Main Pop Girl

The Academy Awards were held recently, which as we all know is an excuse for the elite of the world to multiply in one gigantic cesspool of champagne and swap the names of their plastic surgeons/harvesters of baby dragon blood. In the absence of Fashion Police (R.I.P. Joanie), we've decided to take one for the team and continue the trend of celebrating those stars who actually did it right for once and nailed their red carpet looks. Sisters were doing it for themselves this year, with all of our top six choices being female and the majority of them being people of colour - and, as per usual during OSCARs season, the overriding trend was neutrals - particularly creams, golds and blacks - with any stars opting for vibrant colours tending to go for a vivid red. Check out our personal faves below! Sixth Place: Viola Davis Viola Davis, who snatched the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her super powerful role in Fences, is no stranger to a red carpet, and her smoking hot Armani Privé gown is here to remind you why. The dress hugs Vi's natural curves perfectly without seeming overstuffed or overly billowed, and the perfectly draped sleeves add some embellishment to what could otherwise have been a hellishly tired red gown. Most importantly, the dress puts Viola right at the forefront, with her signature wide smile peeking out from a swoop of expensive looking lace front and her makeup natural, subtle and glowing. This outfit is so beautifully selected that we can almost overlook the fact that she's mixed gold and silver accessories, which as we all learnt in The Devil Wears Prada is a total fashion faus pax. Almost. Fifth Place: Nicole Kidman Darling Nikki has been a red carpet regular since before I was born, and this OSCARs season she's proved once again why designers keep her around. Like Viola before her, Nicole rocked a classic Armani Privé design, sticking well within her comfort zone with the figure-hugging silhouette that has become her staple. Nicole has to be one of the few people in Hollywood who can pull this colour scheme off without looking like an extra from The Walking Dead, with her pale skin and fair hair a perfect match for this nude gown. Not gonna lie though, we're a little disappointed that man-candy husband Keith Urban wasn't around to accessorise. Add a guitar and they'd be red carpet royalty. Fourth Place: Emma Stone Emma Stone and her crazy big eyes charmed her way into our hearts with her OSCAR winning role in last year's old fashioned Hollywood musical La La Land, and her vintage kick lived on during the red carpet coverage this year. Em served up effortless chic in her beautifully detailed Givenchy, making her the first Best Actress winner to rep the brand since Audrey Hepburn back in 1954; and with her waved hair and rouged lips, she gave Hep a run for her money as the poster child for old Hollywood glam. Spilling the tea tho, the one drawback to Emma's wardrobe is her reliability: after all, she's been wearing these kinds of looks for the past few years, and at only age 28 we'd like to see her switch up her colour scheme and silhouette a little more regularly. Third Place: Ruth Negga Ruth Negga made waves with her Academy Award nominated role in Loving, and her film's title pretty much nails how we're feeling about this Valentino design. Tbh, this gown teeters on the edge of disaster, with the modest neckline, high waist and long train veering a little too far into Mormon territory for our liking; but thanks to the daring colour choice, a well-placed headband, some bold makeup and an anti-Trump blue ribbon, Ruthie manages to hold firmly onto her cool girl title. Plus, look at those puppy dog eyes. Could you really tell her she looked anything but beautiful? Really? Second Place: Janelle Monáe Janelle Monáe has never been one to shy away from a bold fashion choice, but her typical style risks often channel Tilda Swinton, taking the form of a super sharp tuxedo. For her OSCARs red carpet debut, J went all out with a stunningly executed Elie Saab gown which harks back to her musical alter-ego Cindi (an androgynous android figure, duh), while somehow managing to work in a queen of the faeries vibe as well. On anyone else, the look could have been disastrous, but J pulls it off spectacularly, ensuring that she's the one rocking the dress and it's not wearing her. And just when we thought she couldn't get any cooler, she decided to accessorise with what's been described as a Jennifer Behr "crown". Some people have it so good. First Place: Taraji P. Henson Janelle's Hidden Figures co-star Henson usually stands out for her trashtastic wardrobe as Cookie on the hit TV show Empire (think The Nanny meets Kylie Jenner), but she showed an entirely new side to her look on the OSCARs red carpet in this truly stunning Alberta Ferretti gown. Henson's dress was cinched to perfection, hugging her hourglass figure to a tee before widening into a sexy Jolie-esque split. The stunningly fitted gown, along with the statement necklace and classic curls, exuded Breakfast at Tiffanys glamour with a 2017 twist - and the fact that Henson was the last person we expected it from makes the look so much better. Never change, Taytay. What were your thoughts on the OSCARs red carpet looks this year? Was your fave on our list, or were they robbed of their title? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Why does Remy Ma's violence get a free pass while Casey Affleck's career is left in tatters? Last Sunday, actor Casey Affleck ascended to the spotlight when he won the Best Actor OSCAR for his role in last year's film Manchester by the Sea. The film, which co-stars Michelle Williams and Kyle Chandler, follows a man who looks after his teenage nephew after the boy's fathers death, and has been routinely critically acclaimed, placing highly on a multitude of critics lists for the best movies of 2016. Affleck's performance especially has been lauded as a "magnificent [...] career-best" and a "haunting face of grief and anger the viewer will never forget". But Affleck's win has been a bittersweet one, with nary an article discussing his achievement without bringing up his "dark secret" - the sexual harassment charges that were laid against him in 2010. Most of these charges stem back to Amanda White, the producer of I'm Still Here, a