I haven’t looked through ALL of the Met Gala photos, but from what I’ve seen, very few celebrities really had fun with the “Punk: From Chaos to Couture” theme. I’m not sure if Anne Hathaway qualifies? Anne came as a guest of Valentino – she’s ALL about Valentino these days, Valentino designed her wedding dress, she wears a lot of Valentino on red carpets, and she came close to wearing a Valentino gown for the Oscars. This particular Valentino gown is nothing special (ugh, feathers), but it acts as a blank canvas (sort of) for her dramatic hair change: Annie’s a blonde now! I don’t know if this was just something she did to be “punk” or whatever and she’ll change it in a week. It’s a pretty dramatic change for just the Met Gala, you know?

Who does Blonde Annie remind you of? I can’t put my finger on it. There’s some January Jones there. Maybe some young Brigitte Nielsen? While the blonde doesn’t suit Anne, it’s really not as bad as I thought it would be. It does make her look less princess-y and more edgy.

Guess who else radically changed up their hair for the Met Gala? Nicole Richie. Nicole went for (temporary?) white-blue-grey and a really dark fake-tan. She wore Topshop. Can I just say? I actually love this dress. This might be one of my favorite dresses that I’ve seen so far. As for her overall look – I like that she tried something different and visually interesting for the punk theme.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

These are photos from the “AOL 2013 Digital Content NewFront” in NY last night. Nicole Richie and Sarah Jessica Parker have new shows premiering online with AOL On. Nicole Richie’s show will be a kind of reality show focusing on her life, and somehow based on her Twitter feed. The one clip I’ve seen, in which Nicole inquires about getting her tramp stamp tattoo removed, makes it seem more down-to-earth and less scripted than your average reality show. It’s called “#CandidlyNicole,” and you can see a clip here.

Nicole premiered a new hairstyle and color at last night’s event. It’s um, not cute on her and reminds me of hair I had in first grade when mushroom cuts were all the rage. The last time we saw her she didn’t have bangs and was sporting a very flattering collar-length blunt cut. Maybe those bangs are clip-in though, but the fancy kind that a stylist puts in. They do look a little fake to me, so I’m hoping Nicole can pop them off and go back to normal.

In terms of Nicole’s dress, I don’t have an ID on it but it’s very “Dynasty” with the shoulder pads, long sleeves with buttons and high neckline. The whole look is 70s, which is her vibe lately.

Also there was Sarah Jessica Parker, also in white but in a very cute, flattering white cap sleeve v-neck dress with a hemline just above the knee. I love that gold necklace and her hair and makeup are very well done. She looks great here! Have you noticed that she has her hands in her pockets in just about every photo? Maybe that story about her wanting to get some work done on her hands is accurate.

SJP has a new show called “City.Ballet,” a “docuseries” about the New York City Ballet. She explained to E! that she hopes the show will help promote the ballet to tourists. She also told E! that she doesn’t do phone calls anymore and just focuses on e-mail, which is what a lot of people do. But SJP also claimed that she doesn’t own a cell phone, then talked about checking her Blackberry. It was confusing to me. She said:

“I don’t because I don’t like being behind in both phone calls and emails. So I chose emails because when you’re on a set you can carefully and sneakily check a BlackBerry, but you can’t return a phone call. Hearing ‘Your voicemail is full’ is horrifying to me.”

So maybe she means she doesn’t do phone calls, but the title and lead up claimed she didn’t own a cell phone. Isn’t a Blackberry a cell phone? No I get it, she doesn’t like taking calls anymore, but it’s not like she’s not accessible.

Oh did you see these new photos of SJP and Matthew Broderick out a couple of days ago holding hands? That’s rare, so I thought I might include them. Maybe things are picking up for these two.

Photo credit: FameFlynet

These are photos of Nicole Richie at Paris fashion week earlier this month, and once again, I am marvelling at how she’s left former BFF Paris Hilton languishing in the dust. During their “Simple Life” days, Paris was kind of a big deal, and everyone just kind of looked at Nicole as the unkempt, somewhat funny sidekick. Now Nicole has completely remade herself with a fashion mini-empire, and she’s pretty stable with two kids and a family life and everything.

