Here are some photos from the red carpet for last night’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, the annual event where Washington journalists, Hollywood types and politicians come together to get really drunk. Every year, there are more and more celebrities invited to this thing, but please, don’t even blame the White House for that. Most of the celebrities in attendance were guests of the media outlets, who try to out-do one another by inviting bigger and bigger stars or whatever reality show “celebrity” will get them press. Unfortunately, most Washington photojournalists have no idea how to take photos for a fashion-heavy event, which is why we don’t have many beauty shots. Anyway, here’s Katy Perry in Giambattista Valli. Katy might have been the best-dressed woman at the event, quite honestly.
Kerry Washington in Wes Gordon. Please do not create some elaborate conspiracy theory about Kerry and Obama. Kerry plays a woman having an affair with a fictional president in Scandal. It’s not real life! That being said, I’m suspicious because her bangs look like Mobama’s.
Sofia Vergara in… I don’t know, can’t find the ID. She looks pretty.
Sharon Stone looking like Cruella de Vil.
Rebel Wilson in Theia – now, Rebel WAS a guest of Michelle Obama.
Julie Bowen in Monique Lhuillier – her hair is wrong, but otherwise she looks fine.
Claire Danes in Prada – I like it! Hugh Dancy needs some facial hair or something.
Connie Britton in Temperley London. Pretty color, but it seems like it’s too tight.
Elizabeth Banks in Roland Mouret. I don’t like her new hair color and I think this salmon/orange is wrong for her coloring.
And here’s the Duck Dynasty guy and his wife.
Photos courtesy of David Bodrick/DMBJ/WENN.com.
“When pretty people come to the Nerd Prom”? Meh, I’m sure there were just as many attractive and probably intelligent/well accomplished people to boot who are not in the entertainment business who were in attendance. They are probably just not well known in Pop culture at least.
+1
+2
+3
LOL, in the first pic of Katy it looks like a tag on her hip.
Sharon’s outfit is happening!!!!
Only if the fur is fake . . .
Word.
Unless Sharon was ever an anti-fur advocate, unfortunately I seriously doubt that it’s fake. Real fur ‘kills’ any outfit, for me. As far as I’m concerned, she may has well be wearing a trash bag with arm holes.
Agreed. Real fur grosses me out.
Connie will always be Mrs Coach in my heart. Texas Forever!
seriously, is that a tag or a birth control patch?
wth
It looks like a tag.
Who the hell decides who gets to go? The Duck Dynasty people? Sharon Stone? I am confused.
It’s a dinner for journalists, so (like Kaiser said) it’s their media outlets who invite the celebrities to be at their table, which kind of defeats the purpose. Instead of a night where the media get to hang out with the President and, ideally, see and report on him in a social setting, what we now have is an endless stream of Hollywood types who want press coverage.
I remember it being much more prestigious, but that’s been watered down by all these people the press invites. Sometimes, I think certain outlets invite the lowest tier D-listers just to get a kick out of seeing tacky glamour models and reality stars from the boondocks rubbing elbows with the President.
Tom Brokaw was right. This event has become an annual joke.
Obama ‘rubs elbows’ with a lot of celebrities, it seems.
Agreed, Andrea. I shutter at the thought but I actually agreed with Sarah Palin on this. And Tom Brokaw. This has become a joke.
Wow. Katy Perry actually looks elegant. Good for her. Tired of the kool-aid hair.
To be fair it’s not hard to look like one of the more elegant people on a guest list that includes the guy from Duck Dynasty…
Duck Dynasty’s wife is actually pretty classy if you watch her on the show. She’s always dressed well and is clean and the complete opposite of what you’d expect her to be. They’re actually all such humble people. I never understand why people consider them trash.
I think her dress is my favorite. She really does look beautiful, & actually classy, which is a first (though I do feel sorry for her over the ‘tag showing’ faux pas.)
All the ladies look very nice and appropriate for the venue. Good for them!
so much for a free press… the official death of this annual event was in 2006 when stephen colbert gave one of the bravest and funniest appearances ever — and thoroughly exposed the political press corpse for the humorless, narcissistic group it is..
this ‘event’ has devolved into a pathetic gathering of famewhoring celebrities/business ceos and media fanboys and girls; that disguises itself as a fundraising event.
which last year provided $100k in scholarships.. big whoops — the cheap bastards.
and that they have conferred the tag ‘nerd prom’ as their gathering is just too cutesie..
