Most people watch the Academy Awards to see who wins all the biggest awards of the year.  Yes, I want to see who wins Best Picture, Best Actor and Actress in a Leading Role and Directing, but I’m primarily in it to see the dresses.

This year, I was impressed with all the elegent dresses that donned the Red Carpet.

There were many long, simple, fitted dresses that looked great on all the actresses.  Gwyneth Paltrow wore a stunning white Tom Ford dress. Angelina Jolie wore a custom made Atelier Versace dress with a high slit in the right leg.  The black velvet dress looked great on her, as expected.

The dresses with sparkle served to be a great fit for the elegant, structured awards show.  Meryl Streep, who took home the award for Actress in a Leading Role from her movie “Iron Lady,” donned a metallic gold Lanvin gown.  Milla Jovovich wore a sparkly, white one-shouldered dress designed by Elie Saab Couture that made her look like an actress from a 1920s movie.  Anna Faris’s black long-sleeved sequin Daine von Furstenberg dress was arguably one of the best looks that I saw all night. 

The dresses with bold colors also made a statement during the awards show.  Emma Stone arrived wearing a high-necked red dress donned with a big bow.  The flowy, red Giambattista Valli Haute Couture dress looked great on her and gave her an elegant vibe.

Like in any awards show, the Oscars also produced some dresses that I would not put on the best dressed list.

Nominee Rooney Mara’s white Givenchy Couture left her looking pale and thin.  The design of the dress was odd and all around not very elegant looking.  Although she topped many of the best dressed lists, it was not of my favorite looks for her.

Another dress that I didn’t find very flattering was Nominee Bernice Bejo’s Elie Saab Couture dress.  It had a plunging neckline, a dull silver color and embelishments that looked home-made.

To view all the best and worst dresses from the Oscars, go to http://oscar.go.com/.