It’s the night the stars have been practicing for – the Academy Awards, film’s night of nights.

Winners were almost all as expected, with The King’s Speech scooping the pool with Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor for Colin Firth. Awards darling Natalie Portman also took home a little man for her Best Actress turn (or should that be pirouette?) in Black Swan.

The glam factor usually steps up a notch compared with the earlier awards ceremonies (even the Golden Globes and the SAG Awards) and this year was no exception.

There were some hot, new trends on the red carpet as well as some old faithfuls.

Nude sparkles: Combining two popular themes from earlier ceremonies, many stars chose to adorn their elegant nude gowns with a bit of bling. While there were many fabulous gowns (including Mandy Moore‘s Monique Lhuillier, Gwenyth Paltrow‘s Calvin Klein and Michelle Williams‘ Chanel), my favourites were Halle Berry and True Grit cutie Hailee Steinfeld, both in Marchesa.

Red: Blending into the red carpet was one of the top Oscar trends this year. Penelope Cruz went for sparkles in L’Wren Scott, Sandra Bullock went classic in Vera Wang, Jennifer Lawrence went sleek in Calvin Klein, and Oscars host Anne Hathaway went Hollywood glam in Valentino.

Purple: One of my favourite colours was also a favourite of the stars this year. All shades were covered from palest lavender (Cate Blanchett in Givenchy Haute Couture) to laced lilac (Mila Kunis in Elie Saab Haute Couture) to rich aubergine (Natalie Portman in Rodarte) and even deep magenta (Scarlett Johansson in Dolce and Gabanna).

There were so many beautiful gowns, it’s difficult to choose just one! My favourites are Hailee Steinfeld, Jennifer Hudson in shocking orange Atelier Versace, Helen Mirren in Vivienne Westwood and, of course, Natalie Portman.

Who gets your vote?