Cate Blanchett lost in Louis Vuitton at the Oscars: frumpy or interesting?

While I was unequivocally happy for Michelle Yeoh when she won the Best Actress Oscar, I was also somewhat bummed for Cate Blanchett. Maybe we’ll look back on this awards season and understand when and where the shift happened, because back in December/January, I would have said that Tar and Cate were locks on many of the big awards, and deservedly so – Tar is a masterpiece, a brilliant film with one of Blanchett’s best-ever performances. That being said, I don’t think Cate was upset about losing to Michelle Yeoh. She seemed almost embarrassed to win some of the early awards, and she clearly knew how big this was for Yeoh. Anyway, all of that to say… Cate did not dress like she expected to win the Oscar. She wore this Louis Vuitton look which… kind of sucks. I mean, it’s not actually terrible, I just expect so much more from Cate.

I don’t expect more from Ana de Armas – she’s been a Louis Vuitton brand ambassador for several years, and they made bespoke pieces for her throughout the awards season. Unmemorable, boring, vanilla, bland. I will say this though – much like Cate’s look, it’s not actively terrible, just kind of disappointing. I hated her center part, hair-down look too.

Kate Hudson also wore Louis Vuitton. This isn’t great. I don’t get why she picked this.

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Photos courtesy of Getty, Avalon Red.

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45 Responses to “Cate Blanchett lost in Louis Vuitton at the Oscars: frumpy or interesting?”

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  1. Nikomikaelx says:

    Cate wast the biggest contender for Michelle, but lets be clear from january last year to yesterday Michelle was allways a lock.

    • Kebbie says:

      Since January? How so? She won the GG for Actress in a Comedy, I guess? That’s barely even a precursor, I don’t think anyone takes the Golden Globes seriously. SAG was the only precursor she took that mattered and that was like two weeks ago.

      Unless you just mean “lock” from that standpoint of you think she deserved it. The people predicting the awards very much had Cate taking it for almost all of awards season though.

  2. Danbury says:

    I quite liked Cate’s outfit – but for sure she wasn’t dressed to win

    • Watson says:

      This. I think she knew it wasn’t her night. It’s a cool outfit but for Cate this is the equivalent of giving the old college try.

    • Kebbie says:

      Yeah I really hated it at first because I expected something different, but it started to grow on me a little. I wondered if maybe this was a backup she wore after the carpet color change. Or she just knew after Michelle took the SAG it wasn’t her night? She definitely wasn’t dressed to win her third Oscar though.

    • BothSidesNow says:

      I love Cates dress!! It’s unpredictable and I love how it falls on her and she wears it brilliantly too.

      As for Ana, the dress is fine but it washes her out. And Kate looks gawd awful. WTH was she thinking??

      Hell, Cate looked better than a majority of the attendees!!

    • Lizzie says:

      I’ve been thinking about it, I love Cates look but it’s not an Oscar look (at least for me). As always, she is beautiful and classic.

  3. greenmonster says:

    Hate all three dresses. Cate’s looks like she just ripped drapes from a window, wrapped herself in them and tucked them in. Ana’s dress is washing her out – the color does nothing for her (but that was a common theme last night). Kate’s dress is awful, as is her makeup. She looks older than she actually is.

  4. SAS says:

    Cate looks great but it’s like the Oscar is missing from her outfit? Do you know what I mean? She looks like she’s not dressed to win, but it would have been a striking look if she did win. Hmm.

    Not to threadjack but Anna and Kates afterparty looks were a thousand times better than these looks!

  5. Original penguin says:

    The beige dresses look even more washed out on the beige carpet. They definitely need the red carpet to ‘pop’

  6. Tanguerita says:

    Tar was such an elitist muddy take on “me too”movement. I am glad neither Cate nor the film did win.

    • Diana B says:

      Same!

    • Isabella says:

      I hate the whole premise of Tar. The U.S. has exactly one female conductor in a major orchestra, Natalie Stutzmann, promoted in 2021, in Atlanta. But already we should worry about what could happen to hypothetical men. What if a woman did a #metoo? After all these centuries of male domination.

      Maybe we should’ve had a male Tar. There are plenty of them.

  7. Seaflower says:

    Cate’s outfit looked like something that Kath would wear in velour from Kath and Kim (Aussie comedy).

  8. Sharon says:

    IMHO Cate’s campaign came to a halt after the BAFTAs. I cant put my finger on why after that…

    • TwinFalls says:

      It came to a halt after she gave the speech about awards not meaning anything.

      • Coco says:

        No it didn’t she went to even more even and gave more interviews after that .

        Cate pulls this same I’m over everything very she’s nominated, campaign strategy.

