We’re not sure what we exactly thought of Sheryl Crow’s rather boring Bottega Veneta dark shapeless gown at the Grammys. We wish it had a least had a belt – Sheryl works out and is in amazing shape, so it’s surprising she wouldn’t show it off. But what we DO like about this dress from the elegant quiet Milanese house is that it doesn’t shout “trendy” – in fact, it doesn’t shout at all. It whispers “rich hippie” – and that’s an unusual message for the Grammys! Of course, Sandra Bullock wore the orchid Bottega – a bit louder – to the Globes, and its amazing that BV has had representation at the Globes and the Grammys. What we’re wondering is – did BV pursue the stars or did the stars pursue BV?

It was a perfect year for Sandra Bullock to wear color – shocking purple – and to get as much attention at the Golden Globes as possible. After all, she’s angling for an Oscar nomination (Feb 17th) – and she might just get one. It’s so rare when America’s sweetheart also wins awards – not to mention, fashion awards. Wearing Bottega Veneta is incredible cred: the small Milanese brand, owned by Gucci Group, is designed by the genius Tomas Maier, and everything he touches is just genius: the clothes,the bags, the shoes. The fabric was billed as “orchid chiffon,” but Sandra told us on the red carpet that the fabric was plasticized and futuristic – and it was amazing how you could see through the bottom hem of the dress, but not the places you shouldn’t be able to. THAT’S serious design. The color flickered and opalized and even sparkled in total rain. And it was one of the rare Globe dresses that was NOT tight or revealing – it was just perfect. Meanwhile, a little digging reveals it’s straight out of Bottega Veneta’s spring 2010 collection – one of the last looks out. We’re surprised Halle’s stylist Deborah Waknin would use a runway dress from a show, but then, not many Hollywood stars are hip enough to wear Bottega, so she took a chance – and it worked.

If you take the media’s word for it, Blake Lively and Leighton Meester are the best dressed girls in the world – look at all their fashion magazine covers. But, when you analyze it, how great have their looks really been on the red carpet? On “Gossip Girl,” they do look pretty spectacular – but that’s daytime New York rich girl fashion, and that’s hard to beat. Lively’s worn clothes to major awards shows that didn’t fit right, with wildly messy hair. But finally, last night at the Emmy’s, where she and Meester were presenters together, Blake Lively got it right. Her red Versace was the hottest of all the hot red dresses at the Nokia Theater. Red was the color of the night – and the one color you wear when you REALLY want attention – but with its plunging neckline and knotted waist that barely kept the whole dress together – it looked like it could come apart in a stiff wind – she was the glamourous sexy starlet you want her to be. And of course, it was by Versace – the same Milanese folk who brought us JLo’s green leaf print barely-held-together dress at the Grammys that made her a star a decade ago. Lively was smart to slick her hair back and wear in the style of a Grecian goddess, and not in that messy tousled bedhead way she’s gone to awards shows before. She worked her body and that dress, and she let them do the heavy lifting. It looked clean, modern, sexy and strong. Perhaps Donatella got in there with her stylist and took control. Whatever happened, we’re glad it did.

However, Leighton Meester went way far overboard in her styling. We love the white Bottega Veneta dress she wore – with its Grecian style knots at the shoulders and open work back detail. White’s a nervy color to wear at an awards show. We know it adds poundage, and the light bounces off it. It looks good on brunettes, true – but Leighton had messy wavy hair which kept bashing into the shoulder detail of the dress – and the bright red lips belonged with another outfit and another hairstyle. Red lips – great. Tousled hair partially up – great. White Bottega gown – great. BUT NOT ALL TOGETHER. These strong details each deserved its own awards show. Leighton was example of trying way too hard. And standing next to Blake in her simple sexy chic, she looked like a wedding cake with too many tiers and a cherry on top.

 The makeup look on the New York runways for fall was fairly subdued – no doubt, contributed to by the bad news of the economy. Bright makeup is associated with fun, nightlife and glamour. We did see some gold on the eyes and some copper mouths in NY, but nothing else exciting. Grey eyeshadow was also a big statement. Most of the hair looks were very simple and pulled back and almost – severe.

But in Milan, it’s a whole other story. They are fiddling while New York burns. Almost all of the hair was down and wavy, and at about half the shows, deep red mouths – like the look of having just consumed a carafe of Cabarnet – were a bit beauty statement. And why not glam things up a little? Didn’t women wear red lips during the depression of the 1930′s?

At Bottega Veneta, the mouth color was a very deep dark red, almost a burgundy, while the rest of the faces were left quite clean, except for some rust colored eyeshadow that played off the deep mouths. was in stark contrast to the simplicity of the clothes, which was all in whites and earth tones.

At Dolce & Gabbana, the clothes were – unlike their usual super slim va va voom silhouettes – more billowy, with puffed shoulder detail and often, full skirts, in loads of black and white and fuschia. But Dolce paired the pillowy clothes with bright red mouths – no doubt, the red Scarlett Johansson wears in their new makeup ad campaign – and a little bit of orangey eye color. The effect was pretty and bright – not at all subtle.

