So, a little thing called the Oscars happened this week – you might have heard of it? I woke up Monday morning, watched Leonardo DiCaprio’s acceptance speech (and 100 per cent did not, at all, shed a tear) and then inevitably was on Vogue, Cosmo and every other site available looking at the dresses from the night. I enjoy the fact some just go for ‘here are the dresses’, some give them awards, and some actively separate the ‘best and worst dressed’. What really confuses me though is that some dresses will simultaneously make the best dressed and worst dressed lists. Fashion is tricky, high fashion even trickier – high fashion on the biggest night in film? That’s the trickiest.

Celebrities want to stand out, they want to make a statement – if they don’t they get labelled boring, and no matter how nice the dress is they are disregarded when it comes to well dressed lists. Take Rooney Mara, who looked stunning, but garnered the ‘biggest yawn’ award from Cosmo because, admittedly, she looks the same as she always does: pale dress, tick; simple hair, tick; dark lipstick, tick. Her dress could almost be mistaken for the one she wore at the Met Gala 2013 in NYC, or the 2012 Oscars, or the London premiere of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. You get the picture, she’s done it before. Oscars are the time to be daring and different, so many gorgeous women walk the red carpet that if you want your dress to be something everyone talks about the next day it needs to stand out.

Unfortunately for some this talk isn’t always positive; for example, Amy Poehler wowed in an unfortunate semi-kimono for which the media slated her the next day. Sofia Vergara stuck to a well-loved formula of tight and figure hugging (does anyone else remember the Zuhair Murad teal gown disaster at the 2012 Emmys?). I glossed past this when looking at dresses – it was dull. Yet some sites loved it, and some hated it, which goes to show, very few people can get it right.

I decided to pick six dresses that I thought people would either love or hate, and ask around to get opinions on them. The results go to show that fashion unanimity is almost impossible when talking to Cambridge students, let alone fashion experts.

Charlize Theron in Dior

If you’d believe social media Theron was the undoubted winner of fashion on the night. Her plunging red gown with train hugged her body in all the right places. The shape of it reminded me of her 2004 Gucci Oscars dress, with a low V and small train. This one however is a more mature version with slightly more structure – it looked classically Dior. Cambridge students seemed to love it too: “Wow, this is bold – definitely a ‘look at me’ dress. It is really tight across her bum and belly which with the deep plunge could be a bit too much, but the long train gives it a slightly more relaxed shape. Quite often Oscars dresses are so unusual you remember the dress but forget the person wearing it, but this look is all about showing off Charlize’s amazing body.” “A classic and unbeatable combination of length and colour. While the neckline is low cut, it is complimented by the gown’s overall length. The dress straps open up the top of the dress’ design so that there isn’t as much red colour in one block, and the lowered back is sexy and chic.” It seems like Theron had a flawless year.

Alicia Vikander in Louis Vuitton

Vikander has been hitting the nail on the head when it comes to fashion. Her dress at this years BAFTAs was also a Luis Vuitton creation, a quirky mixture of leather and studs which added drama to a simple structure that flattered her shape. Yet at the Oscars she wore a lemon coloured strapless gown that came in at the waist, and then billowed out in a style that reminded me of a duvet. Some compared her to Belle from Beauty and the Beast – a far cry from her normal svelte and mature fashion choices. The reviews I got from it included “a bit funny but I quite like it, the bottom looks frumpy” and “I like the style, but I’m not sure about the colour or the pattern – I like the bottom, it’s cool, it’s quite classic in a way because it comes in at the waist and flares out.” Some loved it: “I love the raised front on this one because it makes the dress a bit more modern and casual, rather than a lengthy ball gown design. The yellow is bright and alluring, especially with the silver detail. On the whole, the piece is fresh and young, but also classy and elegant.” Some hated it: “strap-less dresses just look like the designer got to the armpits and then gave up.” And some people were just confused regarding the oddly placed sequin pattern adorning the dress: “are those fish carcasses?” It seems that Vikander may have fallen off her pedestal on exactly the wrong night of the year, let’s hope this is a minor blip and not forecasting for the future.