  9. Nanea says:

    Cate was one of several people to wear vintange, and, in her case, seperates that don’t look bad but just not right for the Oscars.

  10. TIFFANY says:

    Is Hudson expecting again?

    • MaryContrary says:

      I was wondering the same thing. I think it might just be the dress because I feel like she looked more like herself at the after party in bright pink.

      • TIFFANY says:

        It would not surprise me if she is. Her oldest is at college and Kate likes having kids in the house.

  11. slippers4life says:

    I think the “champagne” carpet washed out several looks..Kate Hudson being one of them. Anything silver, nude, light looks too bland on that carpet. My guess is Kate Hudson chose this because of the sparkle. I wonder if it would look different on a red carpet. For example Michelle Williams would have photographed so differently on a red carpet. The “champagne ” carpet didn’t photograph well and look to me like they are walking into a dental clinic.

    • Inka says:

      I don’t think it washes her out, I think it’s like the ultimate mermaid dress? The dress all wavy and flowy and her skin and makeup glowing.

  12. Gelya says:

    I am couple of years younger than Cate. I think that dress makes her look matronly. I always like Cate’s style because she does age appropriate with a hint of youthful flair. I didn’t like Ana’s dress. She is so beautiful. Kate’s dress is standard for her. I did love the top of the dress.

  13. Keats says:

    I wonder if Ana’s dress is the kind that looks incredible in person but photos kind of flat? I am a little indifferent toward Kate Hudson’s dress but she had a great hair night (but maybe not well styled for the dress? I can’t decide)

  14. Kate says:

    Awful dress on Cate! It’s almost like she knew she wasn’t going to win.

    Ana looks beautiful, but the the colour really washes her out. She needed a tan.

    That horrible beige carpet ruined so many looks.

  15. Jen says:

    I like Cate’s look. I think it’s elegant and regal.

    • Barbie1 says:

      I think so too.

    • J says:

      I agree. Maybe a tad bit old for her, but she definitely looks regal, and that outfit looks comfortable, which is basically priority number one for me for any event I attend, even fancy ones!

  16. Betsy says:

    I’m biased as that is my favorite color of blue and I can’t see anything past it.

  17. NMB says:

    Cate is boring in this dress. Kate Hudson has never looked more like her mother. (No negative context/connotation, just an observation.)

  18. Sara says:

    Ana’s dress looks like a close up of your hair before you use Pantene

  19. wordnerd says:

    Kate Hudson’s begun transforming into her mother. The hair, the face, the posture, the dress.

    I liked Cate’s ensemble – it was sophisticated and different!

    • Barbara says:

      That’s exactly what I thought! Her style is looking so much like Goldie’s lately.

    • BothSidesNow says:

      Me too with Cate’s look!! I thought that she looked elegant and looked better than a majority of the attendees last night. It fits her beautifully and it’s striking as well.

  20. Molly says:

    Cate’s top directly referenced Carol Burnett’s hilarious costume in her classic Gone With the Wind skit. Always funny.

  21. MissMarirose says:

    My hot take is that Kate Hudson (or her stylist) has terrible taste in red carpet outfits. She just never gets the details right.

  22. lucy2 says:

    I like the blue color of Cate’s, underwhelming beyond that.
    Ana is really gorgeous, but that dress is a wash out.
    Kate’s is terrible. Tacky and unflattering.

  23. Xylo says:

    Yeah, this is frumpy. Cate has worn Dries Van Noten in the past, whom I LOVE, I remember seeing her wear something beautiful of his years ago, and went stalking the outfit at a local upscale store, it was gorgeous in person.

  24. Jessica says:

    When I first saw Cate, I thought SAG awards. It would have been great for a more low key event. I think a lot of actresses that go to A LOT of award shows over the years start really experimenting because they have worn everything. Sometimes they really knock it out of the park (Halle Berry and sometimes Julia Roberts) and most of the time it falls flat…Cate and Jessica Chastain.

    Anna…woof. They have done her no favors this season. Even she looks like she feels she doesn’t belong there.

    Kate is messy. Everything she wears is messy and annoying like her. So many outfits last night I was thinking…these things cost how much and they pay a stylist?!!

  25. Flowerette says:

    Kate Hudson’s after-party outfit was so much better than this!

  26. Emily_C says:

    COLOR. My standards have bottomed out. Something that’s colorful has to be truly absolutely hideous for me to not give it points nowadays. This is a lovely color, nice and saturated, not black or white or evil beige, so I’m good with it.

  27. Lizzie says:

    Most of Ana’s LV looks have been meh. Not amazing, not terrible, just meh. They keep putting her in dresses that do nothing for her.