One more sleep ...

Until the Oscars red carpet, my Oscars party and the annual pick the winner comp is finally decided. What a suitable time to reminisce about the Academy Awards of days gone by, when the stars sat around dinner tables and got sloshed, the 24 hour media onslaught meant you didn't know who won immediately, and when Hollywood costume designers made frocks for the stars both on and off set.

Vivien Leigh wore Irene when she collected her statue for Gone with the Wind in 1939; Olivia de Havilland looked a treat in Orr Kelly for The Heiress in 1949 (great film, by the way); and Audrey made her first public outing in Givenchy, when she won for Roman Holiday in 1954.

Fingers crossed that not everyone plays it safe in 2010 and we see a few stars shine like they can afford to.