IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

Outfits to watch for at the Emmys

The red carpet at the 60th Emmy Awards on Sunday will surely be a parade of beautiful people wearing beautiful things — the faux pas of years past are out.These days, designers use the carpet as a second runway and stylists keep their clients picture perfect. Still, armchair fashion critics want to have their say, even if it's only to say how great everyone looks.Here are some buzz-worthy candid
/ Source: The Associated Press

The red carpet at the 60th Emmy Awards on Sunday will surely be a parade of beautiful people wearing beautiful things — the faux pas of years past are out.

These days, designers use the carpet as a second runway and stylists keep their clients picture perfect. Still, armchair fashion critics want to have their say, even if it's only to say how great everyone looks.

Here are some buzz-worthy candidates to keep an eye on:

Tina Fey

She was already the toast of the town with 17 nominations for "30 Rock," including her own nomination as best actress in a comedy — a prize she won last year.

Her return to "Saturday Night Live" was the watercooler talk of the week. What brought her back to "SNL" is her uncanny resemblance to GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

Will she play that up or down?

"I think she'll try to look as far away from Sarah Palin as she can — that is, if she doesn't want to be asked to do the same imitation for every camera," says "Access Hollywood" supervising producer Ryan Patterson.

Fey often wears black to events and leaves her glasses at home, but the updo she wore last year might invite Palin comparisons.

"I think she might be forced to go in another direction," Ryan says. "I'm hoping to see her in something sleek and sexy with her hair sleek, too."

However, anything too trendy or fashion-forward wouldn't match her personality, notes Gretta Monahan, the new co-host on "Tim Gunn's Guide to Style." "My advice would be to see her play up her classic, pretty beauty. ... I'd say don't be the geek, be the beauty."

Heidi Klum

Klum, one of the ceremony's co-hosts, won't have one stunning look on Sunday, she'll have eight, starting with an all-over sparkler by Armani Prive.

Klum is working with Michael Kors, John Galliano for Dior, Valentino, Roland Mouret and "Project Runway" alum Christian Siriano have all provided looks, as well as one vintage choice. "An off-the-runway look might overwhelm someone else but she can pull that off because she's a model," Malakpour says.

It doesn't hurt that there's very few things that don't look good on her and that Klum treats the red carpet like just another catwalk, which she struts with confidence.

The one thing Klum doesn't wear is anything too trendy, Monahan says. "Whatever is trendy right now, you can assume Heidi is a step ahead."

Christina Applegate

This is Applegate's first splashy fashion event since undergoing a double mastectomy, and while it's unlikely that anyone would criticize whatever she wears, "Access Hollywood's" Patterson has high expectations.

"She's young, flirty, fresh — I'm really excited to see what she does," Patterson says. "She always looks good."

Applegate has grown up in front of the cameras and so has her style. She doesn't dress too maturely for a 36-year-old but she also knows not to dress like a teenager.

"This is the Emmys, it's not the VMAs (MTV's Video Music Awards). She's not going to show up in thigh-high boots, a miniskirt or show a lot of cleavage. She will be classic and glamorous."

Applegate has taken to wearing her hair up to black-tie events and choosing retro gowns, including a beaded Art Deco-inspired look to the Screen Actors Guild Awards and a slinky siren number to last year's Tonys.

The women of "Mad Men"

The old-school style that January Jones, Christina Hendricks and Elisabeth Moss, among others, bring to the 1960s-era drama hasn't been lost on the fashion world. Several designers and tastemakers have said they've been influenced by the show's costumes that marry a buttoned-up style with straight-up sex appeal.

You'd never catch these women in yoga pants or even jeans.

Monahan says she hopes the stars stick to that overall aesthetic.

"They shouldn't be in costumes but I'd like to see them in a modern take on their characters," she says. "I want to see that glamour — it's refreshing. ... Maybe next year they could wear something crazy, but this year I want to see them do what they do best."

Patterson, though, thinks this could be the time for the actresses to give the audience a glimpse of who they really are.

"They might go the opposite way and get out of the clothes they seem to wear 24/7. It's a chance for them not to be typecast and to offer some personal expression."