I posed this challenge to my fellow Miss Demeanors and was I surprised at what fashonistas they are. We had a lot of fun playing “dress-up” the week after the Oscars.
Your book had been made into a movie that’s nominated for Best Picture. What will you wear to the Oscars? Paula’s ahead of us in the game, having shopped for the Edgars.
Michele: I’m politically liberal, but fashion conservative this is the dress I’ve chosen with a pattern like one of my favorite chairs. I know there’s a little cleavage but now that I’m a woman “of a certain age,” I can do what I want.
Tracee: Ooooh I love this, and love your dress, particularly the pattern! For my big night, I would borrow the gown the Michelle Youh wore to this year’s Oscars and hope that I would look a tenth as great in it as she did. 
Michele: Tracee, “your” (Michelle Youh’s) dress is a gorgeous version of what I think of as a Cinderella dress. You’ll look grand accepting your Oscar.
Tracee: I will settle for being a presenter! And it’s funny, I’ve never been a ‘Cinderella dress’ devotee but Michelle Youh looked so fantastic that I decided I was on board.
Cate: Since I would want to get people talking, hopefully, I would wear a dress based off of this Kate Daudy art piece. I would probably inscribe it with Edgar Allen Poe’s The Dreamer. Hopefully no one would forget the mystery writer then. 
Michele: Let me just say, I don’t want to walk down the runway after Cate in that number!
Cate: Oh and this is the ultimate princess dress in my opinion. It glows in the dark! 
Robin: That dress is awesome, Cate!
I’ve been a fan of Christian Siriano since I saw him on Project Runway. He’s got such a great eye for bringing out the personality of the people he dresses. It’s funny, watching the arrival pre-show at an Oscars party, I saw the tuxedo gown Billy Porter wore and said, “I’d wear that but without a blouse.” My friends looked at me and said, “No blouse? That’s crazy.”
- Then I remembered the gorgeous Siriano tux that Leslie Jones wore to the Emmys. I would totally wear this to accept my award:
Susan: I’m not generally a pink person, but I thought Helen Mirren looked so pretty and I would love to be able to swish a ruffle back and forth.
Alexia: Fortuny Delphos gown. My dream dress.
Tracee: Alexia, having lived in Venice I am a huge fan of Fortuny and know you will look marvelous in your gown!
Alexia: It’s taken me all day to remember what the tuxedo gown reminds me of.
Alison: My grandma was a professional seamstress. She sewed most of my dance dresses when I was in high school because we couldn’t afford the things I wanted to wear, which meant I usually had the most wonderful handmade dresses. Only now do I fully appreciate what a gift it was to have something designed for my own body, sewn with muslin, then sewn again with the fabric I chose, then refitted again and again until it fit perfectly (plenty of pin pricks along the way). Every year on Oscar night, we would make a big bowl of popcorn and watch the actresses walk the red carpet just to see the dresses. It was magical. Now, it’s even better, I think, because there’s a lot more room for variety. Here are my two choices, in order of preference:
Al: Alison, Dieterich.
Michele: I’ll leave you with this visual writing prompt compliments of the Oscars 2019:
