Were the SAG awards a little dressier than usual?
 
All that pent-up celebrity fashion energy waiting to safely explode on a red carpet somewhere came out at the 2008 SAG Awards. Celebrities having missed the Golden Globes and perhaps thinking ahead that there might not even be an Oscars, got glammed up for the SAGS.
 
Strapless dresses, not new since there were plenty at past awards shows- are hot. Angelina Jolie, Cate Blanchett, Vanessa Williams, Glenn Close, Michelle Pfeiffer (in Versace), Amanda Bynes, Marion Cotillard and Jamie-Lynn Sigler (in Calvin Klein), all bared their shoulders which must be the new erogenous zone.

But wouldn't it have been nice to see "Juno" star Ellen Page in something super cute or youthful? Instead the young actress went deadly serious in a short, black Zac Posen. Ditto for winner Edie Falco, who would have done well to channel the style of her alter ego Mrs. Soprano and jazz up that yawn of a sheath dress she wore.
 
Tilda Swinton looked fabulous. Cate Blanchett was sublime in Balenciaga by Nicholas Ghesquiere. Eva Longoria Parker scored in metalllic white from Naeem Khan. Tilda Swinton, Glenn Close and America Ferrera were sophisticated in gray. In fact, grays & whites were a counterpoint to the color guard led by Vanessa Williams, Kate Beckinsale and Kyra Sedgewick in electric blue or bright yellow



Both Tilda Swinton's choice of jacket over dress and Julie Christie's feminine tux are inspirations for women out there looking for an alternative to the ubiquitous, skimpy, red carpet gown.

What’s hairy, scary and hiding in the back of the closet? Uggs. They’re still here.

They started out as UGGly boots worn by celebrities and then women on the street. Uggmania is said to have peaked around the winter of 2006. 

But I’m seeing more Uggs on the feet of young women and children now, than I did two years ago. Believe me…ugly as they are, I understand the allure. I never stopped wearing mine -- a baby blue pair which are now wrecked. Nothing, I mean nothing I have ever put on my tootsies are as warm and as soft.

Teenagers are pairing them with tight jeans or pajama pants and a few like their Uggs with tights and mini skirts. Women put them on with not-so-tight jeans and a parka to keep out the elements. Black seems really popular with the over-30 set. High schoolers favor brown as well as black.

Uggs new crochet line was heavily advertised over Christmas. I’ve only seen one person in them though, despite making the gold-standard list of “Oprah’s Favorite Things".

Having Hillary Clinton and all the other presidential candidates in my face the last couple nights has been riveting.

I'm a little on the defensive going into this blog entry, though. It's not sexist and I don't mean it to be, but one has to mention the style (and any obvious or hidden meanings) of our first serious (we can't forget Shirley Chisholm) female presidential candidate. To avoid any mean labels or attacks and just to do the right thing, any critic of the former first lady's style should endeavor to be an Even Steven and scrutinize the guys, too.
 
From here on I will keep tabs on what John McCain pulls out of the closet. An early note to John: No one ever got hurt (dirty, maybe, but not hurt) by taking the low road. Campaigning in Army fatigues, the very ones you wore in the Vietnam War if you still have them, would be ideal—beyond breathtaking, actually. I mean, why not? Much more visual, YouTube-ish and sure-to-make-the-late-news than the standard red tie and Oxford blue shirt.
 
John Edwards was just right. Not too lawyerly or aw-shucks-my-Dad. But it's fair to say he will be checking for hidden cameras every time he combs his hair.
 
I liked Hillary's choice of separates rather than a suit for the occasion of her New Hampshire win: green jacket, black pants. It went with her softer image. At close to midnight, in the softness of my gaze and the coziness of my bed, the outfit looked so on-trend, with its Puritan neckline, whimsical florals and mossy ground.... I wondered dreamily...Dries Van Noten? And drifted off.
 
The next morning, with The New York Times front page spread out on my kitchen table and illuminated by harsh sunlight, I faced reality: 1990s First Lady Fashion and further evidence that trying too hard to be safe always makes you sorry.  The missed opportunity was clear. The fuzzy, pea-green and black jacket looked like a bad tapestry. Nice shoulders, though.
 
Hillary could benefit from a tighter embrace of fashion. Like McCain, she can make it a potent weapon in her campaign by simply doing this: Change her look everyday, or at least every week. Politicians change their positions all the time, so there's plenty of precedent for this. Just do it with styles rather than promises. One need only look to Madonna to see how extraordinarily successful this strategy can be for a powerful female.
 
Knee-jerk chauvinist editors and news directors would lick it up as her strongest message yet. Headlines would scream, "Hillary Is All About Change," "Hillary Changes Again," "Hillary, Candidate of Change."
 
Where would this leave Obama?
Exactly!
 
As for Obama, who has staked out the change territory to great effect, he should stick to his present course, however rocky it becomes once Hillary launches her fashion-change offensive. As the campaign rolls on, we should not see the senator from Illinois in a white button-down shirt and paisley tie. This would not represent change.