Joaquin Phoenix mockumentary directed by Affleck whom she had at that point worked with for over ten years. Over the course of filming, White claimed that Affleck had ordered a crew member to show her his penis even after she objected; had referred to women as "cows"; and had asked "Isn't it about time you get pregnant?" when he learnt of her age. Most notably, she alleged that he had also attempted to manipulate her into sharing a hotel room with him; and when she objected, grabbed her threateningly and attempted to scare her into submission, before going on to send her abusive text messages from his room. As part of her producer duties, White also renegotiated an agreement with Magdalena Gorka, the films director of photography who had previously left the project due to a similiar pattern of harassment which she called "the most traumatizing of her career". Apparently, Gorka had to face Affleck jokingly suggesting that she have sex with the camera assistant; received a "daily barrage of [...] unwelcome advances by crew members" and was berated by the director to the extent that she quit the film, twice. When the cast and crew had flown to New York to film, Gorka stated that they had not been given hotel rooms and had instead been expected to stay at Phoenix and Affleck's apartment. Phoenix had offered her his bedroom to stay in while he slept in the living room; but when she awoke in the middle of the night, she found Affleck “curled up next to her in the bed wearing only his underwear and a T-shirt. He had his arm around her, was caressing her back, his face was within inches of hers and his breath reeked of alcohol.” When she ordered him out of bed, he tried to convince her to let him stay before leaving the room and slamming the door in a rage. On the other hand, Remy Ma has been praised and adulated in the press recently thanks to her aggressive diss track against fellow female rapper Nicki Minaj. The beef started after Minaj featured on two recent singles - Jason Derulo's 'Swalla' and Gucci Mane's 'Make Love' - rapping lines which Ma interpreted as being about her. “I’m the iPhone, you the Nokia/Everybody know you jealous, bitch it’s so clear./Oooohhh, oh you the qu-e-e-the queen of this here?/One platinum plaque, album flopped, bitch, where?" she rapped in the latter, allegedly referencing the fact that Ma had only platinum plaque for her Fat Joe collaboration 'All The Way Up'. Ma hit back with 'Shether', an explicit Minaj diss track in which she quite literally raps "Fuck Nicki Minaj" and "They told you your whole career I’d come home and kill you, right?" Ma's past is a lot more colourful than Affleck's, and culminates in the night of July 13th, 2007 when she turned herself into New York City police. According to police, Ma was with a group of people outside the Pizza Bar restaurant that day at around 4 a.m when a gunshot was fired at Makeeda Barnes-Joseph, a former friend who had been accused of stealing money from Ma. Barnes-Joseph, who was 23 at the time, took the shot in the torso and sat in her car seriously wounded as Ma rifled through her purse looking for the stolen money. When she couldn't find the money, Ma jumped into a getaway car and left Barnes-Joseph bleeding out in the front seat. In March, 2008 Ma was convicted of assault, illegal weapon possession and attempted coercion. She was also charged with witness intimidation and gang assault after ordering several of her male friends to attack a witness's boyfriend after finding that the witness was testifying against her. Barnes-Joseph underwent several surgeries, but still experiences numbness in both legs and digestive problems as a result of the damage Ma did to her. If we're to believe the worst, then what both Affleck and Ma did are disgusting and reprehensible. Affleck's alleged crime points to a wider trend of cyclical chauvinism in the Hollywood sphere in which women are still underrepresented, while Ma's actions point to a psyche which is cruel, heartless and money-hungry. And yet what's interesting is the media's responses to each artists respective wins this week. For her part, Remy (the woman accused of attempted murder) has been able to avoid any discussion of her past, with critics ignoring her crimes to applaud the "nastiest ever diss track", a rap that "spewed venom" and a "work of notable lyrical invention". On the other hand, Affleck (whose most heinous crime was allegedly grabbing a woman's arm) had his win deemed as "gross" and a "disappointment", while award presenter Brie Larson received praise for her "silent stance". Sadly, it's a trend that's represented not just in this situation but in countless others as well. While the white-fronted La La Land is accused of "whitewashing" it's narrative, which critics say shows a white man "saving" jazz music from the evil clasps of a black male who is attempting to destroy and commercialise it, the exclusively black Moonlight is praised for a character list which is comprised completely of drug dealers, drug addicts and physically abusive bullies. Outside of awards season, we see the same rhetoric being used against Taylor Swift, who is often criticised for what people see as an arbitrary contribution to feminism when she donates hundreds of thousands of dollars to Kesha's lawsuit attempts or Tweets support of women's rights protests; while Beyoncé is praised for stealing writing credits on an album about her cheating husband and imparting such pearls of wisdom such as "mothers are like trees", while failing to donate any money or attend any protests herself. While you could collect this sentiment into the narrative of "hardly done white man suffers while black female soars", I'd venture to say that this would be the easy way out. For as much as this media trend belittles white males, it also reflects an underestimation of black females which is common in the media. Remy Ma's attempted murder, arrest and subsequent release are hardly remarked upon because violence is expected of her as a black woman. And Affleck's are brought up time and time again because as a white man of privilege he is somehow expected to know better. These are characterisations which do no favours to either star, and which, if media outlets such as BuzzFeed and Huffington Post are truly attempting to strive for equality through their articles, need to be avoided.