Lemondrop

Awards season may feel like one singular event, boxed up neatly into the first quarter of the year, but in fact, it is a journey. All roads lead to the Oscars, the most coveted ticket in town, and a celebrity's best platform to correct any early fashion mistakes they may have made at January's Golden Globes.

To wit: After Penelope Cruz arrived at the Academy Awards in 2008 wearing that infamously fabulous peachy Versace with the feathery skirt, nobody remembered or cared what the hell she put on at any event beforehand. Had she known what a hit that frock was going to be at the Big Game, she could've gone to the SAG Awards wearing a garbage bag: Triumph at the Oscars trumps everything that came before.

This year, five actresses used the two months between the Globes and the Oscars to plan their redemption from the red carpet Hall of Shame, and it worked like a charm.

TINA FEY
Globes: Cute hair, but that unflattering Zac Posen dress looks like an aggressive wedding cake designed for a bell fetishist. Worse, it made Fey's great gams look inaccurately stumpy, and Fey unfortunately finished the look with shoes that managed to be twee in a whole different way. Repeat after us, Tina: You are not your "30 Rock" character. No need to Lemon your wardrobe.
Oscars: Rumors (since denied, but aren't all rumors denied at least twice in this town?) flew after the Globes that Fey canned her stylist. Whatever happened, Tina emerged victorious, because this one-shoulder Michael Kors sheath is pretty, flattering and grown-up -- all without prompting any comparisons to baked goods. In other words: va-va-va-voom.

SANDRA BULLOCK

Globes: This might've been a hit, had the skirt not been a weird see-through material that evoked the kind of translucent wrap you see encasing specialty fruit-and-wine baskets. We also take issue with lopsided semi-updos, because it feels like the whole thing came undone in the limo. And that's only acceptable if you DID, in fact, have a quickie in there with your hunky and adoring date. Which we actually hope Sandra did. What? Jesse James is hot.

Oscars: Standing out on the red carpet is one thing, but when you're a nominee and a heavy favorite, what really matters is how you coordinate with the little man you may end up clutching. After all, if you're going to win, you better do it in style, or live to rue your sartorial mistakes for the rest of Oscar History. Luckily for this year's Best Actress, Sandra's shimmery metallic gown was truly striking in every scenario.

AMANDA SEYFRIED

Globes: Thanks in large part to her sprightly performance in "Mamma Mia!", her comedic genius in "Mean Girls," and all those tears she sheds as a reluctant child of polygamy in HBO's "Big Love," Amanda Seyfried is a hot Hollywood commodity. But this dress could double as a book of fabric samples from the world's tackiest furniture store. It's memorable, but only in that we will never forgot how badly it made our jaws hurt from dropping to the floor in horror.

Oscars: We gaped at this Armani Prive for different reasons: namely, it's gorgeous, and Amanda looks awesome in it. Bonus points for pulling off what is essentially a princess dress without seeming irritatingly cutesy.

CAREY MULLIGAN

Globes: We actually like the dress based on its own merits, but Carey needs a tailor on speed dial, because this thing does not fit her. The bodice sits several inches too low, giving her torso a shape that nature did not. It's like we always say: Help your boobs, and they'll help you. Learn it, Carey.

Oscars: So much better! Yes, OK, the shoes distract and detract from the overall look, but Carey's Prada is snug in all the best ways, and the detailing -- little forks and spoons and scissors, only really discernible if you stare hard and at length -- is clever without being too obvious. Wondering how to toe that line between glamorous and funky? This is the answer.

MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL

Globes: We're not sure about the dress -- it's hard to tell where the architectural details stop and the wrinkles start -- but Maggie's overall look is definitely problematic. It's like she forgot she has a head: Nothing she's done with it enhances the frock, or in fact, does anything to stand out at all. She might as well be a mannequin. Who needs to buy a steamer.

Oscars: This is a night-and-day contrast. The intriguing print and lovely colors of the dress are a bonus (we forgive her the creases, since by this point, she'd sat through the entire two-day-long Oscar telecast), but Maggie also stepped up her game with the right light makeup touches and a slightly softer, more careful take on the same updo. All of it works together to make Maggie the star, and on a night of a thousand of them, that's the real victory -- whether you nab the little statue or not.

(All Images: Getty)