Yeah – agree that 2006 was the amazing highlight of this event. I don’t get why news outlets etc invite all these random celebrities. It seems pointless – I don’t see it as advertisement, I just see it as odd.
You make a very good point e.anon. All these celebrities just take away from what the event is about. As an above poster said, I bet there were a lot of interesting political people there who aren’t big name celebrities (but that poli sci type people might know of).
Unfortunately, DC has a bit of an inferiority complex (“it’s Hollywood for ugly people” is a common joke), and that has translated to co-opting Hollywood’s claim to fame when DC should be embracing it’s own culture: the well-educated, the powerful, the policymakers, etc.
But we’ve dumbed down as a nation so I’m really not surprised they’re pandering to this level of “fame.”
DC has a superiority complex, actually. I’ve lived here for many years. My retort to the old joke is that Hollywood is DC for stupid people. DC is not courting celebrities. News outlets are.
@Green Turtle – Not that I disagree (at all), but you have to admit that Obama himself (& his people/PR) court celebrities all the time. (Reference – his seemingly ‘close’ relationship with Beyonce/Jay Z & Will Smith.) I’ve always felt it was truly inappropriate for a POTUS to be an accomplished socialite to this extent.
@Hakura, I see what you’re saying. I was speaking just to the correspondents dinner, here. I guess I was bristling at what I interpreted as a sentiment that politicians et al were cozying up to celebs in some sad attempt to make themselves look more famous or important. In short, fame-whoring. :). It’s all about money, IMO. Each side is using the other. Jay and Bey want a piece of the first black president, which makes them feel like big power players. Obama’s camp welcomes Bey and Jay hosting spendy fundraisers and providing free press. It’s mutual opportunism that buys both sides access to more power. I agree that it’s really unseemly at the presidential level, but that’s where the biggest fundraising push is. Other than that, however, I don’t see any indications that DC is trying to co-opt Hollywood’s fame or that it’s losing the local culture.
Yeah, everyone in DC suffers from a case of Potomac fever.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus was there, she was gorgeous and she’s awesome in Veep (describes DC to a T).
@ Hakura-
My sentiments exactly.
It is entirely unseemly for FLOTUS and POTUS to court such Hollywood relationships. Just personally, I would like to see POTUS spend less time FaceBooking, on Jimmy Fallon, etc. and more time in Washington trying to come up w/ policy to boost the economy and restore our prior credit rating.
My feelings only, lovely ladies, please don’t begin screaming names at me or telling me I have no soul, lol. I think all of us as Americans can feel how we like about the guy residing in 1600 Penn. Ave…don’t y’all?
Katy Perry and Rebel WIlson are the best dressed I think…
Claire Danes always looks a good ten years older than her age. Like the dress though.
I like a lot of these gowns, especially Katy’s (never thought I’d say that!). Sofia’s is pretty, Kerry looks great, I like the color of Rebel’s, and shocker, I actually like Julie Bowen’s for once!
Sharon Stone seems to finally be aging, for a while there I was suspecting she was a robot.
Obama’s bangs were pretty funny. Had a good chuckle at that.
Michelle Dockery in Elie Saab was the best of the lot imho:
http://www.redcarpet-fashionawards.com/2013/04/28/michelle-dockery-in-elie-saab-2013-white-house-correspondents-association/
I like Claire Danes’ dress but it seems at least a size too big for her, and her hair and make-up are a bit casual.
Michelle’s is very pretty!
Katy Perry looks beautiful. I don’t watch the Duck Dynasty show? His wife is gorgeous! Wow!
Nicole Kidman in Emilio Pucci:
http://www.redcarpet-fashionawards.com/2013/04/28/nicole-kidman-in-emilio-pucci-2013-white-house-correspondents-association-dinner/
The dress is lovely, but oh my god, her face!!! She looks barely human. For a while, it looked as though she was easing up on the botox and fillers. Apparently not.
