Maggie Gyllenhaal walked the red carpet last night in her own version of BAFTAS: The Frumpening. Where do I start with this dress? Maggie is wearing Lanvin, which custom-made this gown just for the occasion. They really needn’t have bothered. Maggie would have been better with something simple off the rack. She’s a very pretty woman who can really glow. You’ve seen The Secretary, right? Maggie is an excellent actress, but she sure cannot style herself, and Lanvin seems perfectly happy with indulging her bizarro whims.
Let’s start with the color of this gown, blue-violet, which is lovely and rich. The fabric is lace with grosgrain embroidery and topped with sheer sleeves. All of that would have been plenty enough. Then Lanvin completely bedazzled it with assorted jewels, fake pearls, and embellishments. Maggie’s pixie haircut also somehow contributes to the overload, which seems like a paradox. I can’t say a single nice thing about this look, which makes me sad. Her coat (in the gallery) is even worse than the dress.
Fearne Cotton is usually a right mess on the red carpet. She did not disappoint in this full-on, ultra-embellished Scaasi dress. There is a place in the fashion world for bold metallics, and that place is not on Fearne Cotton. So much gold, and so much hair. Fearne has been on a big hair kick lately. This whole look! Too much.
Joely Richardson wore William Vintage Bob Mackie. I don’t know what’s going on here. The orange dress is fine by itself, but then the gigantic embellished sun ruins everything. Was she going for something similar to this McQueen dress that Elizabeth Banks wore to a Catching Fire premiere? Who knows. This dress is from 1878.
Lea Seydoux wore this awful Miu Miu dress that made her look like a Vegas showgirl on the red carpet. Bedazzled boobs and exposed gams. I would have liked to have seen her in a more classic silhouette without all of the pomp and circumstance.
Photos courtesy of WENN
Fearne looks amazing.
Maggie’s dress isn’t all that bad, but her hair is awful. Is it for a role or something?
Lea is the worst dressed. Yuck. Shame for such a pretty girl.
Joely Richardson doesn’t deserve to be in the fugly ladies post. And I think you meant 1978 not 1878…. her dress is fine and elegant AND understated considering it’s Bob Mackie – he was the resident designer for Dynasty and Cher!!! Also, William Vintage is responsible for Gillian’s dress. In comparison, this is a win.
These other ladies, particularly Maggie were hands down fugly. She was my worst dressed for the night which is saying something considering the sea of fugliness she was competing with.
Oh Lea. How I love your films, and how I hate your fashion sense.
How old is Joely? Over forty, right? I remember she used to be rail thin (I saw one pic where you could count the bones in her back), but now she seems to have gained weight. She looks really good, and a lot younger. Her daughter looks a lot like her too–she’s beautiful. Both of them are. I’d have liked the dress a lot better without that embellishments.
Joely is pushing 50 – she was 49 a few weeks ago.
I agree that she looks great, and that her daughter is like a brunette version of her (though I’m guessing Jolie herself is probably naturally brunette). That’s three generations of statuesque beauty in that family!
This will sound horrible, but I always found Joely to be very, well, unfortunate looking. Especially in Ni/Tuck.
Really? Well, I suppose she’s not cover-girl pretty, in that she can look quite ‘sharp featured’, for want of a better expression. But I do think she’s extremely attractive, and her height makes her all the more so. I don’t think she’s nearly as good an actress as her mother though.
Well I think she looks ten times more beautiful now, than fifteen years ago, when she was a stick. The weight softens her features.
A big YUCK to all!
Oh… My eyes! Gotta agree, not good!
Feran looks amazing.
Maggie’s dress isn’t all that bad, but the hair is dreadful. Is it for a role or something?
Lea looks really bad. Shame for such a pretty girl.
*I posted this twice because I can’t always see my original comment. Weird.
I don’t think it’s for a role she has had it short a while maybe a year. It doesn’t suit her as it makes her look far older. Her mother has the same hair as well. My husband said her dress was the Pearly King/Queen those in the UK will know what I am referring to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearly_Kings_and_Queens
I kind of like Fearne’s look.
Maggie…the skirt alone with a simple top half might have been OK, but this is a mess. I like her, but her fashion sense is bizarre.
Joely’s is interesting, but not something I’d ever choose to wear.
Maggie is a terrific actress but her dress looks like my grandmother’s button basket exploded all over her bathroom curtains. Yikes.
Best and most accurate comment!! Bahaha!!
+10000
And her hair looks like she still has on your grandmother’s shower cap.
Maggie Gyllenhall laying a Massive Turd on the Carpet AGAIN… Her and Amanda Peet confound the crap out of me
Ditto that. What in the everlovin’, jewel and fake pearl encrusted f&ck is Maggie wearing?? Hurts to look at it. Joely is lovely, and wears the least offensive dress, but daamnn, Maggie. 🙁
Preach! This woman is almost aggressive in finding the ugliest clothing possible. She can look really elegant, but apparently chooses not to, EVERY. DAMN. TIME.
