This year’s Academy Awards was another display of the finest fashion designers on the globe, and stars clamored to wear the latest and greatest. As with all award ceremonies, there are hits, misses, oddities, and irregularities.

I normally don’t inject any form of politics into my fashion review, but I did find one brilliant moment so on target that it is worth mentioning: When Billy Crystal pointed out the irony that “nothing can take the sting out of the world’s economic problems like watching millionaires present gold statues to each other,” I couldn’t help but chuckle. That said, let’s look at my examination of everyone’s favorite section of the National Review: fashion, of course!

My first selection must go to my favorite, and that, undeniably would be Michelle Williams. I don’t know a single editor so far that said she looked anything but stunning in her coral, strapless Louis Vuitton dress. As with my previous reviews on the National Review, I like to focus my compliments not only on the dress itself, but the details which make the dress, in one word, spectacular. This masterpiece — a coral, strapless, peplum, tiered number by Louis Vuitton — was shockingly perfect. Sometimes dresses can look corky when there are a lot of details, but here it’s just perfect. Pairing it with a necklace in lieu of earrings was the right move, especially with short hair. Looking back at her previous selection of Jason Wu for the Golden Globes, this is just more evidence of someone who knows her style and who dresses to bring out the best in her, not for the tabloid’s gossip section.

A close second is occupied by Emma Stone, who looked really chic in her Giambatista Valli dress, fabricated of a Red/Fuscia silk with what seems to be a trademark of Valli as of late — the giant bow. Even if it is a love-it-or-hate-it detail, I personally found it to be just right, because the designer used silk georgette, a drapey soft fabric, instead of a stiffer organza or taffeta, which would have absolutely overwhelmed Emma. The designer, fresh off his recognition at Fashion Group International (like your humble correspondent) knows how to elongate women with his beautiful silhouettes. It also helps that Emma wears red so incredibly well and therefore it just seems so perfect for her.

On a side note, since fashion always emerges from the past, and recollections of previous Academy Awards ceremonies remain in my mind, I found Emma’s dress to bear a striking resemblance to Nicole Kidman’s 2007 attire. What do you think? Too close for comfort, or am I totally off base?