[kimair]

last part...

Stylists source their Oscars dresses in one of four ways. These days the most popular approach is to create a one-off dress with a designer. Sarah Jessica Parker's black strapless dress at this year's Golden Globes was a collaboration between Olivier Theyskens of Rochas and Parker's stylist, L'Wren Scott.

The second route to the red carpet is vintage. Ever since Julia Roberts did her twirl in that Valentino, it has become increasingly popular. The third is haute couture. Nicole Kidman started the revival of actresses wearing haute couture to the Oscars, as opposed to ready to wear, when she donned Dior in 1997. And lastly stylists will also look at the finale pieces in the New York, Milan and Paris autumn/winter collections that are shown immediately before the Oscars.

It is the stylist who acts as negotiator when trying to secure the perfect dress, a powerful position they are often rumoured to exploit. 'Stylists have been known to ask for sick things like plastic surgery as a "thank you",' says one fashion PR. 'They will hold three or four dresses,' says another, 'and make it difficult for other stylists to get near the brand. It's what we call gridlock.'

The most famous feud was between two of the first celebrity stylists, Phillip Bloch and Jessica Paster. 'Phillip and Jessica were the most amazing rivals,' the PR continues. 'They would go to fashion houses and say, "I'm going to dress so and so in this designer, but if I hear you are working with [Jessica/Phillip], I'll pull all of my girls from all of your brands and we'll never work together again."'

In fact, all of a sudden this demand for exclusive access to a designer has become the norm. Charlize Theron insisted she was the only actress that Gucci dressed for the 2004 Oscars - and Gucci agreed. She was a sure bet for the Best Actress award.

'During the Oscars I have had some experiences with a stylist who will go unnamed,' says Lisa Lawrence of Jean Paul Gaultier. 'We were sure of one actress, so we were considering another. We didn't feel it necessary to say that we had worked with the first actress because it was none of their business. They were not telling us which other designers they were considering. All of a sudden it got into this nasty confrontation. The stylist was trying to bully us into working with them alone, without any guarantee they would wear us.'

If jewellers, fashion houses, actresses and stylists admitted what was going on, perhaps the rumour mill would be silenced. But it remains a touchy subject for many. When Joan Rivers asked Nicole Kidman about her role as 'representative' of Chanel, Kidman gave a glacial stare and delivered the line, 'I chose to wear this because I liked it.'

Far better to do what Ziyi Zhang, the star of Crouching Tiger, did last year when her deal with Bulgari came to media attention. She just kept smiling - all the way to the bank.