The Oscars in Play-Doh

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Lupita Nyong'o in Prada
Lupita Nyong'o in PradaPlay-doh by Eleanor Macnair

As the internet creaks under the weight of repetitive red carpet analysis, AnOther goes off script, asking artist Eleanor Macnair to recreate our favourite outfits in Play-Doh

Turning on a computer this morning was like entering a sequinned tsunami, with every media outlet pressing pause on their coverage of world news to provide detailed analysis of the annual sartorial bunfight that is the Oscars red carpet. We now know that Olivia Wilde is supremely elegant when pregnant, we’ve wondered if Pharrell Willams’s Oscars shorts beat his Grammy’s hat, and we’ve applauded Jared Leto’s one-man battle to keep the dip dye alive. But at AnOther, we wanted a really special record of the dresses and bow ties that paraded outside the Dolby Theatre last night, so we asked artist and Play-doh aficionado Eleanor Macnair to recreate them in malleable technicolour. From Lupita in powdery Prada to Liza Minelli’s electric blue Halston, these are our highlights from the Oscars of 2014.

This year, it was universally acknowledged that Lupita Nyong’o – ultimately winner of the Best Supporting Actress award – would be the most anticipated arrival. She didn't disappoint, emerging looking exquisite in Prada.

So she fell over. Again. But AnOther Magazine S/S11 cover star Jennifer Lawrence married clumsiness with Dior and looked wonderful.

The favourite by miles to win the Best Actress for Blue Jasmine, Cate Blanchett glowed in Armani Privé on the way into the theatre, and positively sparkled on the podium when she went up to collect the award. But perhaps the highlight came during her speech, when she thanked "the audiences who went to see [Blue Jasmine] and perhaps those of us in the industry who are still foolishly clinging to the idea that female films with women at the center are niche experiences. They are not. Audiences want to see them and, in fact, they earn money. The world is round, people."

Striding to the ceremony in a white Saint Laurent jacket and a ruby bow tie, Jared Leto exuded all the androgynous élan that saw him win the Best Supporting Actor accolade. 

Liza Minnelli eschewed the conformity of gowns in favour of the louche 70s glamour of a silken two-piece, flat shoes and hair streaked electric blue.

Text by Tish Wrigley

For more of Eleanor Macnair's work, see her Photographs in Play-Doh here.