I like Richardson’s dress. The rest need to burn their dress choices.
Agreed.
Lea Seydoux is a bit of a chameleon, isn’t she? If she changes her hair, I struggle to recognise her.
I also like Fearn’s dress. Maybe a bit OTT for someone who wasn’t nominated for an award, but a great dress. Jolie’s dress wasn’t great, but not awful either. Lea’s hair and make-up were gorgeous, and the top of the dress was nice – albeit a bit ice-skaterish – but I am SO fed up of gauzy see-through skirts on the red carpet. As for Maggie, the less said the better. When I first saw her, I was shocked that anyone – let alone someone with her pick of designer gowns – could go out looking like that.
Lea Seydoux looks beautiful and has a nice figure. Too bad she decided to wear a sheer bottom dress. I absolutely hate the sheer bottom look. It rarely looks good. I don’t understand the concept of wearing a miniskirt or shorts under a longer see through skirt. Hope this trend ends soon.
I do not think I’ve ever seen a red carpet Lanvin that looked good. Ever. Lanvin and Rodarte (and Marchesa, except we know why people wear Marchesa) two of the bigger mysteries in fashion. Why, people? Why?
Maggie G gets alot of flack for her fashion choices, and even though she doesn’t always hit the mark, I LOVE that she takes risks. I would have like the dress without those lace sleeves.
Joely Richardson’s dress is soooo fug that she makes everyone else in this lineup look AMAZING.
Either without the sleeves, or with sleeves and without bedazzling. It looks like it is trying to be three different dresses at once.
Maggie G looks like Annette Benning.
I need someone to explain the Narch of the fug dresses. These are so dreadful I can’t believe the people wearing them have no idea. Are the gossip rags giving them kickback or something? Yeeesssh. I guess anybody can become a stylist.
Maggie G’s dress was awful- I think she will inherit Helena BC’s crown as most consistently worst dressed on red carpets.
I like vintage, so am OK with the Mackie gown- it looks great on her.
The other two- Ick!
None are great. And I still can’t believe Maggie G. Is only 36. She looks rough.
The only dress I think is particularly ugly is Seydoux’s. Maggie’s dress works on her I don’t think anyone else could have gotten away with that. I think Richardson looks great and appropriate in her dress (the dress itself is pretty neat). And Fearne is what I like to call the right kind of tacky.
Maggie G and Benedict Cumberbatch have the same hairstyle.
Maggie is easily the worst. Nothing about that works. At all.
I think Joely looks lovely, and while I don’t adore Fearne’s look, I don’t think it’s “worst of” material.
Maggie style is 99% of the time a miss.
Well since everyone in this picture gallery is wearing fug dresses I would say Maggie is in good company. I love Maggie and she is probably my biggest celeb obsession so even when she is fug she is still beautiful to me. I find her fascinating and watch anything she is in. I do wonder though if she is in on the joke and deliberately picks bad dresses. I mean there is high fashion like Cate Blanchett and Tilda Swinton and then there are those who seem to try to dress fug like Maggie and those Olson Trolls.
BTW if we’re doing a ‘worst dressed’ thing, how come there’s no mention of the Chanel monstrosity worn by Alicia Vikander? Granted, she’s not a big star and wasn’t a nominee, but her dress was unbelievably ugly. If it didn’t say ‘Chanel’ on the label, not even a charity shop would accept it.
I have a visceral negative reaction to Maggie Gylenhaal, though I loved ‘Secretary’ and think she’s talented. She seems so smug and stuck-up in a granola, older hipster kind of way, so I kind of love that she’s always trying to wear things by Lanvin and Dries van Noten and looking like a clueless, fug hot mess each and every time.
So I used to be a huge fan of Maggie, I just liked her so much as an actress but I am not so sure that I still do after seeing her at a particular get together that was low class and trashy. She looks horrid in that dress too.
Do tell.
Disagree, the Mackie dress is nice. The others…I saw Maggie’s photos yesterday and my first thought was “is she trying to be a Pearly Queen, in London” but then i saw the details and just No. Oh AND the shoes match the lace!
Maggie is no raving beauty, but she is quite cute. That said, she really frumps herself up, almost every time I see a pic of her. The hair, the dress, both are equally awful! Why make yourself look bad?? Don’t get it.
Y’know, I kinda like the gigantic embellished sun dress.
Maggie doesn’t have the stature or figure to carry off such a bold design – you need someone statuesque and glaringly self-possessed like our Cate. Maggie isn’t wearing the gown, the gown is wearing her.
Does Maggie have a stylist? I can’t imagine paying someone to do that to me.
Maggie – Eeeek! So that’s what happened to Wednesday Adams.