Fashion at Oscars: Celebs ditch black but political undertone persists

Oscars, the biggest night of Hollywood, was all about custom-made gowns and designer tuxedos, with celebrities moving on from this year's award season red carpet black out and instead choosing other ways to register their support to sexual harassment victims. While various Hollywood A-listers, dressed in black, walked hand-in-hand with Time's Up activists at Golden Globes, at Oscars it was all about colours, couples and celebrities having fun on the red carpet. The Oscars 2018 ceremony was a departure from the major awards that took place this year.

Colour of protest, black, took a back seat as the Dolby theatre was dominated by bright shades, with stars such as Meryl Streep, Whoopi Goldberg, Nicole Kidman, Viola Davis, Saoirse Ronan, Jennifer Garner, Greta Gerwig, Allison Janney and Helen Mirren donning hues of red, pink, blue, yellow and green. The labels were missing on the limelight they usually receive during the award nights, but the 90th Academy Awards gave them their moment in the sun with celebs donning popular high-end couture brands like Armani Prive, Dior Calvin Klein, Atelier Versace, Vera Wang, Valentiono, Gucci and Ralph Lauren among others. However, black still managed to make its presence felt, with stars such as Taraji P Henson, Zendaya and their male counterparts sporting the colour. Metallic shades were also star favourites with Jennifer Lawerence, Sally Hawkins, Sandra Bullock, Lupita Nyong'o donning them. The red carpet may have been a melange of colours, but the political undercurrent was inconspicuous with Time's Up pin, blue American Civil Liberties Union ribbons and orange American flag pins calling for gun safety reforms in the wake of Florida school shooting, making their way on designer wears. Jane Fonda, Sam Rockwell, Richard Jenkins, Guillermo del Toro, Patrick Stewart and Sunny Ozell were some of the stars to pin the Time's Up badge. Lin-Manuel Miranda orange American flag pins in honour of Everytown for Gun Safety. Jordan Peele added a special accessory to his suit jacket as an ode to his Academy Award-nominated film "Get Out". Peele, who was nominated for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, hit the red carpet with a golden deer antler pin (featuring blood spatters) placed on the left lapel of his white suit jacket, which was a nod to the deer symbolism shown throughout the dramatic film starring Allison Williams and Daniel Kaluuya. Tiffany Haddish dedicated her outfit to her father and her Eritrean Heritage. Veteran actor Rita Moreno proved that some looks really never go out of style when she showed up to the 90th Academy Awards in the same gown she first wore to the Oscars in 1962. The actress arrived on the red carpet Sunday in a black strapless dress with a full, patterned skirt, which she wore when she won the Best Supporting Actress award for West Side Story. James Ivory, who was nominated in the Best Adapted Screenplay for "Call Me By Your Name", wore a shirt with lead actor Timothee Chalamet's face on it.

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