They Never Looked Better

THEY NEVER LOOKED BETTER ON THE RED CARPET

Styling stars for events has a different dynamic than photo shoots. Here, our five stylists recount their favorite moments in the live arena.

George Blodwell

"For the 1997 Golden Globe Awards, I dressed Halle Berry in a yellow-gold, sequined Missoni gown. At the time, neither print dresses nor backless dresses were worn much, so when I saw this, I knew it would be really different. Halle's body is so beautiful that we had to show it off--especially her back and her legs, which at the time were two areas often neglected by designers. The funny thing was that Demi Moore originally had the dress on loan--she was planning to wear it to Cannes that year. But I knew Halle would look perfect in it, so we fought for it and Demi finally gave in. The only part of the dress I wasn't totally certain about was the color, but when Halle put it on, it brought her to life. In fact, she loved the dress so much that she ended up keeping it."

Vincent Boucher

"For a recent photo shoot with Mena Suvari, I chose a long-sleeved vintage Pucci jacket from Decades in LA. A lot of designers, like Versace and Missoni, have paid homage to Pucci lately, because there's something undeniably distinctive about the look, Mena loved the jacket so much that she wore it with a pair of black leather pants to this year's MTV Movie Awards, and she looked terrific. There's a danger in dressing someone as young as Mena in clothes that are too advanced for her age, so my goal was to enhance her youth and make her look hip and very New York chic. The bold color of the jacket was sexy and perfect for her because of her blonde hair."

Jessica Paster

"It's a tie between Kim Basinger's light green Escada gown and Minnie Driver's vivid red Halston dress by Randolph Duke. Both were for the Academy Awards ceremony in 1998. Kim and I collaborated on her dress and opted for light green because it hadn't been done before. With Minnie, I knew exactly how I wanted her to look: simple yet beautiful. Because of her hair and complexion, I wanted her in red, but a very specific red, not orange-red. The Halston turned out to be the perfect color. The look we achieved was simple yet modern and young, glamorous but not sparkly. And we had a really good time, which I consider to be very important."

Ricci DeMartino

"Working with Lisa Kudrow for the 1999 Academy Award ceremony was definitely one of my high points. It was the first time I'd ever dressed someone for the Oscars. She wore a pave diamond fitted tank top with a fitted full silk skirt by Randolph Duke. I had so many different ensembles for her to try on, but this one really fit her personality--it was both elegant and beautiful."

Jeanne Yang

"For the Golden Globes ceremony in 1999, I dressed Calista Flockhart in a white skirt and a black top by Pamela Dennis, It was a great classic look. Ten years from now, Calista won't look back and be embarrassed about that outfit. Finding a timeless look is ideal, and it's something I try to do for everybody. I think the most important thing for a stylist to do when a star is appearing at an event is to make it seem like you're not even there--like the person didn't use a stylist."

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