EE BAFTAs 2015 Best Dressed

It's an astonishing year for film, but unfortunately the red carpet this year was so underwhelming.

The BAFTAs are my favourite awards show - mainly because they're so quintessentially British - but I've never been so unenthused to write a fashion post. Normally I can't wait to write all about the red carpet, buoyed along by the news of the ceremony itself: the delight of the winners, the losers' fixed fake smiles, overly long acceptance speeches and Stephen Fry's fantastic one-liners. I don't know whether I set unrealistic expectations in my head yesterday, but the ceremony went as expected - there were very few surprises, and aside from the embarrassing lack of love for Mr Turner I was pleased with all the winners - and the red carpet was so, so disappointing.

Don't get me wrong, on the whole everyone looked good, but virtually every sartorial choice was exceedingly safe - bordering on boring - and wasn't exactly eye-catching. The menswear was much, much better than the dresses worn by the women, but it's harder to have an immediate glowing impact with a tux than it is with a gown. Nothing beats a well cut and exquisitely tailored suit, but even the majority of men seemed to play it safe and stick to traditional, black tuxes instead of mixing it up with different textures and colours. The Times film critic Kate Muir offered up the #BAFTAsSoBland hashtag, and I have to agree. Eugh, what went wrong?!

EE BAFTAs 2014 Best Dressed

I completely love the BAFTAs.

They're the best night in the awards season calendar for me as not only are they an excuse to fawn over a red carpet, admire the Royal Opera House and laugh with Stephen Fry, but they most importantly support and celebrate the very best of British talent in the film industry. In a market saturated with huge Hollywood hits, I love how the BAFTAs provide special recognition for homegrown excellence - seeing films like The Selfish Giant be nominated in the same categories as colossal box office successes like Gravity really is fantastic. As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing more inspiring than seeing the British film industry shine on such a global platform.

BAFTA 'Behind the Mask'

I love the BAFTAs.

They're the highlight of awards season, and I adore how they first and foremost support and celebrate British talent in a season (and global industry) dominated with enormous American hits. The Oscars may be the most talked about awards and everything seems to build up to them, but I'd take a glittering golden mask over a miniature golden man any day.

Arqiva BAFTA TV Awards 2013 Best Dressed

Tonight marks a celebration of all things television with the annual BAFTA TV Awards. The categories are extremely strong this year, and I'm excited to see a full list of the winners in about an hour... I have my fingers crossed particularly for Olivia Colman (Supporting Actress for Accused / Female Performance in a Comedy Programme for Twenty Twelve), Graham Norton (Entertainment Performance / Entertainment Programme) and all nominees related to The Hollow Crown and Parade's End. There's been a lot of fantastic British television this year, but they have to be my absolute favourites. My fingers and toes are crossed!

The red carpet was predictably soggy and umbrellas were out in force as London showed that the last few weeks of glorious sunshine were a total fluke and it's back to business as usual. That being said, a spot of rain didn't affect the fashion, and there were plenty of stand out looks this evening unhindered by the weather. Suspense was building all afternoon thanks to the #BAFTAStyle hashtag on Twitter, so it's lovely to finally see the outfits in full now instead of teases on Instagram!

EE BAFTAs 2013 Best Dressed

Awards season is - without doubt - my favourite time of the year. Fashion and film collide beautifully, with never ending red carpets displaying all of the latest designs from the fashion world, and hundreds of gold statues handed out to the film and television industry's finest.

Tonight is the EEBAFTAs, the biggest night in the British cinema calendar. As I type, the ceremony is well underway at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. Results are being tweeted live, but the show is recorded and will be broadcast at 9pm on BBC1, so disconnect your internet if you don't want to be spoiled! The red carpet, however, has finished, and as there have been so many stand-out looks tonight, it only seemed appropriate to take a quick break from work to document the best dressed here. I'll discuss the awards results later this evening (and mostly on twitter as they happen: @emma_forth) but for now it's all about the fashion.