At Aquilano Rimondi – the line of the two talented Milanese designers behind 6267 (which they changed the name of to become Aquilano.Rimondi) and Gianfranco Ferre – they used a deep red/black lipstick color against very pale skin – it looked much like Chanel’s Vamp color that took the beauty industry by storm in the mid nineties – and it could be that red and dark red vampy colors are poised for a comeback this fall. It certainly creates a very new look, since the clothes, chic as they are – aren’t that different from this past fall’s: leathers, jackets, and tougher looks reign the runways. The red lips feminize the tough clothes. And don’t worry about finding the right shade – the beauty companies will no doubt release every new look for red they can by early August 09.

     Stylists don’t pull Bottega Veneta for celebrities too often, and that might be because Bottega may not care. Their clothes find homes with chic women who love great things all over the world – and this was such a classy perfect collection, made of dreamy fabrics and fits, it’s SO classic – it’s actually recession-proof. And by the way, buyers of Bottega  are often SO rich, they’re recession-proof, too. These might be the rare super-expensive clothes that are actually worth it. Stylists – start the pulling process NOW.

 OVERWHELMING TRENDS: Bottega just doesn’t do trends – Tomas Maier is too chic for trends! He does sleek, luxurious, amazingly simple dresses, coats, and gowns – often in leather, cashmere and super silks. Sheath dresses look almost square in shape, but they still flatter. A simple black sheath has a tight waist and a soft fit. A soft black trenchcoat is rich and full. Most of the dresses fall over the knee – there are no girlish mini’s here. These are grown up woman clothes – sexy woman clothes. Their cuts are flawless, from full to super slender. Even oversized looks look good on.

 FABRICS: Thin leather dresses, organza covered wool, thin cashmeres. Flocked velvet stripes. Some of the dresses in long sleeves and short have shirred ruched waist detail, making the waistlines look corseted – and accentuating the bustline. Silks that are so fine, they look like chiffon.

 COLORS: White, black, tan satin, bronze leather, pale pink crinkled leather, a pale peach leather trench – AGGHHH!! (So gorgeous it’s killing us.) Coffee brown silk. Shades of russet and earth. Violet, champagne. Russet silk in a spaghetti strap sheath – yummy for Amy Adams!!! There was a breathtaking group of white and pale Grecian gowns at the end – stylists, don’t miss these. We mean DON’T MISS THESE!

 BEAUTY TRENDS:  Reddish-orange deep eyeshadow, deep red lips, greased hair slicked into ballerina buns – and virtually no jewelry.

 ACCESSORIES: Black short boots worn with white coats and dresses, black leather satchel bags, brown short boots worn with gorgeous brown leather bags.

 RELEVANCE TO HOLLYWOOD: The bronze strapless leather dress that wrinkles and folds with brown booties would be HOT at a premier – calling Gwyneth Paltrow. The coffee brown silk sheath with a belt and an illusion net decolletage would look great on Angelina Jolie. These clothes are gorgeous enough to go anywhere – the off shoulder striped mettalic velvet dresses are knock outs -  but they have no spangles, no sequins (perhaps a few on hems, very subtle), and they don’t scream LABEL. The final group of white and pale gowns deserve an Angelina or an Amy or a Freida or even a Drew to wear them – they are just too beautiful not to show up on a red carpet. Debra Messing – get a new tv show, quick!!!

It seems this particular shade of yellow – not mellow at ALL – Pantone’s ‘Mimosa’ – is THE shade of spring 09 – in fact, you can see it on the cover of February Elle on Kate Hudson. And Freida Pinto wore it to the Golden Globes. Yes, we’d expect clothing in this color – and Kaufman Franco, Sonya Rykiel, Michael Kors, Bottega Veneta, Zac Posen and Burberry all used it – and Moschino even did Mimosa shoes. But we love the SAMA Eyewear “Boyd” shades in Mimosa – they are totally unexpected, and you could wear them with neutrals, white, gold, brown, black – pretty much every spring color, even coral. They are part of SAMA’s Badgley Mischka Couture collection, FYI – total fashion eyewear. Since we’re experiencing fluky 85 degree temperatures in January – and it’s only expected to get as low as the high 70’s this weekend – you might want to lighten up your wardrobe with these yellow frames. SAMA has two stores in town: Destination SAMA at 8460 Santa Monica Blvd near LaCienega, and 9530 Brighton Way in Bev Hills. They also have stores in St Louis Missouri and in Rome, in case you’re doing some exotic travel. –

Merle Ginsberg

SO – scorekeepers – what was the total tally of how it broke down on who-dressed-who at the Golden Globes? Since every designer and big fashion house was hustling nominees to dress them, who won the red carpet sweepstakes – the second biggest one outside of the Oscars?

Here’s the breakdown, according to the information received from Fashion Rules:

THE BIG WINNER OF THE NIGHT WAS: OSCAR DE LA RENTA,  who dressed Kyra Sedgwick, Amy Adams, Jennifer Morrison and Marisa Tomei. He had FOUR great women in his gowns.

