Award Season Winners and Losers: Part 2, The Stars

Have you ever started an argument by saying "first . . . ," only to realize that you didn't have a "second . . . "? Happens to me all the time. I begin an argument that I am sure is multi-faceted and multi-layered only to realize that I actually only have one point. With zero facets. And no layers. And no "second . . . " So imagine my surprise when it turned out that I had a "Part 2" to my "Award Season Winners and Losers: Part 1" post. But am I really making a second point? Or is this merely a facet of my first point? You decide (because I can't!).

Winner: Michelle Williams
I was slow to jump on the Michelle Williams train. She was Jen Lindley. I was Team Joey. She made multiple suspect project choices early in her career like Dick, Halloween: H20, and Killing Mr. Griffin. I make it a policy never to trust a Kirsten Dunst movie that doesn't start with "Bring" and end with "it On." Then something miraculous happened; Michelle started making good career choices. She met the late Heath Ledger on the set of Brokeback Mountain, and became one half of the most interesting celebrity couple ever to grace that magical land called Brooklyn. She gave birth to the cutest baby ever to come out of The Creek (sorry, Suri Cruise, you have nothing on Matilda Ledger!) and started toting vintage Coach around the city rather than the newest Balenciaga. Michelle exhibited quiet grace after Heath Ledger's death in 2008, all the while continuing to stretch herself as an actress. She has been nominated for three Academy Awards in the last six years with two back-to-back nominations in the leading actress category for 2010's Blue Valentine and 2011's My Week with Marilyn. She somehow also manages to say the most beautifully insightful things. Well played, Michelle Williams. I'm now very definitely a fan.

So let's talk clothes! Michelle has one of the most defined aesthetics in Hollywood. Don't believe me? Google "Michelle Williams street style," and you'll see what I mean. Michelle favors clean lines, minimal prints, and defined, but unstructured silhouettes.

"I feel like something has changed for me, but it's a new change, so it's going to be hard to describe. Maybe it has something to do with turning 30. I don't feel as shy or nervous or self-conscious. I have more confidence that I can handle what life brings me. I don't feel scared to have an idea or express it. I feel giddy about it because it is a complete transformation. It's like I've found my voice." -Michelle Williams

Loser: Shailene Woodley
Oh Shailene, how you have surprised me. If you had asked me two years ago what I thought about Shailene Woodley, I would have told you that she had the best hair on the worst show on television (ABC Family's Secret Life of the American Teenager). But Shailene's turn as George Clooney's eldest daughter in 2011's  The Descendants was unexpected. Turns out she just may have more to contribute to modern entertainment than a great head of hair. The bar has been raised, Shailene. I'll expect more from you now. I will also expect more from  your wardrobe, because your first foray into Award Season attire has been ill-fitting, poorly conceptualized, and positively schizophrenic. You really have nowhere to go but up in that department. Get it together, Girl. You're in the big leagues now!

"I fell into this business by accident. It wasn't something I ever aspired to be: an actress. It just happened. It has evolved into an insane passion . . . a creative outlet. But nothing more. It's my hobby . . . one of the ways I express myself as an artist. And the day it becomes a job . . . a career . . . I will quit." -Shailene Woodley

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