While there have been buzzings around Nicole and Joel having trouble while he’s away in Australia filming “The Voice,” I think they’re actually fine. In fact, Joel has been gushing about Nicole a lot lately by admitting he had to beg Nicole to date him, and he wrote a sweet letter: “Sometimes I keep it to myself and sometimes I can’t help myself and I gotta tell the whole world how much I love her. I feel like the luckiest man alive to have my wife and kids. When the world outside breaks me down, they build me back up. Hope everyone out there finds this kind of love.” Hmm. I have a feeling that if, say, a woman would have written that note, we’d find it suspicious, but with Joel it seems authentic, right? We’ll see.

Nicole recently appeared on Chelsea Handler’s show, and Chelsea asked her about motherhood stuff. In response, Nicole said she’s really not looking to have another kid anytime soon, and she’s also tired of how moms talk about everything that goes on with their kids. Here are some highlights:

Nicole Richie is glad to be done with diaper duty. During an Apr. 23 appearance on Chelsea Lately, the Fashion Star mentor and mom to Harlow, 5, and Sparrow, 3, revealed she’s not sure she’s ready for a third child.

“You haven’t had a baby in forever. What’s your problem?” host Chelsea Handler joked. “Are you being selfish right now?”

Richie fired back, “I’m just chillin’. Let me just chill! I really like that they’re doing their own thing. They’re at school until 3. I don’t have to, like, look after them — or even think about them! It’s like every other day.”

When asked point blank if she wants to expand her family, Richie replied, “I don’t know.” Unlike some mothers, Joel Madden’s wife said she’s not one to brag about her kids’ every attribute. “They want to talk about their spit-up and how cute their boogers are. I try to not be that mom,” she explained. “I know what is really cute and what I only think is cute.”

The former “Simple Life” star is enjoying some free time now that her children are becoming more independent. In fact, Richie recently went on a childless vacation with a group of friends (including fellow mother of two Jessica Alba). “Everyone left their kids at home,” the 31-year-old House of Harlow designer said. “It worked out great.”

[From Us Weekly]

I agree that, in general, moms tend to give too much TMI about their kids, and I try really hard not to fall into that trap, but it happens sometimes. Also, I can totally understand why Nicole might be relishing her private time at the moment and why she’d be reluctant to give that up for another baby. Babies are so much work, and it’s great that Nicole can admit she’s probably not willing to deal with diapers again. Honesty!

Photos courtesy of WENN

We’re done with our red carpet Oscar coverage and we’re moving on to the parties. We’ll have photos from the Vanity Fair Oscar Party coming up shortly! I’d like to talk about some of the people at Elton John’s Oscar Party, especially Britney Spears. She looks so different as a brunette, doesn’t she? Britney really changed gears with her styling and she looks thrilled about it. Look at her, the old Britney is almost back, bitches! I’m not even sure I can get used to her as a brunette, but this look is still worlds apart from the blonde hair and heavy black eyeliner she usually sports. What color is her hair now, a kind of honey brown? It’s obvious that a lot of it is fake, but it suits her. Her makeup is too orange but that’s a minor complaint.

Britney’s dress is Michael Cinco Couture. It’s not bad. The deep v-neck is a little much and I don’t like those shoulder pads (No one except Jane Fonda can pull off shoulder pads). It fits well and is flattering, though. I’m impressed. Oh I should mention that there are rumors that Britney’s Vegas deal isn’t going to come to fruition because she never sings live. Those stories don’t ring true for me, because wouldn’t that be a given going into those talks?

Nicole Richie was also sporting a deep v-neck in a loose white dress with black geometric accents. I don’t have a designer ID on it yet but this is similar to Nicole’s past looks – very loose, a little 70s. From the front it’s not bad, but from the side you can see the entire outline of her implant. Not good, cover it up a little. It was nice that her husband Joel Madden came with her, they’ve lasted for a long time and still seem loved-up.

My girl Nina Dobrev hasn’t been hitting the right fashion notes lately and that makes me sad. Here she is in this bold black and white brocade print gown that fits her like a freaking glove but just looks too busy to me. As always her styling is impeccable. Nina was there with her boyfriend, Ian Somerhalder, but they didn’t get all pose-y together.

