The big daddy of the awards season came and went last night.  There were no big surprises on the winners’ front with well-deserved wins from Colin Firth for The King’s Speech, Natalie Portman for Black Swan and Christian Bale and Melissa Leo for The Fighter.

Inside the auditorium, it was all about the craft but outside, on the red carpet, it was all about the fashion. With some serious contenders on the frock front the battle for best-dressed was almost as contentious as the Oscars but after much debate we’ve picked our favourites.

Best Female

The nominees

We have to hand it to Natalie Portman who looked lovely in her off the shoulder purple Rodarte number and we also loved Amy Adams L’Wren Scott floor length blue gown matched with emerald jewels.  Host for the evening Anne Hathaway didn’t disappoint as she chose an asymmetric Valentino for her entry, later changing into a further seven outfits while  Sandra Bullock wore Vera Wang, also in red.

The winner

The award for  best red carpet look has to go to Halle Berry.  Things have been a little quiet movie-wise for Miss Berry since her emotional win for Monster”s Ball but on the style front she seems to have gone back in time to her pre Oscar days with this Marchesa gown and her cropped hair. Stunning.

Best Male

The nominees

It’s sometimes easy to forget the men on the red carpet with all the feathers and sequins adorning the women. But though the suits may have been mostly black, they looked super stylish.  We loved in Hugh Jackman in Ferragamo, Robert Downey Jnr’s white tie and our host for the evening, James Franco, rocking a few outfit changes – mostly consisting of Gucci suits and one dress (Franco went drag while Anne Hathaway wore a tux for one section of the show, in case you missed it).  Both the leading and supporting male winners impressed with Colin Firth continuing to favour Tom Ford and Christian Bale teaming his full on beard with head to toe black.

The winner

But for us it was the perfectly fitted, perfectly classic look that Matthew McConnaughey worked in Dolce and Gabbana that stood out and led the way on the red carpet.

For a full list of all the winners (of the actual awards not our invented ones – delightful as we think they are) and a look at some of the highlights from the night visit Oscars.com.