Olivia Munn in Stella McCartney

Olivia Munn saved the revealing look for the Vanity Fair Oscar after party – looking like an intergalatic warrior in a beaded green J Mendel gown, complete with a daring thigh high split and cut outs. However, you know a woman’s done well when the media isn’t talking about this gown, but instead about the much more conservative one she wore to the Oscars. In my opinion Munn looked resplendent in an orange one-shouldered dress – the colour made her stand out, whilst keeping it simple and classy. Not many people could pull of the colour, so kudos to Munn for knowing what works with her skin tone and rocking it! The Cambridge critics however had mixed opinions on the dress: “Orange = not a good colour, especially on the red carpet. The design is simple and laid-back, but the block colour is not easy on the eye.” “She just looks like an orange.” However others appreciated the bold colour choice: “This is so elegant – the fitted skirt makes her look so slim and delicate, but the loose fabric at the top gives the dress some movement so it doesn’t look stiff. I love the colour too – it works really well on such a simple dress.” “I like the colour, it’s nice and bright.” It seems like orange will always be a hit and miss colour, but Munn is one of the few people that seems to have hit with it!

Heidi Klum in Marchesa

She hosts ‘Project Runway’, and she has done for 12 years. You would expect someone who hosts a fashion show to have some grasp of fashion, and yet Klum’s gown this year was possibly the worst on the red carpet. A chiffon mixture of lilac, white and purple, the gown had a diagonal slit across the bodice, from shoulder to waist. Both ends of the slit were adorned in massive flowers. The dress then flowed out from the waist, in what was admittedly a pretty skirt – for a Disney princess, not a model. It’s hard to make a model look awful, but congratulations Heidi, you succeeded, and it looks like everyone agrees on this one: “Not a big fan of this one, mainly because it isn’t fitted in any way. The top and bottom halves of the dress are in contrast with one another, in that the open top half does no justice to the classier bottom part of the dress.” “That’s just like barbie dress gone wrong, like when you’re playing with dolls and you try and edit the dresses and fail, it’s not very classy, it looks like a cool material to look at but not wear.” “Too complicated – the way the material falls is really pretty, but the skirt is too full, and there is too much going on at the top, so you lose her natural shape.” “It looks like she’s wearing a curtain, she’s going for some ethereal look but she just looks stupid.” We can safely say this year was not a success for Klum.

Chrissy Teigen in Marchesa

Teigen has been showing all throughout this awards season that being pregnant doesn’t mean you can’t be fashionable. At the Oscars she donned a figure hugging dress; it was perhaps my favourite of all the dresses worn – daring, adventurous, with a simple shape. Her dress was long sleeved and made of a nude material that blended expertly with her skin tone, this was covered in a red appliqué of flowers and leaves to create a timeless look. Her train flared out behind her and her doting husband (John Legend) arranged it perfectly for the press photos. There seemed to be some mixed reviews from students however, with one stating that “it looks like arteries and veins, and also Grandma’s wallpaper.” However, most seemed to love it: “A very busy design, with lots to draw the eye to. The neckline is classy and not too revealing, and the figure-hugging design shows off the actress’ beautiful figure. The contrasting colours work to show off the intricate patterning and design well, and the train is a lovely touch.” “I love the applique on her dress - it is really intricate and such a powerful colour. I think there is just enough of it that it is the first thing you notice but it isn’t too overwhelming, and nude is a perfect background to show off the pattern.” And some, inevitably, were just concerned about the practicalities of the dress: “how does she walk in that? Apart from that, I quite like it, but it’s not very practical.” Not to make it a competition, but I think in terms of maternity dressing Teigen blew Emily Blunt (in a Prada number) out of the water.

Kate Winslet in Ralph Lauren

She normally gets it so right; she’s been gracing the Oscar red carpet for almost two decades, and she very very rarely gets it wrong. However, Hollywood life is asking ‘hit or miss?’ of this years dress, and I have to resolutely say miss. Sophisticated is how Winslet is normally described – her Giorgio Armani gown at the Screen Actors Guild Awards this year proved to be no exception. It was a figure-hugging mermaid dress in a beautiful forest green. Her Oscar dress had the ingredients to be another success – black, simple and figure hugging, all perfect descriptors. Yet this dress seemed to be made from rubber, or another highly reflective material, which made it look more like a very structured bin bag than a dress befitting this 2016 Academy Award nominated actress.

Let’s see what other people thought: “This is awful – I love Kate Winslet but the straight neckline ruins the flow of her gorgeous curves, and the skirt is just weird – it looks like the dressmaker had too much fabric and just kind of knotted it all at her hip.” “Not keen on the shiny look, but a classically cut dress to fit a womanly figure. Kate’s overall look is basic, but effective. Black is a colour you cannot go wrong with, and draws out her golden locks perfectly.” Some were more harsh with their criticism: “it looks like a pre-Oscars car repair has gone wrong and her dress now has a permanent oil stain. Or maybe she’s just melting.” And my favourite quote has to be “It looks as though Titanic had a bit of a leak.”

It seems to be a miss this year, though I’m sure that her good friend DiCaprio (finally) winning an Oscar definitely overshadowed social media’s awful reviews of her dress!