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Oscars 2000: Fashion experts rate Glam Girls and Wretched Women
Monday, March 27, 2000 By LaMont Jones, Post-Gazette Fashion Writer
There were elegant, feminine dresses, simple hairdos and great makeup. But there also were unflattering styles, lots of disappointments and no knock-out looks.
Two lists emerged from a panel of fashion experts the Post-Gazette assembled to watch Oscar pre-telecast shows and early portions of the Academy Awards: The Glam Girls, topped by Winona Ryder, Salma Hayek and Faith Hill -- in a stunning silver halter dress -- and the Wretched Women, led by Gloria Estefan, Tyra Banks, Faye Dunaway and Erykah Badu.
"Overall, I was really more disappointed because I wanted to see more extremes," said Venetia Torre, owner of Venetia's City Boutique, Downtown.
"I didn't see anything that I wanted to duplicate," said fashionista Debbie Norrell, who is also a public relations director and reporter for WJJJ radio. "I didn't see anything this year that made me say, 'Oh my God, I wish I could buy that dress!' "
Panelists unanimously complimented Ryder's elegant beige-and-black gown, Hill's skin-baring, glittery number, Garcelle Beauvais' makeup and hair, Lucy Liu's red, diagonally striped one-shoulder Versace gown, host Billy Crystal's black, vested tuxedo with shiny black tie and nominee Michael Clarke Duncan's simple but great-fitting black Zegna tuxedo.
"Lots of beads and sequins. Glitz. And jewelry is so back," said Venetia Torre, who watched the show with husband and boutique co-owner Gary Torre. "Lots of skin and halter tops. Very '70s."
A panel of five hip, style-savvy Pittsburghers were invited to the Post-Gazette last night to provide running fashion commentary on the Academy Awards. They were:
Badu donned an elegant pale-green gown during the telecast, a big improvement over the darker green patchwork leather and raffia dress she wore before the show. Norrell hated Badu's trademark head wrap, a chiffon scarf wrapped more than a foot high with raffia.
"What is wrong with her? What's under there, her next child? She looks like she robbed a haystack."
Premier Salon hair stylist Emilio saw Badu's look and others last night as part of a fashion trend toward a fusion of different eras, cultures and nationalities.
"Salma Hayek has a timeless, global look," he pointed out to the agreement of others, as Hayek appeared in a lavender halter dress. "She's a perfect representation of today's version of what Hollywood used to be."
Premier Salon's Arnold Zegarelli admired Karen Black's beauty but said her hair was "too long for her age."
"She's poured into that dress, and she should be ashamed of herself," added Venetia Torre.
When Kimberly Peirce was shown with a blue streak in her hair, Emilio surmised that she "wanted to say something bold."
"What?" Norrell asked. "'I want to be Lil Kim?'"
Most panelists didn't care for the long, straight, simple hairstyles worn by many stars last night. But Venetia Torre pointed out that it's a popular trend.
Still, contended Zegarelli, "If you wanna look pretty, you've gotta balance your features."
"It's a shame," Gary Torre added. "A lot of these stars, especially the striking ones, they shouldn't kill themselves with their clothes. Let the beauty come out."
Queen Latifah showed up in a shimmery silver outfit that Norrell described as "a mother-of-the-bride-to-be-type thing."
"Her face is too big for her hair to be that tight," Emilio remarked about her Zulu knots.
"It's well done but it's too small for her face," Zegarelli added.
Estefan's coppery auburn locks, which appeared to be an attempt to match the color of her dress, were "terrible," Venetia Torre said.
"Too monochromatic," added Emilio. "It should be darker with rust highlights."
Zegarelli was deeply disappointed with Charlize Theron, whom he called "the prettiest girl in Hollywood." Her hair was overdone, he said, detracting from her natural beauty.
"She gilded the lily," he said, shaking his head.
Faye Dunaway's white dress had "too much ruffle," Venetia Torre said. Norrell added that Dunaway's powdery makeup made her look as if she'd been embalmed.
And there were no kind words for model-actress Tyra Banks, who co-hosted ABC's pre-telecast show in a strapless, pale blue hoopy dress.
"She looks like Cinderella," said Venetia Torre.
"The Wicked Witch of the East," Norrell chimed in. "She looks like a Barbie doll that was left on the shelf."
"I don't like her hair -- too plain in the front for me," Zegarelli said. "I think Tyra had bad advice."
There was also scathing commentary on E! pre-show commentator Joan Rivers, who some panelists described as "uncouth," "obnoxious" and "burned out."
"Whoever did her facelift should be shot," Venetia Torre said.
"I guess after five or six, you don't have much skin left," added Emilio.
Zegarelli, however, called Rivers "outrageously brilliant" and said her "tasteful, classic" French twist hairdo and extravagant jewelry combined for a look that proved how "clever" she is.
"She picks on everybody else, but she's clever because she picked something classic and elegant."
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Gary and Venetia Torre, owners of the tony Venetia's City Boutique in One Oxford Centre, Downtown.