God. She looks like one of those creepy ‘high-end store’ mannequins… The ones whose eyes seem to follow you wherever you go… o_O
Meh. She looked good actually, but her hair continues to baffle me. Looks bad.
Forgot to add, Kidman will be part of this year impressive Cannes Film Fest jury (along with Ang Lee, Waltz and president Steven Spielberg)……So, perhaps this (elegant lilac Emilio Pucci gown) is a good fashion omen for Cannes!!!!
I wonder how many courses of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner are still clinging to Duck Dynasty dude’s beard about now.
Also, Hugh Dancy doesn’t need facial hair, I think he just needs a very long nap.
Best dressed of the night: Michelle Dockery and *gasp!* Katy Perry.
I like the Duck Dynasty’s wife (date)’s dress. It’s really pretty and so is she! Next would be Katy and the rest meh.
Just saw a picture of Michelle’s dress. She would be 2nd place. I love that beading!
Washinton’s make-up is terrible.
I cannot stand when women wear eye shadow like Sharon Stone has on, it makes them look evil or sick.
Bowen’s face is TWEAKED.
Is Hugh Dancy sick?
Does anyone watch Hugh Dancy’s new show, Hannibal? For a while there I couldn’t believe it was him, because he was just so different……the only other things I had seen him in was Ella Enchanted and Confessions of a Shopaholic….he’s gotten to be a very good actor.
I think he looks a bit off and shaved because of his character, that’s got to take a toll on an actor…to act so high strung and a little crazy all the time on a set. On the show he has a shadow a beard, so maybe he didn’t want to be grungy.
I wouldn’t even want to go to this event, knowing that they’re just inviting you for coverage….I think inviting Lindsey Lohan last year would’ve convinced me never to go….who knows, her crack dna is probably still stuck onto her seat, and has killed/infected anyone who sits there. Maybe that’s how she’ll finally go to jail…murder one, with a dangerous weapon at the crime scene.
Sharon Stone is completely out of her mind-what’s new? Everyone else looks appropriate. I like Kerry Washington’s ensemble the best, maybe because I can envision Michelle wearing it.
This is the Correspondent’s dinner, not the Oscars-the rich and famous CAN overdress (in terms of label price). Prada is pretty on Claire Danes, but is it fashion that is within the reach of any of us 98/99-ers?
BTW, after watching the wicked “House of Cards” spoof, I wonder, HOW DID THESE PEOPLE GET TICKETS? Is it because they are celebrities? How undemocratic (with a little “d”).
Anonny I’m glad you mentioned Tom Brokaw; read some articles about why he boycotted this “event”, agree with him, you and other posters.
Do you think Katy Perry knows who, without being told, the VP and the Secretary of Defense are – or even cares. E.non said it best tacky famewhoring mostly.
What’s with all the pink crap on Sofia Vergara?
Brokaw was indeed right. And when E! does a red carpet on their channel, the even has jumped the shark. I still like the idea of it, if they shift the focus back it can be saved. I thought that’s what all the parties during the week and the day after brunches here were for
Michelle Dockery and Emily Mortimer (both of whom aren’t in this post)were best dressed and Katy Perry comes in third.
Katie Perry looks beautiful in that dress – it’s perfect for her.
Unfortunate about the tag and the hair, however…
This event jumped the shark when Lindsay Lohan was invited.
I like Julie Bowen’s dress from the waist up. Nice fabric. The bottom ruins it, IMO. I’m just not into dresses with uneven hemlines. They really irritate me.
+1 – And the hemline stops at such a weird length…
I can’t believe how much I love Katy Perry’s dress. It is classy, elegant, and beautiful. Too bad about the tag, but I’m loving that belt.
I can see Claire Danes’s nips, and I can see Elizabeth Banks’s nips, and I do not appreciate this trend. Thanks, Anne Hathaway. Thanks a lot.
I’m scared of Sharon Stone!
Hide your Dalmatians!
Seriously. Spend that much on a dress and the tag still shows? Stars: they’re just like us!
Who cares.
I feel like these fashion options are more fun and diverse than what we’ve been seeing at the Globes, SAGs etc lately. Hooray for a big fashion event outside of the awards season.
And I guarantee not a one of the people above could tell you anything about Obamas policies. LOL! Katy Perry looks like she is wearing curtains.