best Dressed Nominee!

Academy Award winning actress, Gwyneth Paltrow tops my "best dressed list" at last night's Oscars. She wore a Tom Ford stunner with a matching cape......those of you who follow my "fashionastions" know how I feel about the color white...it is just perfection!

                                (Merci': Kevin Mazur-Wire Image)

                               (Merci': Reuter's-Lucy Nicholson)

                                 (Merci': AP-Chris Pizzello)

                            (Merci':AP)

She also donned Anna Hu Haute Joaillerie.....which was just AMAZING in my opinion! Here are a few interesting tidbits about the pieces Gwyneth was wearing last night...

Hearts of Winter Cuff      (yes.... I am in LOVE!!)

This one of a kind cuff bracelet symbolizes the frozen ice of winter and is made of 2,368 rose-cut, round brilliant diamonds weighing 163 carats, all with D color and VVS clarity. After seeing the Nutcracker ballet, Anna imagined this exquisite all‐white jewel for the snow queen. $1,000,000.

Duchess Hibiscus Ring

Anna has elevated the double-hoop ring into a work of art that is also eminently wearable. Two hoops are joined side by side so they can be worn on two adjacent fingers, or they can be pressed together and worn on one finger. Rose cut and round diamonds with purple sapphires set in 18-karat white gold. $160,000.
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About Anna Hu Haute Joaillerie

Anna Hu was born in Taiwan in 1977 and grew up traveling the world with her renowned gemologist father on his quest for rare stones. A child musical prodigy, she won several national awards as a cellist and moved to the US at age 14 to study at the Walnut Hill Arts School followed by the New England Conservatory of Music. After a severe shoulder injury, she immediately began pursuing her second passion of fine jewels.

                                                   (Merci': tw.mag.chinayes.com)

At age 20, Anna attended FIT and received her Graduate Gemologist degree from GIA. She then earned two art-related Masters Degrees from Parsons School for Design and Columbia University. She began her career at Christie's Auction House, followed by Van Cleef & Arpels and Harry Winston.

 It was while working at Harry Winston that she met the brand's legendary head designer, Maurice Galli, who took her on as his only private student and encouraged her to create her own collection. Anna Hu Haute Joaillerie was founded in 2008 with a private jewelry salon at The Plaza Hotel in New York.

(Merci': gemvara.com)


Anna's designs are a unique blend of Eastern and Western influences, often inspired by her love of classical music and classic and contemporary art. Anna is also extremely passionate about the technical innovation used in the creation of her pieces. Though her designs are brought to life by French-trained artisans in Paris and New York, using a highly technical old school approach to jewelry-making, she is constantly challenging them to develop new techniques to realize her designs.



Hilary Swank at the Oscars 2011 wearing Anna Hu.  (Merci': 55secretstreet)


Anna was honored in 2011 with the China Institute's "Artistic Vision" award (the first time it has ever been given to a jewelry designer). Her first book entitled, Symphony of Jewels: Opus 1, will be published this Fall by Vendome Press and Thames & Hudson. The fashion industry has also embraced Anna with features and placements in The Wall Street Journal, W, The New York Times, ELLE, InStyle, and Town & Country, among others. Her pieces have been worn by celebrities including Madonna, Scarlett Johansson, Drew Barrymore, Hilary Swank, Oprah Winfrey, and Cindy Sherman. Anna's jewels were also used in the recent biopic, W.E., which is nominated for Best Costume Design at this year's Academy Awards.

(Merci': tcwanchao)

                   Here is her work on Scarlett Johansson worn to the Oscars.

Anna creates no more than 30 exclusive Haute Joaillerie pieces per year for private collectors. Heralded in her native China as "Empress of Contemporary Art Jewelry" and by The Wall Street Journal as the "Diamond District Artisan," she resides in New York. (Merci': PR Newswire)

and the Oscar goes to....

In celebration of the Academy Awards tonight I thought I would begin the day by showcasing probably the most famous and most important costume designer of all time.... Edith Head! After all...the best thing about the Oscars is the fashion!!

 (Merci': Life Magazine)

As many of you probably know...Ms. Head is no average Hollywood costumer. She is responsible for some of the most memorable film wardrobes in history (her credits included Vertigo, Sabrina, and Sunset Boulevard, to name but a few)...and she was nominated for dozens of Oscars throughout her career.



For millions of American women, Edith Head became the authority on what was chic, what was of the moment, and how to wear it: she was every bit as influential as her fashion editor counterparts in New York City. 

  On the set of "Harlow" with Carroll Baker 1965.

She also dispensed her advice to women across the country through newspaper and magazine articles, radio and television shows, and two bestselling books. Read her savvy, still-relevant bon mot-like tips below......

• "You can have anything you want in life if you dress for it."

• "Life is competition; clothes gird us for the competition."

• "The cardinal sin is not being badly dressed, but wearing the right thing in the wrong place."

• "Your dresses should be tight enough to show you're a woman and loose enough to prove you're a lady."

• "Clothes not only can make the woman; they can make her several different women."

• "I say sacrifice style any day for becomingness."

________________________(Merci': The Huffington Post)_________________________________________________________________________


She was born Edith Claire Posener in Searchlight, Nevada, the daughter of Max Posener and Anna E. Levy. Whether her parents were married is unknown, but in 1901, her mother married Frank Spare and Edith was passed off as his child. Though her birth parents were Jewish, Head would claim to be a Catholic later in life.

She graduated from university in 1919 and became a school teacher in Los Angeles, California. On July 25, 1923, she married Charles Head, whom she would divorce in 1936. With no experience, Head answered an advertisement to work for Paramount Studios in the costume department.

She borrowed another's sketches and passed them off as her own. She began designing costumes for silent films and by the thirties had established herself as one of the leading designers. She worked at Paramount for forty-four years until she went to Universal Pictures on March 27, 1967.

She married set designer Wiard Ihnen, nicknamed Bill, on September 8, 1940. Their marriage would last until his death in 1978.

 This sketch is for Grace Kelly...                                (Merci': lawlessandlace)

 This one is for the movie "Anything Goes"....                  (Merci':LaabbigLiamante)

Recognize this one? For Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday.....

                                                                  (Merci': JenniferFabulous)


Here is just a sampling of her wonderful work....

(Merci': thefashionspot)

           Grace Kelly accepting her Oscar for "The Country Girl" in 1955.

(Merci': dressing vintage)

                   Audrey Hepburn in one of my favorite movies... "Sabrina".

(Merci':The Huffington Post)

Elizabeth Taylor in 1970 at the Oscars wearing the 69.42 carat pear shaped diamond necklace given to her by Richard Burton sitting next to her.

                           Grace Kelly and Cary Grant in "To Catch a Thief"

                                                          

                                   Grace Kelly in Rear Window


Here are Ms. Head's notable achievements in Hollywood during her career.....

She won an Oscar for Best Costume Design in...
 1950 (Black & White) for The Heiress
 1951 (Black & White) for All About Eve
 1951 (Color) for Samson and Delilah
 1952 (Black & White) for A Place in the Sun
1954 (Black & White) for Roman Holiday
 1955 (Black & White) for Sabrina
 1961 (Black & White) for The Facts of Life
 1973 for The Sting
 6504 Hollywood Blvd - Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
 Head of Costume Design Dept. at Paramount Pictures (1938-67)
 Head of Costume Design Dept. at Universal Studios (1967-81)

(Merci' Wikipedia)