Newly single Heidi Klum might not stay that way for long: Her seafoam-green gown made waves on the Emmy red carpet with a plunging front, plunging back and slits up-to-there, leaving very little in the middle.
She was among the dazzling arrivals Sunday who made the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles awash in color.
There was plenty of red to go with the carpet, including on Kat Dennings of "2 Broke Girls" in J. Mendel, "Once Upon a Time" star Ginnifer Goodwin in red flame over champagne by Monique Lhuillier and Tina Fey in dark red with gold bust details by Vivienne Westwood.
"Top Chef" host Padma Lakshmi looked gorgeous in an orange strapless gown by Lhuillier that made her an early trending topic on Twitter, and actress Leslie Mann had on a bright orange skirt on her bare beaded halter gown by Naeem Khan. Claire Danes of "Homeland" wore bright yellow.
Hayden Panettiere of ABC's "Nashville" wore straight-from-the-runway Marchesa, a blue tulle over gold embroidery sari shown at New York Fashion Week earlier this month.
Sofia Vergara wore a sexy, sparkly, green Zuhair Murad mermaid dress and brought several people from Colombia as her dates. Klum's seafoam gown was by French designer Alexandre Vaultier and she had a sexy '70s wave to her hair.
Zooey Deschanel had a manicure with little TV sets on her thumbnails — perhaps the kind of thing "E!" had in mind for its mani-cam that had stars walking their fingers down a tiny red carpet.
Celebrities build their fashion reputation largely from the red carpet, Lhuillier said, and they'll affect trends for color, silhouette and embellishments.
Lhuillier said Emmy gowns were already in the works earlier this month when she presented her most recent catwalk collection — one in which she declared "the ballgown is gone." Instead, she focused her full-length dresses in mermaid and other sleeker hemlines.
Not everyone watching TV will need a gown in the coming weeks or months, but when they do, they'll often turn to the brands they hear about at the Emmys, Oscars or Grammys, Lhuillier said. "That's what a red carpet does for a company like mine."
Louise Roe, a fashion commentator and Glamour magazine editor, who'll host of the second season of NBC's "Fashion Star," said her eyes will be on the lookout for anything eye-catching, especially if anyone taps into the harnesses, sheer panels and cutout bodices that designers are offering for 2013.
She thinks stars from "Gossip Girl" and "Revenge" could be among those to watch.
There's always someone who takes the high-fashion risk on the Emmy red carpet. It was Gwyneth Paltrow and her belly-baring, metallic lace number last year. It wasn't a critical favorite, but now — in retrospect — it seemed like the spark for many of the current runway trends.