Alternative Red-Carpet Dressing with Valentino FW12

None of these dresses are of the traditional red-carpet variety: there are no garish colours, no strapless sweetheart necklines, no silk-chiffon bows and definitely no heels. Saying that, they each have insane amounts of  'red-carpet' potential, especially if worn by the right person. Think along the lines of Elizabeth Olsen, Carey Mulligan, Dakota Fanning, Rose Byrne and Florence Welch and you're on the right track. The difference between these lovely ladies and the likes of other Hollywood starlets (anyone from Gossip Girl or 90210, for instance) is that they aren't afraid of 'worst-dressed' lists and can therefore think outside of the box when it comes to fashion.

Not that any of Valentino's dresses would land anyone on a worst-dressed list, of course. The demure necklines, full-length sleeves and ankle-skimming lengths from Valentino's Fall/Winter 2012 collection are for the more brave of the bunch. Valentino has always, and will always be worn on the red-carpet - it's just that these dresses require that extra something.

Photos from style.com

She's Got A Ticket To Ride

Emma Roberts is one of those actresses that I wrote off as soon as I saw her in Unfabulous. She doesn't exactly have a great track record when it comes to films (remember that awful mermaid one or the time she played a spoilt brat sent to boarding school?) and she never struck me as talented an actress as Dakota Fanning, lets say. With that in mind, the girl does a great editorial. These images, from US Elle's April Issue, are really something else - she looks absolutely amazing and I'm more than partial to the odd stud or two.

Ok so the girl isn't the best actress we've ever seen but who needs skills when you look this good?! It kind of makes you wonder how much influence her oh-so-famous aunty has on her career because I'm almost certain that without that sort of family tie, she wouldn't be in Elle looking this great.

Maybe she just needs time to grow up and mature as an actress but until she improves, I'm more than happy to see these sorts of editorials. Does anyone else think that having a famous family member in the business contributes to success? What do you think of Emma?

Photos from http://forums.thefashionspot.com/f50/emma-roberts-121397.html

Predictions...

Back in February I predicted that Marchesa's stunning AW10 collection would inevitably end up being worn by the lovely Dakota Fanning. Was I right? Of course...

Dakota is literally the perfect person for this dress, don't you think? I love how she still looks her age but really fashion at the same time. It's funny, because of the whole War of the Worlds thing, I really couldn't stand her - I've never known someone cry so much and so annoyingly in one film. But I'm glad that it was a one off and ever since I've thought she was one to watch; she stole the show in The Runaways and she's really coming into her own.

Everything is a little bit up in the air at the moment what with busy work schedules and what-not, but I'll post as much as I can, promise!

photos from justjared.buzznet.com & style.com

Dakota the Glamorous

I'm really REALLY excited about Dakota Fanning's new film, The Runaways. Featuring Kristen Stewart (who portrays Jett amazingly), the film is a music-fuelled story following Joan Jett and Cherie Currie (Fanning steals the show, naturally) during their rise to fame in the 70s.

I've loved watching Dakota's transition from girl to young woman; she's really grown into herself and has come a long way from her 'Uptown Girls' (so bad it was amazing) days. This shoot with Tom Munro for Italian Vogue really shows just how beautiful she is - the dark eyebrows are a particular fave.

I had to stare at these for at least 5 minutes to make sure it was actually her - she's just so different, in a good way - of course. I'm so glad she hasn't fallen into the fame-game like LiLo and I'm super excited about her red carpet appearances over the next year. The Runaways opens today, check out the website (The Runaways) here; well worth a watch if you love a bit of angsty girl-band rock.

What do you think of Dakota's tranformation from girl to gorgeous teen?

photo's from www.vogue.it

Red Carpet Queen

You've got to hand it to Georgina Chapman at Marchesa, the woman knows how to create a red carpet winner.

Fall 2010 is no exception  - you could literally picture every hot-young-thing wearing everything from the collection. I saw Lady Gaga in a lace body and white ruffled skirt and Dakota Fanning in a structured ruffled LBD.

The dresses spoke for themselves - no catwalk was needed to highlight the fact that this collection is an instant winner. This is Marchesa on top form.

Apologies for the severe lack of content recently! I promise I'll bring exclusive London Fashion Week content from tomorrow - let the shows commence!

photos from style.com