The 64th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards: Heidi Klum, Sofia Vergara, Christina Hendricks, Ginnifer Goodwin, Zooey Deschanel and More!

The good, the bad, and the  very, very bad! The 64th annual Primetime Emmy Awards may not be as exciting as the Oscars or the Golden Globes, but we know the celebrities always deliver when it comes to glamorous red carpet gowns.  Some of the trends worked (bright and sunny yellow for Fall? Hmm) and some of them didn’t (icy blue gowns that glitter, try again!) But we can always count on stylish stars like Tina Fey, Ginnifer Goodwin, Amy Poehler, Julie Bowen, and more to deliver the fashion goods from television department. While we were disappointed by some, the 2012 Emmy Awards were a winning combination of color, nonconformity, and class in our book. Let’s see what the celebs were this year. The great thing about Ginnifer Goodwin is that she always takes fashion risks, but makes sure to keep it classy and stylish, right down to those cap toe Christian Louboutin heels. Few celebs can wear this color and orange applique style and get it totally right. Goodwin is right on the money with Monique Lhuillier.

Kat Dennings knows she has ample–ahem–assets. She referred to them during an interview at the Awards. Luckily, she found the perfect fitted dress to accent them without letting them go–ahem–astray. This red J. Mendel dress is very, very low, but it seems to fit her just right. Love the matching lips and the perfectly accented gold and garnet gem Neil Lane bracelet.

Black and White

Black and white was a trend on the New York Fashion Week runways for the Spring 2013 season, but we didn’t think the celebs would pick up on it so fast! Then again, one can’t go wrong with black and white, especially where Stella McCartney is concerned. The great thing about Stella McCartney gowns is that she keeps it simple, but always classy and only with a little bit of a twist, like the fact that the white only comes out on the bottom and the dress is accented with an eye-popping gold belt. This dress is also the perfect way for Edie Falco to show off her perfectly toned arms.

Jason Wu knows his customer and he made Mad Men’s Jessica Pare look beautiful and timeless in this one-sleeve cream gown with a black belt. However, now we all know that Pare’s Megan character likes to dress mod and out-of-the-box for her time on the winning AMC series, I was hoping her Emmy look would follow suit.  It’s nice that she chose to keep it classy and the looks works, but we’d love a little risk here and there down the line.

Kristen Wiig is a great example of a comedic actress getting it right in the fashion world. Perhaps this can no longer be a stereotype now that Amy Poehler and Tina Fey are consistently getting it right at awards shows (I remember the days when comedic actresses like Tina Fey used to dress like music stars at the Grammys!) Wiig effortlessly follows in their footsteps. Perhaps they taught her a thing or two–or maybe she just knows how to do it.  Wiig was recently seen at the Marc Jacobs show with Bridesmaids co-star Rose Byrne and now she’s wearing cream Balenciaga. While I was hoping for shoes in a different color, you can’t get any better than that!

Sarah Hyland looks much older than the high school character she plays on Modern Family, when dressed for the Primetime Emmy Awards, but there’s still something young and innocent about her, even when draped in a gorgeous Marchesa dress. Could be the curly hairdo or the princess quality of the dress. Then again, when does Marchesa not do a great princess dress? Sometimes we love a good statement Marchesa dress on a star, but this easy, beautiful one with silver and crystal details seems to work well on Hyland’s frame.

Reem Acra gowns, when they fall into the white or pastel category, are gowns for brides and princesses. Zooey Deschanel took this concept and ran with it. We’re typically used to seeing The New Girl star go for quirky retro dresses, but when you take that retro and make it elegant, you get a nice pretty package. Zooey, kudos for picking a gown that wasn’t too much, but accented you perfectly.

Simple. Clean. Sparkly. Fitted. That’s how we like it, Amy Poehler.

Since she’s a die hard Versace fan, we for sure thought January Jones would go for a Versace gown at this year’s Primetime Emmy Awards. She surprised us this year, just as the gown itself surprised us because it doesn’t look like something couture gown king Zac Posen would normally do, and yet its still looks gorgeously beautiful. Zac Posen is known for draping and fabric but not for architectural detail (though he does tend to put sharpness on hips. The architectural details are everywhere here from top to bottom. Of course, I’m still wondering how this is a Resort 2013 gown since its black, but who cares? It’s a fabulous gown and January Jones looks fabulous in it. This is one girl who knows how to take risks appropriately and usually she knows how to do it right!

I thought lace would be an “IT” trend on the red carpet this season since it was all over the runways. Unfortunately, few wore it and even fewer looked good wearing it. Anna Chlumsky of My Girl fame is one of the few that did it right. And Christian Siriano knows a woman’s figure so you can’t go wrong with one of his gowns.

Prints

Here’s a welcome trend that we don’t get to see often enough at awards shows. Prints! I love when gowns have prints, as long as the celebs know how to wear them and the designers know how to keep them from looking too busy.  Here are two amazing examples of how well prints work.  Notice the bare necks on both of these girls. They let those dresses talk for themselves!

