Best Dressed 2015

It feels a little ridiculous to be posting a Best Dressed of 2015 this far into January, but this annual post is always a time-consuming one, and it's genuinely taken me this long to finally make a decision, sift through a year's worth of Best Dressed lists, a ridiculously enormous spread sheet, and get it all together.

So, behold: my Best Dressed 2015. While last year's post showed that I'd moved away from monochrome and started to actually like a wide variety of fashion pieces, 2015 highlighted that I'm a fan sleek, sparkly gowns and colourful suits. I'm so predictable it hurts.

Cannes 2015 Best Dressed

Last week a selection of the film industry's finest flocked to the French Riviera for the 68th Annual Cannes Film Festival.

As it's the most glamorous of festivals it seemed only fitting to pour over images from the twelve days of photo-calls, events and premieres and narrow down my favourite looks to collate a Best Dressed list.

Met Ball 2015 Best Dressed

Monday evening saw the worlds of fashion, art and entertainment collide with the annual fundraising Costume Institute Gala for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

This year the Met Ball honoured the new fashion exhibition "China: Through the Looking Glass" (running from May 7th - August 16th 2015), and as expected Anna Wintour's dress code left ample opportunity for guests to impress on the red carpet with intricate embroidery, rich colours and beautiful jewellery. As ever there were jaw-dropping looks aplenty, from the ludicrously over-the-top to the understated and stunning, but even from both ends of the spectrum it was yet again a wonderful evening for the fashion world.

After all, the Met Ball is known as the fashion Oscars for a reason!

Academy Awards 2015 Best Dressed

Awards season ended on a dizzying high at last night's Academy Awards held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

As far as awards go, everything either went exactly as predicted or was surprisingly tense. There were the obvious and expected lock-ins: many technical awards going to the outstanding The Grand Budapest Hotel; 3 of the acting awards merely completing a formality and actually handing over the virtually pre-engraved golden statues to J.K. Simmons, Julianne Moore and Patricia Arquette; and CitizenFour taking home Best Documentary. But at the end it all boiled down to a clash of the titans: it was Eddie Redmayne Vs Michael Keaton; Richard Linklater Vs Alejandro G. Iñárritu; and the main event, Boyhood Vs Birdman for Best Picture.

I might have been sleep-deprived and a little delirious by the time the winners of the major awards started to be announced, but I found them to be as tense as last week's episode of Broadchurch. I clutched the arm of the sofa and hid behind a cushion with my heart in my throat as Redmayne - brilliantly - won for his turn as Professor Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything (I was fearful either Keaton would clinch it or in a nightmare scenario Bradley Cooper would sweep from nowhere and be rewarded for American Sniper…). Honestly though, I was majorly disappointed that Birdman soared to victory in such a spectacular manner - scooping Best Picture/Directing/Original Screenplay/Cinematography. I loved it as a film but was ultimately routing for Boyhood: the astonishing 12 year masterpiece. It's a shame, but not the end of the world!

The red carpet was pretty impressive too: fashion-wise every awards show over the last few months has led to this point, and the stars pulled out all of the stops, as anticipated.

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?!

SAG Awards 2015 Best Dressed

At under a month away the Oscars are fast approaching, and last night's Screen Actors Guild Awards provided Hollywood yet another opportunity to celebrate the best acting talent of 2014, both in the worlds of film and television.

Many of the voters for these awards and the Oscars overlap, and so the nominees and winners at the SAG Awards often indicate who will be successful again in a few weeks time. Taking home the SAG statuettes were clear shoe-ins Julianne Moore (Best Actress); Patricia Arquette (Best Supporting Actress) and J. K. Simmons (Best Supporting Actress). The welcome mini-surprise of the evening went to Eddie Redmayne's win - he's been neck-and-neck with Michael Keaton all season, and often it's been too close to call, so this win really does bolster his chances for the Best Actor Oscar. In terms of television, the ensemble cast of Downton Abbey reigned supreme and Orange is the New Black seems to now be firmly (and bizarrely) in the comedy category. A full list of winners can be found on the SAG website here.