Also there we have the lovely and talented Emmy Rossum, looking way too twee in this Catherine Deane white and silver gown. On its own, with different styling, this dress could work. It’s actually contemporary and striking when you look at the details of the dress. It’s of course Emmy’s styling that’s throwing it off. Her giant drop earrings and that big tiara-like hair headband look ridiculous together.

It’s too bad that Emmy’s movie Beautiful Creatures didn’t take off at the box office. It looked poised to be another Twilight, but I don’t think it got enough promotion.

Photo credit: WENN.com

There are a bunch of parties this weekend in the lead-up to The Academy Awards and we’ll be bringing you coverage today and tomorrow. Here we have some photos from the QVC Red Carpet Style Party at the Four Seasons last night. I want to start with Nicole Richie in Etro as this was a standout dress. The bodice was too complicated with that bizarre paisley butterfly-looking print, and my initial response is “fug,” but compared to the other guests Nicole took a real risk with her gown. There were a lot of plain black dresses and black pantsuits last night. I don’t know if if this risk paid off for her. I’m not a fan of her very smoky eyes, but overall she looked hot without showing too much skin. Her red platform pumps are ill-matched to the gown, although she may have been going for a pop of color to offset the gothic dress.

Speaking of hot we have Miranda Kerr working a green lacy Burberry dress with an open back and sheer neckline. She looks amazing and her hair and makeup are so pretty. I really like her pointy gold t-strap heels too.

Heidi Klum played it relatively safe, for her, in a black strapless LBD with sequin accents. It’s kind of a forgettable dress, but it’s a win for Heidi in that it’s not over-the-top fug and she’s not showing a lot of skin. Her hair is pretty and she surely has extensions but it looks natural here.

Jennifer Hudson looked really comfy in a black fitted tee paired with loose split pants. This looks like something I would wear to dinner and it seems a little too casual. Maybe it would have been more suited to the event if she added a cute jacket and had the pants tailored around her waistline. I really like her jewelry, particularly that cool gold cuff.

When I first saw the thumbnail photo of Marisa Tomei here I thought she was Sandra Bullock in a particularly unflattering hairstyle. Instead it’s Marisa with this poofy coif wearing a fussy lace and mesh dress shirt. Like Jennifer Hudson, I appreciate that she’s wearing pants but that shirt is just awful. Look at the thick silk cuffs and the tiers of mismatched beads and sequins on top! It’s overkill. At least she’s having fun with it.

Photo credit: WENN.com

Sofia Vergara brought her usual look to the Golden Globes red carpet last night. She wore a slinky black mermaid dress by Michael Cinco, and she stated, “He’s a new designer for me, I’ve never heard of him. But I saw the dress. Usually I try to stay away from black but I thought it was amazing.” Sure, Sofia looks amazing here, but she looks like she always does. I hate to sound like a downer, but Sofia does this type of dress — the same exact bustline with sequins and a mermaid or fish tail — all the time. So yes, she’s beautiful but very boring once again. I’d love for her to try out something new and adventurous (for her).

Sofia’s accessories also fit with her usual shtick. The diamonds are by Lorraine Schwartz, and the flat-ironed hair and makeup all scream “Sofia!” It’s one thing to have a distinctive style, but I’d love to see her in a short, fun dress with strappy sandals, a dearth of flashy diamonds, and a cute bracelet with understated makeup and cascading curls. Just anything besides the usual Sofia look.

Julianne Hough looked like Rumpelstiltskin vomited all over the king’s daughter’s poufy white ball gown. This is a Monique Lhuillier number that is just way too dramatic (especially with that eye makeup), but Julianne really thought it looked great on the rack: “I have got to wear that.” She completed the look with a Ferragamo clutch, and jewelry made from an actual carob beatle and stick insect. Gross. Also, her hair looks like “The Miley” without the haircut.

