God, I miss Cate Blanchett when she’s not around. Last night there was a big NYC screening of Blanchett’s new film, Hanna, and Cate wasn’t there! Boo!! But Eric Bana was there, and he was looking delicious – I’ll have those photos up in a short while. For now, however, I need my Blanchett fix. I’m getting it from an exclusive interview Cate did with InStyle Australia, where she discussed her Givenchy Oscar gown/boob frame (the one in these photos). As you may remember, I loved the gown. I loved the gown mostly because Cate wore it, and because Cate can pull off looks that mere mortals couldn’t dream of. That being said, on anyone else, the dress would have been hated. Well, Cate has seen the criticism, and she has an answer. It’s a good one too.
Cate Blanchett’s 2011 Oscars dress—a couture lilac gown by Givenchy—was one of the most fashion-forward looks of the evening, and Blanchett had no qualms wearing something so avant garde, despite the hit-or-miss reaction from fans after her appearance.
“People get so worried about dressing for other people, but you’ve got to wear what you like,” Blanchett told InStyle this week while promoting her new film Hanna. “If people get it, they get it. If they don’t, then it doesn’t matter. There are so few houses that can afford to do couture, and since the red carpet is such a wonderful showcase, we should be celebrating that.”
So what did she love most about the dress?
“It was so architectural, and the breast piece is made all out of elastic,” she explained. “The color combination, I couldn’t believe it when I saw it in real life. I was tempted to wear it two ways, because if you take the top part off, it’s a really simple halter dress underneath. I thought the external piece was so unusual.”
Does the transformational element mean we might see her in this again?
“You could wear it again because it becomes a completely different dress, so, possibly,” she said.
[From InStyle Australia]
I love her. I love her justifications for wearing Givenchy couture. I love that she made it about representing High Fashion, and how it’s not for everybody, and that’s fine. La Blanchett doesn’t judge you for not liking it, she’s just saying that she liked it, and you should respect the craftsmanship. I love her. MORE BLANCHETT.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
I liked that dress. She looked gorgeous and confident in it.
I also felt in the minority, as I really liked the dress, too. She wore the hell out of it.
I did not like the dress but loved the color and beside if anyone could pull off a dress like this, it would be Cate
Go girl!
From the waist down, the colour and style of the dress is gorgeous. But the top looks repulsive. I admire her courage and confidence though.
It just the twin baby spit-up on both shoulders! With the accents in almost any other colour other than vomit yellow I think I would have loved it.
The way the top is with the sleeves and the circular chest, it makes it look like a maid’s uniform.
It just blows my mind (still) that this dress can “transform” – how cool is it, and how cool is Cate? 🙂
Bah, I didn’t like the dress at the time and now feel much shame. Now I want to see it in the alternate-halter way.
I would have loved to have seen a picture the dress without the removeable top piece for comparison.
that was my favorite of the night. and she won best dressed on gofugyourself, so I don’t know why she needs to defend herself. she killed it in that dress!
It’s not my favorite dress that she’s ever worn, but she can really pull almost anything off. And she’s right, you should wear something you love on the red carpet. So many celebs seem like they just wear whatever is trendy regardless.
She’s one of those women who ages VERY well. She is so beautiful! She’s the only person who can pull couture off and I love that she celebrates High Fashion for the art that it is. I love her reasons for the dress. It just makes me adore her more. As for the dress itself. I love the front, but not really into the back.
The dress has potential but the weird color (is that yellow? and the front panel are horrible. Get rid of the yellow and change that front and you could have a lovely dress – the way it is, not so lovely.
i absolutely loved this gown, but i agree that not everyone could pull it out. this whole line by givenchy was spectacular-the beading is amazing. tom and lorenzo have some great pictures here: http://tomandlorenzo2.blogspot.com/2011/01/givenchy-spring-2011-couture-collection.html
i think florence wore one of the stork dresses to..the grammys? or the oscars? its a hard look to pull off, but i think the dresses themselves are lovely.
As a person that suffers from Trypophobia, I can’t look at that dress without feeling itchy. It’s pretty, but I just can’t take it.
I like Cate Blanchett, she is an interesting bird She seems like one of those women you just want to go up to and talk and she just might let you. We as women are quite interesting once you get to know us . It is such as shame that went you are in a certain occupation the things that make us great falls my the wayside.
She’s beautiful and a brilliant actress, but that dress was an unmitigated disaster.
I loved that dress, it took me a while to love it, but I loved it. Not so much the back side of it but it was amazing on her. Sure it’s not a dress many could wear, but the fact that it is so original glorifies Cate’s class. I mean, who can stil be classy wearing a risky gown like that? Nobody, maybe just Tilda Swinton.
I loved that dress on her. It’s so unique and only someone like her could pull it off. The pale lavender suited her coloring and the yellow details made it more interesting. She was perfection in it. I also love how it’s a dress you wear for women more than men.
This is one off those dresses that I personally didn;t love, but I appreciate everything that went into it and love that she is a fashion girl. That’s the thing about fashion, it really is about pleasing the wearer and no one else. If it become about everyone else, it’s surely boring.
Now, just imagine Christina Hendricks in this gown AHAHHAHAH
ahhhh,she has “old lady” back.
She likes it, which is indeed what matters since she was wearing it. Now can anyone pass me a bucket to puke in, because I did not intend to look at that fetid eyesore ever again.
Cate is unbelieveable – the woman can do no wrong in my book. Code to live by: WWCD
I can’t hate on anything that she does. She is The Queen. So while that dress is probably one of the most fugly things I’ve ever laid eyes on, I have to give her hops for pulling it off so effortlessly. Go Kate! This slave of yours is about to see your new movie. That’s right. You own me.
Wow, I’m totally in the minority today.
My VERY first thought? It looks like an apron. (A la the one on the Left here: http://tinyurl.com/3zrpm6t )
The bottom wouldn’t have been so bad, but… the top just looks cheap to me.
I was one of the people the was awestruck when I saw Cate in this dress. Love everything unusual about it and Cate is one of my favorite all time actresses right next to Meryl Streep.
LOVE that dress. I loved it when I first saw it and I still love it now. Cate has an amazing sense of style. And she is right- Fashion is art. In fact its better than art because its art you can wear
She’s fabulous. I love her confidence and her style.
I love her too. And love this dress! Shape, texture, AND you can wear it more than one way! Love the way it looks like a wreath of grapes and then up close, it’s all one piece made of bubbles. From the back it kind of looks like armor too, very interesting dress and Kate rocks it.
Although I consider Cate a fine actress with great fashion sense, I felt her gown was a huge miss. In my humble opinion, the bead detailing resembled a rash of boils. I thought she tried too hard to be avant garde. I am hopeful she will calm down and continue to bring the great fashions during next years’ award season.