After that, it breaks down like this:

JOHN GALLIANO FOR CHRISTIAN DIOR: Drew Barrymore, Eva Mendes, Sandra Bullock

ROBERTO CAVALLI: Rita Wilson, Christina Applegate, Jessica Lange

J MENDEL: Taraji P. Hensen, Kate Beckinsale, Elizabeth Banks

REEM ACRA: Rumer Willis, Eva Longoria, Olivia Wilde

ARMANI PRIVE: Penelope Cruz, Anne Hathaway

ATELIER VERSACE: Angelina Jolie, January Jones

LANVIN: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Kristin Scott Thomas

ELIE SAAB: Beyonce’, Laura Linney, Evan Rachel Wood

YSL: Kate Winslet

MARCHESA: Jennifer Lopez, Miley Cyrus

VINTAGE FROM DECADES: Heidi Klum in vintage Galanos, Sophie Dahl in vintage Ceil Chapman

CHRISTIAN LACROIX: Freida Pinto

NINA RICCI: Blake Lively

CHADO RALPH RUCCI: Rachel Griffiths

BOTTEGA VENETA: Salma Hayek

HUGO BOSS: Susan Sarandon

GIANFRANCO FERRE:  Hayden Panettiere

HERVE LAROUX: Anna Pacquin

LOUIS VUITTON: Laura Dern

CAROLINA HERRERA: Renee Zellwegger

VERA WANG: Debra Messing

If you go to Style.com, you can see they did a feature today on Vogue.com’s TOP TEN AT THE GOLDEN GLOBES (http://www.style.com/vogue/bestdressed/011309/).

Well, we here at Fashion Rules have gotta say: NO WAY! This was the order of Vogue.com’s list, and we’ll give you FR’s talking points along the way:

1. Renee Zellwegger in Carolina Herrera  ARE YOU KIDDING US??? The hair, the dress – it was so OLD SCHOOL. And it wasn’t flattering at all. We love Mrs. Herrera, we love Renee – but not in THAT LOOK!! It made most site’s WORST look lists.

2. Marisa Tomei in Oscar de la Renta: okay, it was lovely. But it was a bit conservative and safe – even if it WAS chic. New York society LOVES its designers, doesn’t it?

3. Kate Winslet in YSL: Okay, we agree with this one.

4. Maggie Gyllenhaal in Lanvin: We agree here, too.

5. Blake Lively in Nina Ricci: VOGUE – WAKE UP!! THE DRESS DIDN’T FIT!!! And it was BOR-ING!!!

6. Amy Adams in Oscar de la Renta: Okay – that was chic.

7. Anne Hathaway in Armani Prive: should have been higher up the list – it was a beaut.

8. Elizabeth Banks in J. Mendel: We love J Mendel, too – but we liked Kate Beckinsale’s white J. Mendel a whole lot more than this peachy tight dress matched with the wrong necklace, and bad hair.

9. Cameron Diaz in Chanel Haute Couture: pretty dress. Too bad she’s got four inches of roots in her hair.

10. Salma Hayek in Bottega Veneta: She looked just GREAT.  

If you think shopping doesn’t get any more desire-worthy than Wilshire, Robertson and Melrose Place, drive an hour and a half south and check out South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa one Saturday afternoon, preferably when the sales are on. All under one roof are Nordstrom, Burberry, Valentino, Chanel, Bottega Veneta, MaxMara, Balenciaga, Barneyes Co Op, Hermes, Harry Winston, Marni, and even H&M. You feel like you’ve died and gone to fashion heaven – where you don’t need cars, subways, or even to deal with traffic lights.

On Tuesday night at the South Coast Plaza mall, the 1.5 billion dollar annual selling mall held a chic dinner – right in the center of its new wing, dubbed “The Penthouse.” Catered by the mall’s best restaurant, Marche Moderne, the 20,000 square foot wing is home to brand new stores by Oscar de la Renta, YSL, Canali, Christian Louboutin – who visited and christened the store on Tuesday all the way from Paris – and SoCa, the new less expensive but still chic concept from Orange County’s own St. John Knits. SoCa opened their first shop in The Penthouse, and plan to roll out at least 30 more across the world in the next few years.

The dinner was held for executives from Christian Louboutin, from South Coast Plaza, men’s store Canali, and for L.A. journalists from Angeleno Magazine, Women’s Wear Daily, InStyle Magazine, C Magazine, Los Angeles Magazine (Laurie Pike), The Los Angeles Times Magazine (Annie Gilbar), – and of course, Fashion Rules.. They were treated to visits to the new boutiques, all ooohing and ahhing over the fact that YSL has different handbags and shoes at South Coast’s Penthouse – that Louboutin actually stocks different shoes – and that Oscar de la Renta has dresses there we’ve never seen.

From autumn salad with pears to a fish course to beef and lobsters, to the outstanding crème brulee with Calvados and peanut brittle, everyone agreed that a trip to the OC can be very chic – and that you have to be ready to pound some serious – escalators. We’re thinking – Christmas at the Penthouse?? – Merle Ginsberg