Big hits, notable misses on Emmy red carpet

Julia Louis-Dreyfus arrives at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Nokia Theatre LA Live on August 25, 2014, in Los Angeles. Evan Agostini / Invision for the Television Academy / AP Images

Monday nights were never supposed to be this fun.

The best of American television graced the red carpet at the annual 66th Emmy Awards in Los Angeles — moved from a Sunday to Monday for scheduling reasons — and there was no doubt what the dominant theme of the evening was in the fashion stakes.

It was red.

Online and at the Nokia Theatre, much of the talk centred on Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who won the statuette of lead actress in a comedy for Veep. She sported an eye-catching twisted and draped Carolina Herrera halter gown.

She apparently looked so ravishing that Bryan Cranston, who was to go on and take the best actor in a drama, planted a lingering kiss on her lips as she sashayed up to collect her award.

“I’m just as nervous now as I ever have been,” Louis-Dreyfus, who reportedly washed her flowing dark locks in the kitchen sink, told reporters as she blitzed the red carpet.

January Jones (Mad Men), in a Prabal Gurung ensemble, Giuliana Rancic and super model Heidi Klum — who wore designer Zac Posen — also wore various tones of raspberry red.

As did Christina Hendricks, in a satin one-shoulder gown with floral embroidery by Marchesa.

Not in red but making waves of her own was Hayden Panettiere (Nashville) in a plunging silver gown that left little to the imagination. Oh, and which accentuated her growing baby bump.

Equally as striking was transgender actress Laverne Cox of “Orange Is the New Black,” who stunned in a sheer white dress.

Despite temperatures of 24 degrees Celsius (75 Fahrenheit), there was a distinctly conservative feel to the outfits worn by some of television’s leading lady lights, perhaps in a nod to the more sombre part of the evening: the tribute to late Hollywood icon Robin Williams.

Breaking Bad star Anna Gunn, who went on to take the prize for best supporting actress in a drama, wore a tasteful dress that combined blue with white, with one shoulder bare and gold-coloured shoes adding a glittering dimension.

Among the most eye-catching — and most widely panned outfits — was the one worn by Girls creator Lena Dunham.

She wore an unflattering fluffy frock that turned from pastel pink to increasingly fiery red as it tumbled — waterfall-like — to her toes. That was complemented by a pale pink blouse, a tattoo peaking out of her right arm.

Not that the Twitter world — or some fashion experts — were impressed by the outlandish number.

“Can someone PLEASE inform Lena Dunham that it is NOT OK to dress like a human-sized, partially-used fluffy tampon??” one Twitter user wrote, to chimes of agreement.

The men were not to be outdone on what was the longest red carpet in Emmy history.

Cranston had grown a pencil-thin moustache to go with his sleek tuxedo.

“It’s just a little something I’m playing with,” he said nonchalantly of the dashing facial hair.

And Oscar-winner Matthew McConaughey, who had been up against Cranston in the best drama actor category for his depiction of a disturbed cop in True Detective, was also impressively attired, his black shoes dazzling in the late-afternoon dusk.