Oscar Winning Dresses

So there we have it - the Oscars 2014 have flown by in a whirl of silk chiffon, but now's the time to debate who was best dressed...

Jennifer Lawrence, Lupita Nyong'o, Cate Blanchett, Amy Adams

Cate Blanchett and Lupita Nyong'o not only won Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress respectively, but they were also responsible for two of the best fashion moments of the night. Lupita is fast becoming one to watch on the red carpet, and her pale blue Prada princess dress definitely did not disappoint. Meanwhile, Cate collected her Oscar in a beautiful embellished gown by Armani Prive, Amy Adams looked sleek and sophisticated in her Gucci column dress and Jennifer Lawrence looked stunning in her red peplum gown - but you have to worry when this is the second year in a row she has tripped over a Dior dress. Boy I hope they're paying her well!

On a final note, the Oscars can't go by without a comment on Pharrell Williams' legs. He pushed the boundaries of awards ceremony's formal dress code by wearing Lanvin shorts with his tux jacket. I love the fact that I've seen male friends turned away from swanky cocktail bars for wearing tailored shorts, but it's fine for Pharrell to rock up to the Oscars with his legs out.

EVERY Best Actress Oscar Dress...

Are you getting excited about the Oscars on Sunday? If. like me, you care more about the red carpet action than the actual awards, here's each and every dress worn by a Best Actress Oscar winner courtesy of Media Run. Which dress is your favourite? Personally, I don't think you can beat the styles from the '50s - as worn by Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn and Olivia de Havilland.

Temperley Does Downton

If you're already suffering from Downton Abbey withdrawal symptoms, don't despair! Temperley have enough drop-waisted dresses to rival Lady Mary's wardrobe, so at least we can pretend to be lady of the manor for a while.

Apparently the 'Downton effect' is making us all want to smarten-up our act and dress befitting the occasion - so it's out with the denim and in with intricately embellished dresses. If you ask me the Alice by Temperley Erte Dress is the perfect homage to ladylike '20s styling. Available in sultry red and black as well as debutante's white - that's pretty much all bases covered. What's more, the Erte is now in the sale, reduced from £495 - £250. That'll keep Lord Grantham happy!

Diana's Dresses

Last night's TV highlight had to be Channel 4's documentary about Princess Diana's dresses, which charted her evolution from shy Sloane with a see-through skirt to style icon by telling the stories behind 10 dresses that were auctioned in London earlier this year, raising in excess of £850,000. Indeed, Diana's dresses read like a diary with each sartorial choice a sign of the times.

It's easy to forget that in the early days Diana made mistakes - given no guidance on how a princess should dress - and I was shocked to learn that a young Diana was turned away from Bellville Sassoon. Pointed in the direction of Harrods to buy something off the peg by a shop assistant who had no clue that she was in fact talking to Prince Charles' new fiancee, it's like something out of Pretty Woman. After seeking advice from Vogue, the Princess was introduced to the then relatively unknown designers, Elizabeth and David Emanuel - and the rest, as they say, is history.

Of the 10 dresses put up for auction the star of the show had to be the ink blue velvet gown Diana wore to the White House in 1985 - the night she famously danced with John Travolta. The Victor Edelstein gown was sold for a staggering £240,000 to a British gentleman who said he wanted to buy it as a surprise to cheer up his wife!

The designer, somewhat modestly conceded that the same dress not worn by Diana would struggle to reach £400 - the beautiful dress that it is, it's the history collectors are buying into. These dresses will never be dry cleaned. They are studied for stains - one like a tiny hand print calls up images of William or Harry tugging at the skirt not wanting mummy to leave them.

At least two of the dresses are said to have been snapped up by important British museums, and as the auctioneer Kerry Taylor quite rightly said; 'Diana was the people's princess, so the people should be able to see the dresses. This is our heritage, our history.'

If you want to see examples of Diana's enviable wardrobe on display, a glamorous new exhibition has just opened at Kensington Palace. Fashion Rules features 21 couture gowns worn by HM The Queen, Princess Margaret and Diana, Princess of Wales.