Olivia Munn wore a strapless Giorgio Armani dress that looked like separates but was really just one unfortunate piece. The top part of the dress is almost fully encrusted with turquoise on top of navy, and to me, this is a pretty unflattering look. Oliva should have gone with a sleeker dress. She accessorized with an Armani clutch and heels as well plus a Chopard choker necklace, which are all very meh to me. Her face also looks really shiny and frozen. Too much botox, baby.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus wore a Vera Wang ball gown that made her seem a lot larger than her actual size. Acutally, I think this was a Very Wang organza tablecloth. Does Vera do house decor? Well, she certainly has an eye for it from the looks of this awful dress. Julia’s makeup also looks really washed out.

Nicole Richie confuses me. She wore a powder blue Naeem Kaan dress that was very demure in comparison to those trashy years that she was better known as Paris Hilton’s unfortunate sidekick. To be certain, I do appreciate the grown-up attitude that Nicole has adopted, but this dress is just strange on her. It would have looked okay with blonde hair, but the caramel brown locks and the day-glo makeup make this whole outfit look a little bit drag queeny. No offense to drag queens. Some of them have great style.

Photos courtesy Fame/Flynet and WENN

Katie Holmes made her first official public appearance last night at the Style Awards, which kick off New York Fashion Week, where (for better or worse) Holmes & Yang will show its latest line in a huge show within the tents at Lincoln Center. Certainly, Katie must be burning with nervous energy at the very thought, and my general reaction here is that she looks really tired and in need of a substantial nap.

As far as fashion goes, Katie wore a Carolina Herrera skirt-and-shirt combo, and she was on hand to present the “Designer of the Year” award to Herrera, so that explains her choice of clothing for the evening. Look at her shoes though! The fug booties were obviously left at home in the care of Suri, and while the shirt looks like something we’ve been watching Katie wear all summer long throughout she and Suri’s NYC jaunts, the skirt is just funky enough to add some kick to the outfit. Understated hair and makup complete her look quite nicely, and this is a fairly appropriate way for Katie to make her return to the red carpet.

Nicole Richie was there too and wore a Anthony Vaccarello cutout-styled dress. The color and the fabric of the dress are stunning against Nicole’s skin, but it’s a tad bit too revealing. At least Nicole pulls it off because she’s not so busty — otherwise, it would have been a rather obscene look. Her hair and makeup fit with the offbeat mood of the dress.

Amy Adams attended as well and wore an eggplant Giambattista Valli dress. This dress is acceptable but not very dramatic. I’d like to see Amy take a few more risks on the red carpet, but it’s not like she’s known as a fashion girl either. Perhaps if Amy had gone with loose, flowing curls, she could have made more of an impact here. Those pointy-toed shoes are pretty awful though.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet

Here’s a cute photo of Nicole Richie on 5/12 at the Fifi Awards in New York City, and as usual, she attended the event all by her lonesome. Of course, this time there’s a valid excuse for husband Joel Madden’s absence, for he’s been busy shooting the Australian version of “The Voice.” Yet his presence down under has allegedly been a source of potential marital conflict as well, and there’s a story in this week’s issue of Star that alludes to trouble forecasted in another Star story from early January, which stated that Nicole was quite frustrated because Joel never takes care of their kids, and she was starting to feel like a single parent. Now that Joel is working on a separate continent, Star maintains that the marital tension has only grown worse, and now Nicole has apparently flown to Australia as well to help curb Joel’s “errative behavior” on the set. This combination of factors sounds like a total mess:

Nicole Richie to the rescue! The busy mom of two and “Fashion Star” mentor rushed to husband Joel Madden’s side, according to an insider, after learning of his erratic behavior while judging the Australian version of “The Voice.”

Signs of trouble were esspecially clear on May 14, when his bizarre antics forced the show’s reps to deny that he was intoxicated. In addition to making inappropriate comments to performers, “Joel was waving his hands around and looking wild-eyed,” says the insider. “The network claimed he was just nervous, but this is a rock star who’s used to playing in front of thousands of fans.”

Now Nicole is working hard to keep her mate in line by scheduling plenty of outings with daughter Harlow, 4, and son Sparrow, 2. “Joel swings between acting like a single man and partying without Nicole to wanting her beside him all the time,” another source tells Star. It’s like she has three kids.”

