Oscars 2012: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

I always enjoy seeing some portion of the Oscars each year, even if its virtually impossible to stay awake for the entire broadcast. Like clockwork, you can always count on seeing a wide range of examples on display - be it classic men's style done well or done poorly. High on action and drama, the red carpet reminds me of nothing more than a Sergio Leone epic. Here then are The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from the 2012 Oscars.

The Good:

I thought Tom Hanks, at this point something of an elder statesman in Hollywood, stole the show with this well-tailored double-breasted shawl-collared tuxedo.

Gary Oldman. Enough said.

Sean "Honey" Combs gets points for a lot of things here: the one-button stance on the jacket is quite elegant, as is the pocketsquare. And leave it to a dandy from Mount Vernon to show some shirt cuff. 

I'm even feeling the half-moon crescent line - as Biggie Smalls once said, 

"True playa for real, ask Puff Dad-dy". 

Personally, I'm not a big fan of wimpy lapels, especially of the peaked variety, but its hard to get down on a guy who paid someone to be his personal lint roller for the evening.

The Bad:

Really, I'm not sure what's worse here: the fit of this suit on Brad Pitt or the fact that Esquire, which is supposed to be something of an authority on men's style, voted him best-dressed man of the evening. Imagine what Esquire's fashion editors would have thought if the jacket length and sleeves weren't too long and the pants actually fit. 

The Ugly:

Pharrell is a pretty small, nice-looking guy, so he shouldn't have trouble looking good in evening wear. But there's just too much going on with this outfit, in my opinion. The jacket appears to be extremely short - does it even cover his trouser zipper and pockets? There's also a lot of vest showing underneath the jacket. And he has buttoned both buttons on his two-button jacket.

Also, the short jacket clashes visually with the long trouser legs. I suppose if one is going to wear a tight outfit, then everything should be tight. In Pharrell's case, it seems the jacket is quite form-fitting and short while the pants are relatively slim but too long. 

To my eye, anyway, the visual result is a bit jarring.

[Also, is it me or does the jacket appear to be a different color than the trousers?]