Oscar 2012: Fashion Trends

Trend - Red: Style savvy stars tend to avoid red because it's hard to pull off a colour that clashes with the carpet you're on. But this year, these fearless females went all out. Michelle Williams wore Louis Vuitton, Emma Stone chose Giambattista Valli, Natalie Portman wore vintage Dior, Livia Giuggioli (Mrs Colin Firth) wore bespoke Valentino, Janet McTeer also wore red, with a plunging neckline.

Trend - White: The Oscar red carpet brings up the vanguard of the white dress invasion that's ruled this fashion season. Gwyneth Paltrow picked caped Tom Ford, Rooney Mara continued her love affair with Givenchy, Shailene Woodley wore Valentino, Kelly Ripa wore Carolina Herrera and Princess Charlene of Monaco chose Akris.

Trend - Blue and Green: Shades of blue, green and everything in between went to the Oscars this year. Glenn Close wore Zac Posen, Bo Derek is still a perfect 10, Penelope Cruz wore Armani Prive, Maria Menuonos wore Maria Lucia Hohan, Missy Pyle wore Valentino Delfino and Esperanza Spalding was simple in soft blue.

Trend - Dark: Interestingly, there was no sea of black on the red carpet. Dark dresses were represented by Angelina Jolie in va-va-voom Versace, Tina Fey fit the right note in Carolina Herrera after getting it wrong for two consecutive years, and Melanie Griffith who accessorised with husband Antonio Banderas.

Trend - Metallic: Best Actress winner Meryl Streep looked very much like an Oscar herself in gold Lanvin gown while George Clooney's girlfriend Stacy Keibler wore Marchesa.

Trend ? Sparkly done right: Ooh, shiny! Best Supporting Actress Octavia Spencer nails the trend in Tadashi Shoji, Jennifer Lopez left jaws dropped in Zuhair Murad, Rose Byrne glittered in Vivienne Westwood, Berenice Bejo and Kate Mara picked Elie Saab, and Leslie Mann wore Roberto Cavalli.

Trend ? Sparkly done wrong: Ouch, shiny! And then there were the ladies who tried too hard. Anna Faris in Diane von Furstenberg, Judy Greer in Monique Lhuillier, Jennifer Lopez in Zuhair Murad, Wendi McLendon-Covey from Bridesmaids chose a dress that looked like it was a costume from the film and Lea Thompson is a disco ball.

Trend - Embellished: These stars chose dresses that came with jewellery built in. Maya Rudolph wore Johanna Johnson, Melissa McCarthy picked Marina Rinaldi, Sandra Bullock wore Marchesa, and Kelly Osbourne was in Badgeley Mischka.

And these ladies mixed trends: Jane Seymour does red and sparkly in at age 61, Giuliana Rancic nailed white and sparkly in Tony Ward, Ellie Kemper's Armani Prive is both red and metallic, and Li Bingbing and Milla Jovovich both go for white and sparkle in Georges Chakra and Elie Saab respectively.