It has to be said, the SAG Awards red carpet has to be one of the best in recent years. Most men shunned the standard, boring black tuxedo and instead opted for a (sort of) rainbow of colours and textures; while the women shone in a variety of gowns that all have very little in common! As ever my selection of the best fashion hits is below...

Critics' Choice Awards Best Dressed 2015

In all of the excitement in the morning with the announcement of the Oscar nominations I ridiculously almost forgot about another awards show held later on in the day in L.A. Many of the stars that had been recognised several hours earlier by the Academy came together on the blue carpet along with those that were controversially snubbed (Selma director Ava DuVernay and those involved in The Lego Movie come to mind immediately…) to celebrate the 20th Annual Critics' Choice Awards.

Boasting 24 categories, the winners are decided by a panel of nearly 300 reviewers in the Broadcast Film Critics Association. There's little overlap with Academy voters, but the top prize - simply titled Best Picture - has matched 12 times in the last 15 years, which bodes extremely well for this year's winner: the remarkable 12-year production, Boyhood. A full list of the winners can be found here, and if you're in the U.K. then Lifetime are screening highlights from the red carpet at 8pm, followed by the awards at 9pm, this evening (Sky channel 156).

As it's the first public appearance of many of the newly anointed Oscar contenders the fashion on the red (blue) carpet was pretty impressive indeed. As ever a full selection of looks can be found on the Vogue website here, but I've shifted though a couple of other galleries too to collate my Best Dressed list below.

Golden Globe Awards 2015 Best Dressed

Awards season officially started last night with the 72nd Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverley Hilton Hotel in California.

Although they herald the beginning of the season, the Golden Globes (the winners of which are selected by the freelance journalists of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association) are not seen as a cast-iron indication of which films or actors will be celebrating further success with the BAFTAs and Oscars in a few weeks time. Ultimately they're a lovely accolade to win - or be nominated for - but it's best not to make overly confident predictions at this stage based on the outcomes.

Once again it was a successful evening, hosted for the third and final time by the brilliant duo of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. A full list of the winners can be found here, but in short it was a brilliant night for Boyhood (taking home Best Picture/Director/Supporting Actress), Birdman (Best Actor, Comedy/Screenplay) and Eddie Redmayne (Best Actor, Drama). In TV Gina Rodriguez took on comedy heavyweights and won (Best Actress in a TV Series, Musical or Comedy), Kevin Spacey made the most of a lack of Bryan Cranston and finally won a Golden Globe (Best Actor in a TV Series, Drama) and Joanne Froggatt made everyone cry with her acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Anna Bates in Downton Abbey.

Let's be honest, the red carpet wasn't too shabby either...

People's Choice Awards 2015 Best Dressed

It's been quite a while since I've done a regular fashion post (epic 2014 Best Dressed list obviously not included!) so yesterday's People's Choice Awards seemed like the perfect opportunity to get back in the swing of things and gently dip my toes into red carpet waters once more.

As far as awards season goes these aren't exactly overly important, nor do they really provide any sort of hint as to possible future winners over the coming months. However, as they're voted for by the public it's pretty interesting to see what people other than critics and members of various academies have enjoyed over the past year, and who they deem deserving of taking home the accolades and being showered with praise. The categories are pretty extensive, so a full list of winners (and there are a LOT) can be found here.

Best Dressed 2014

As 2014 draws to a close it's time to take a look back over the year and shine a light on the fashion highlights of the last twelve months.

Safe to say it's been a sensational year for fashion, and as a result it's been ridiculously hard to narrow down so many incredible outfits into a measly top 10 list as I did last year. Trust me - I spent the weekend trying - but I loved too much this year so deemed it an impossible task.

Instead I've tackled this annual post a little differently, and in the process I've well and truly moved away from my singular love of monochrome and discovered I'm really starting to adore patterns. Who'd have thought this was possible this time last year?!

