Oscars red carpet dazzles with Hollywood golden era
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-02-28 09:41

The retro glamour of Hollywood's 1930s and '40s golden era returned to Tinseltown , as dazzling stars began hitting the Oscars red carpet in a cascade of jewels and lush, curvaceous gowns.

Beyonce in Versace [AP]

Musical siren Beyonce, best supporting actress nominees Laura Linney and Sophie Okonedo were among the first to arrive on the runway of the greatest fashion show on earth, bathed in an explosion of flashbulbs and cheered by fans.

The return to Hollywood's heyday is inspired by the most nominated film of the year, Martin Scorsese's "The Aviator," which has set a mood of lavish elegance in the style of the likes of Ava Gardner and Rita Hayworth.

Beyonce, who will perform three Oscar-nominated songs on stage of Hollywood's Kodak Theatre before the 3,300 all-star guests, wore a black velvet, body-hugging strapless dress by Versace and long cascading diamond earrings and a huge diamond bracelet.

"I am thrilled," she told journalists. "I know it's never been done to perform three times. I can't wait, but I will be terrified right before I get on the stage," she said.

The first major star to arrive was "Aviator" star Leonardo DiCaprio, nominated for best actor for his role as Howard Hughes and his Brazilian supermodel girlfriend Gisele Bundchen.

Tom Julian, style commentator for Oscar.com, said the look this year was "vintage jewels used to customise purses and shoes and "hair worthy of Rita Hayworth."

Best documentary nominee Morgan Spurlock, nominated for his fast-food film "Super Size Me," arrived wearing an elegant black tuxedo while his fiance donned an elegant gold sheath dress rich in embroidery and bead work.

The young filmmaker, making his first appearance at cinema's highest honours, said he was looking forward to the show and to meeting some of his movie heroes.

"I'm just trying to have a good time. I just want to live," he said. "I want to meet Johnny Depp, I want to meet Cate Blanchett and Martin Scorsese," said the star-struck newcomer to movieland.

Best director nominee Mike Leigh, who won his nod for the 1950s abortion drama "Vera Drake," was elegant in a tuxedo and black string bowtie.

"There are women like Vera Drake everywhere, there always have been," he said of the film.

But while he was thrilled to attend the Oscars, he does not want to stay in Hollywood and make a multimillion-dollar blockbuster. "Heavens no," he exclaimed. "But it's wonderful to be here now."

Other early arrivals included best director nominee Taylor Hackford -- whose film "Ray" is also up for a best picture Oscar and a best actor nod for Jamie Foxx -- and his wife British star Helen Mirren.

British nominee Okonedo, whose acting career is just taking off, said the emotion of arriving at the Oscars had brought was close to tears.

"I'm going to start crying, I'm overwhelmed," said the young star of the African genocide movie "Hotel Rwanda," who was wearing an elegant strapless beige evening gown.

Also on the red carpet were Okonedo's "Rwanda" co-star Don Cheadle, nominated for best actor, best actress nominee and "Maria Full of Grace" star Catalina Sandino Moreno, and "Phantom of the Opera" star Emmy Rossum.

Dark-haired Rossum, attending the Oscars for the first time wearing a red satin strapless evening gown matched by a ruby and diamond necklace, said she was thrilled to be invited. "I'm so privileged, so happy to be here," she said.

Linney, nominated for her role as the wife of sexologist Alfred Kinsey in "Kinsey," wore a strapless beige dress is snug-fitting diagonally cut beige dress with feathering fringes by J. Mendel matched by a long, dangling pearl and diamond necklace.

As the limousines began rolling up at the end of the massive red carpet, police were watching out for any possible security threats that could face the stars.

Security agents with binoculars surveyed the crowds penned up behind security barriers a few hundreds yards from the red carpet.

A group of 300 fans who won a lottery to sit on bleachers next to the massive red-carpet, lined with plants and huge, golden Oscar statuettes, cheered as the arriving stars sashayed by.

The fans, who had been in place for hours before the start of the arrivals ceremony, were wearing red, purple and pink T-shirts that contrasted sharply to the glamour of the celebrities on the red carpet.

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