Burgundy

Burgundy gowns with all the trimmings! In the case of Jena Malone, the accents on the bust and the pleats really accent the dress, as does the asymmetrical collar.  In the case of Tina Fey, less is more! The cold embellishments at the bust seem to define her perfectly and this dress doesn’t need anything else!

It’s rare I see a Vera Wang dress I don’t like. And I definitely like this one! Maybe it’s because Vera Wang isn’t prone to doing gowns in burgundy. Or maybe because it’s so perfectly fitted to Julie Louis-Dreyfus‘s curves that even the draping at the hips seem to hit her just right. Not to mention that nothing is out of place up top and the dress has a bit of sheer fabric at the shoulders, showing a bit of skin, but making it perfectly age appropriate at the same time.

Girls star Allyson Williams stands out from the crowd in this bold jewel toned Oscar de la Renta dress with peplum, architectural detailing at the hips. With some embellishments on the bust, this dress doesn’t need anything more than a beauty like Allyson Williams to wear it! Another big dress with a bare neckline which is the perfect accent to this drop dead gorgeous look.

Another drop dead gorgeous look! This is our modern day Marilyn Monroe–with red hair! Everything Christina Hendricks wears looks fabulous on her, but especially when it perfectly accentuates her beautiful, curvy waist. This dress hits her in all the right places. While I would have loved to see her in a color that wasn’t this drab, Hendricks made a good choice when she went with Christian Siriano.

Yellow

Now here’s something we’re not used to seeing…citrus tones on the red carpet! Especially in fall… Who knew yellow would be a trend on this year’s Emmy Awards red carpet! From strapless to long sleeved, from embellishments to clean looks, stars like Claire Danes, Julianne Moore and Leslie Mann wore designers like Lanvin, Christian Dior, and Naeem Khan!

Lucy Liu is a disco ball come to life in this body hugging gown that you can tell is totally Versace!

Worst Dressed

Most of the celebs got it right…but these celebs got it WRONG! Very wrong. Was there something in the water? The icy blue water perhaps? Yep, at least four of the worst dressed were seen in blue garments that did nothing for them!

What was Heidi Klum thinking showing so much skin in a way that was so not tasteful? Not only that, but chest seems to be hanging down in the top part of the gown, as if it can’t support her. I know she’s a world class supermodel who’s slightly getting older but this dress doesn’t make her look good in the slightest – and the earrings and shoes match the dress!

We’re all for Sofia Vergara showing off her stellar curves. And we’re all for Zuhair Murad as one of the hottest couture designers beginning to dress celebs (Jennifer Lopez loves him!) But this gown didn’t work for a few reasons. 1) The color seemed off, as if Vergara was trying a little too hard to be different 2) It’s too sparkly teal and disco for the Emmys, but it also looks like something The Little Mermaid would wear.  3) Even the sexy open back couldn’t sell it!

Another Little Mermaid gown, but this one, as well fitted as it is on Julianne Hough, doesn’t do anything for the sweet dancer who looks good in classic and timeless colors and dresses. She’s a Carolina Herrera kind of girl, not a sparkly Georges Hobeika kind of girl, if you know what I mean. Also, the hair doesn’t cut it!

We know she’s growing up…but we want her to stay young and sweet a little longer and this dress is trying too hard to fit into that grown up category. We applaud Hayden Panettiere for going out of her element, but this is not the right dress for her for this occasion. The dress itself is stunning. On Hayden Panettiere, not so much!

Honestly, I’m a huge fan of Carolina Herrera, but this dress on Ashley Judd didn’t do it for me.  She looks like fuchsia homemaker mom from the 50s and no the beautiful and elegant Ashley Judd we’re used to seeing on the red carpet. I don’t think that bouffant hairdo helped either.  The dress is nice, but it’s the wrong choice for Ashley Judd.

If you take a look at the Red Carpet Fashion Awards blog, you’ll see a picture of Emily VanCamp next to a picture of the model who wore this dove grey J.Mendel Resort 2013 collection dress when the designer showcased it. I’m thinking it looks a lot better on the model then it does on Emily. In most cases, the dress is supposed to look better or near perfect on the model, but there are times when you’ll see a dress and the way the designer tailored it to an actress makes it look perfect for her. This is not the case for Emily VanCamp unfortunately. The dress seems to sag on her bust and the color, while pretty, seems to look drab and boring. I’m not a fan.

We like that Lena Dunham went for Prada and that she chose short sleeves when everyone else was going strapless (or long, like Julianne Moore.) But something about this dress is still off.  Too much midnight blue and too much floral. Still, Dunham is a Prada kind of girl and I think it’s the best look we could have asked from the budding comedic actress, though it’s definitely nowhere near the best look of the night. – Simona Kogan Photos: People.com, Huffington Post