London Fashion Week S/S15

"London Fashion Week is so different from any of the others. Compared to the strictness in New York, London seems freer from commercial constraints. Truer to the process, to street style, to a sense of humour." - Alexa Chung

There's something about London Fashion Week that makes the city up its game and prove its fashion credentials.

London is undoubtedly one of the most fashionable places in the world - all year round - but for some reason in September it simply glows.

New York Fashion Week S/S15

"Every year the women of New York leave the past behind and look forward to the future… This is known as Fashion Week."

I doubt there's ever a more appropriate time to quote Carrie Bradshaw than during New York Fashion Week.

From September 4th to September 11th a selection of the world's greatest designers kicked off fashion month by showcasing their S/S 15 collections in the city that never sleeps.

It's not just the clothes that were breathtaking - the shows themselves were a spectacle to behold. From Marc Jacobs presenting his army to his audience sat on bubblegum pink shag pile carpeted benches and wearing Beats by Dr Dre headphones, to Tommy Hilfiger's homage to Glastonbury and DKNY's unmistakably New York inspired collection, the bar really was raised sky high. Veteran street-style photographer Bill Cunningham rendered many fashion editors star struck, and the celebrities were out in force on the FROW, from regulars Alexa Chung and Olivia Palermo, to relative newbies on the fashion radar like Uzo Uduba.

Primetime Emmy Awards 2014 Best Dressed

I'm concerned I'm starting to say this every year, but there's no getting away from the fact that it really does feel like we're currently in the throes of a golden age for television.

From Breaking Bad to The Good Wife, Veep to Orphan Black, Sherlock to Parks and Recreation, Downton Abbey to Game of Thrones, House of Cards to Modern Family and everything in between, there really is excellent television for every taste imaginable these days. I've always been a devout film fan and never really had much interest in the small screen, but thanks to a Netflix subscription and recently discovering the box sets available on Sky I'm starting to seriously get into television. I devoured Breaking Bad like a meth addict last summer; made my way through two series of Orange is the New Black in a fortnight after my exams finished; desperately caught up on Scandal before the start of the new series on Sky Living a few weeks ago; rewatched all of Downton Abbey after Christmas as "dissertation research"; and fell head over heels for the fictional town of Pawnee in Parks and Recreation. I'm officially addicted.

Move over cinema, my lounge is now the place to be. What a time to be alive!

Haute Couture A/W 14-15

If there's a fashion event each year I look forward to more than the annual Met Ball it's the couture fashion weeks in Paris. This week has seen a selection of the world's most prestigious designers present their couture collections for the autumn-winter 14-15 season, and as ever they did not disappoint.

Cannes 2014 Best Dressed

No film festival does glamour quite like Cannes.

For twelve days the beautiful and talented descended on the French riviera for one of the most anticipated events in the film industry's calendar.

Met Ball 2014 Best Dressed

The most fashionable time of the year has arrived once again in the form of the fashion world's Oscars: the annual Met Ball. Last night saw the world's most famous and beautiful don their finery to celebrate the exhibition dedicated to couturier Charles James at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. The dress code was strictly formal and elegant, with attendees expected to adhere to Anna Wintour's pre-determined theme of 'White Tie and Decorations'. This meant gowns and gloves for the women and top hats and tails for the men: Hollywood glamour at its absolute finest.

Olivier Awards 2014 Best Dressed

I've fallen off the radar blogging-wise recently as the final few months of third year have become almost unbearable and university has completely taken over my life. If I'm not in the archives I'm in the British Library, and when I'm not hidden scrolling through microfilms at the BFI I'm frantically writing my dissertation. I've barely had the time to surface to do a #100happydays post on schedule let alone anything else, but I decided to take a weekend off before I ran out of steam and couldn't have planned it better as yesterday afternoon saw the 2014 Olivier Awards take over the Royal Opera House and Covent Garden.

Academy Awards 2014 Best Dressed

It's that time of the year again: the Oscars are back in town.

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.

New York Fashion Week: February 2014

New York Fashion Week is currently in full swing, and the snow and arctic conditions have not deterred the world's most stylish having their fix of Ready-to-Wear A/W14-15 fashion.