Styled to Perfection

The way stars look is so crucial to their ability to gain employment in Hollywood that it's not unusual for them to spend thousands of dollars a day for sartorial advice. Sometimes the results are god-awful, sometimes they're just good and sometimes they're so great it's hard to understand why the celebrities don't stick with those styles forever. Here are five cases where the clothes couldn't fit better.

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JULIA ROBERTS

IN ALBERTA FERRETTI

STYLED BY DEBBI MASON

Julia Roberts has a habit of dressing demurely for klieg light events. When she was picking up awards for her performance in Erin Brockovich, she made a concerted effort to come off as sweet, not sexy. Too bad, because she has a lot to show off. In the past few years the star has gone especially out of her way to hide one of her greatest assets--no, not her cleavage, which was on full display in Erin Brockovich, but her long, shapely gams. Somehow photographer Sante D'Orazio was able to coax the Oscar winner into kicking up her heels. "Julia had just returned from holiday," says Debbi Mason of the day she styled the star. "She was looking very healthy, tanned and happy, and was perhaps willing to be a little more daring than usual. Showing a bit of skin seemed the right way to go and Julia absolutely has great legs." But Roberts looks sensational for other reasons, too. The ultrafeminine dress by Alberta Ferretti brings out her softer side and the dazzling mile-high stiletto mules by Manolo Blahnik make her look ready for mischief.

JENNIFER LOPEZ

IN EMANUEL UNGARO

STYLED BY ANDREA LIEBERMAN

Jennifer Lopez is nothing if not a fashion chameleon. She's worn jaw-dropping numbers (that plunging green Versace gown from last year's Grammys is unforgettable), rapper chic (which seemed to reach a crescendo during her Puffy phase) and classy masterpieces (the beige vintage Valentino dress she wore to Jaguar's "Tribute to Style" gala earlier this year made her look like a polished princess). It is in this simple chiffon Emanuel Ungaro dress and these Christian Louboutin heels chosen by stylist Andrea Lieberman, however, that she truly looks white-hot. Lopez's silky caramel-toned skin radiates against the white dress and, when combined with the flower in her hair and the turquoise Fred Leighton necklace, reveals a more romantic side of her. Sure, Lopez could pull off sexy in a potato sack, but in this photograph by Sante D'Orazio she exudes understated, not over-the-top, beauty.

JOSH HARTNETT

IN GIANFRANCO FERRÉ

STYLED BY BOBETTE COHN

Like most young stars, Josh Hartnett got his start in Hollywood by appearing in teen films. In Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, The Faculty and Here on Earth, he perfected the art of dressing down--jeans, T-shirts, backpacks, these were his staples. Then Pearl Harbor came along and he was required to not only clean up for his role as a '40s fighter pilot, but he had to exude full-fledged leading man appeal when doing press for the summer blockbuster. In this photo taken by Alberto Tolot shortly before the film's release, Hartnett wears a white linen shirt and silk tie, both by Gianfranco Ferré. "For everyday, Josh is a T-shirt kind of guy," says stylist Bobette Cohn, "But he really looks amazing in a suit or a dress shirt." Though his mood is still that of an injured adolescent brooder, the clothes lend him an air of sophistication--this white-on-white ensemble looks like something Humphrey Bogart's character in Casablanca would have worn on casual Fridays.

GEORGE CLOONEY

IN RALPH LAUREN AND DOLCE & GABBANA

STYLED BY ALEXANDRA KEELING

George Clooney looks dashing in just about anything he puts on, but it's in ail-American classics that he's most appealing. "George, to our generation, is probably the closest we're ever going to get to a James Dean or Cary Grant," says Alexandra Keeling, who styled this shoot for photographer Davis Factor. "He's someone who obviously has his own sense of style." Dressed in Ralph Lauren khakis and a Dolce & Gabbana shirt, Clooney exudes a rugged sexiness that directors have capitalized on in films as varied as One Fine Day, Out of Sight, O Brother, Where Art Thou? and the upcoming Ocean's Eleven. "He's not somebody you would put in an over-the-top outfit or a brightly colored suit," Keeling says. "Because he has such a natural, confident air to him, he's best when he's casually dressed."

CAMERON DIAZ

IN DOLCE & GABBANA AND VINTAGE

STYLED BY TOM BROECKER

Just as Cameron Diaz takes risks in her career (how many actresses would dare play both the naïve bombshell in There's Something About Mary and the nerdy recluse in Being John Malkovich?), she takes risks with what she wears to red-carpet shindigs. More often than not she combines trendy pieces that normally wouldn't go together, but on her they work. Of course, that lean frame and those model good looks can't pull everything off--on occasion she seems to go too far with her fashion choices--but that's what makes her so much fun to watch. In this photo by Edie Baskin, stylist Tom Broecker has taken Diaz in the opposite direction--he's dressed her in an elegant, pared down ensemble, and the outcome is refreshing. But the reason Broecker chose this top by Dolce & Gabbana and this vintage skirt is not because they were stylishly simple. He chose them for their color. "It really plays up the gorgeous color of her eyes," he says. "Cameron can handle color--she should wear more of it."

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