[From Star, print edition, June 4, 2012]

On one hand, it makes sense that Joel could be nervous with impromptu dialogue for the program if he’s only used to playing a well-rehearsed set, but it still sounds like the network’s publicists are just making excuses for him. Whatever the case, being drunk at work and wanting to party without his wife are neither signs of a decent employee nor a happily married man, respectively speaking. If this story is true, then Nicole would have good reason to be irritated with Joel, and it’s not fair if she really does feel like she has three children instead of two kids and a husband.

Here’s a photo of Joel in Beverly Hills on 3/12 with purple and blue stripes in his hair. What a rock star.

Photos courtesy of WENN

Nicole Richie covers the April issue of Flare magazine to promote her upcoming television show, “Fashion Star” (also starring Jessica Simpson), which will air on NBC. While the cover shot leaves something to be desired, the rest of the photoshoot (which I’ve included at the bottom of this post) is much more flattering in terms of styling. At present, the portions of released interview are rather scant, but I’ve managed to rustle up a few illuminating tidbits. Among other concerns, Nicole appears to be a very devoted mother who worries how Hollywood will eventually treat her two children, Harlow Winter Kate (4) and Sparrow James Midnight (2). At the moment, Nicole is all for keeping them in the dark about their fame as well as that of their parents:

Harlow doesn’t know she’s famous: “She has no idea that she has two lines named after her — I try and let her be a kid.”

She’s a morning person: “I wake up at 5:30 in the morning, every morning, so I can be alone. I don’t have anywhere to be, but mentally, I like to go downstairs and drink my coffee … I’m telling you, it changes my entire day.”

On Hollywood rolel models: “I was just talking to a friend of mine who has two little girls about a certain singer whose name I won’t mention. He was really upset, saying she wasn’t a good role model for his kids. But here’s the thing: that girl is 20-something, so she shouldn’t be a role model to your little girls. She’s human, and it’s unrealistic to put people on a pedestal and expect that they’re not going to make mistakes.”

[From Flare]

Nicole sounds so grounded here and worlds apart from her old DUI self, who would never dream of getting out of bed before sunrise to drink coffee and enjoy a few fleeting moments to herself. To be certain, she’s eclipsed Paris Hilton’s potential maturity by an exponential rate.

One thing that I am curious about is which singer Nicole is referring to in terms of a bad role model. If I had to put my finger on it, I’d guess it was Katy Perry, whose bubblegum, sugary image places her music inside of virtually every preschool- and elementary-aged dance recital that I’ve ever attended within the past few years. My own daughter’s friends adore Katy and think that she shoots fireworks “out of her heart.” If they only knew.

Photos courtesy of Flare

These are some new photos of Jessica Simpson at the NBC Winter Press Tour in Pasadena on Friday. OMG. I mean, she’s so beautiful, and she’s so, so pregnant, but it’s just amazing to me that Jessica is, like, barely six months along. I don’t even think she’s hit the six-month mark yet! She keeps saying that she’s due “in the Spring”. And this is how huge she is in her SECOND trimester. I understand that every woman carries differently, but I’d just like to point out, yet again, how weird Beyonce’s pillowy pregnancy was compared to Jessica’s obvious pregnancy. Everything about Jessica looks preggo, her face, her arms, her boobs, her bump, EVERYTHING. Even her hair looks pregnant. She’s a super-cute pregnant girl, isn’t she? I like that there are still some celebrities who carry heavily.

Jessica was promoting her new NBC show, Fashion Star, which is kind of a Project Runway knock-off. Jessica plays – no joke – the Tim Gunn-esque “mentor” figure to the contestants. Like, she comes in to the workroom and tells them what to change, etc. E! News had an interview with Jessica about the project:

Cute. I mean, good God, her boobs are HUGE. They look gigantic in that video. I’m also including a photo of Jessica with her creepy father, who has gotten himself a super-creepy haircut that makes him look… ridiculous.

I’m also including photos of Nicole Richie at this event – I absolutely loathe her hair here. It does nothing for her, and it looks super-damaged and busted. I like her outfit, though. Anyway, Nicole is one of the judges on Fashion Star (like, she‘s the Nina Garcia), and despite rumors to the contrary, she and Jessica do get along. Allegedly. We’ll see.

Photos courtesy of Fame.