From simple to sparkly, frocks vie for style stakes at BAFTAs

LONDON (Reuters) - Monochrome dresses competed with intricately embroidered gowns on the red carpet of Britain's biggest film awards on Sunday, with Hollywood stars braving the London winter in an array of luxurious dresses. This year's British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards brought out lots of black, white and bold red from top designers. Kate Winslet, who won the supporting actress category for "Steve Jobs" wore a black one-shouldered, asymmetric Antonio Berardi gown while "Fifty Shades of Grey" star Dakota Johnson and "Game of Thrones" actress Emilia Clarke both opted for red. Last year's winner Julianne Moore dressed in a white and black Giorgio Armani gown and "The Great Gatsby" actress Isla Fisher sought simple elegance in a white fitted Stella McCartney frock. However sparkles also featured heavily, with double BAFTA nominee Alicia Vikander wearing a black leather Louis Vuitton dress with shiny crystal detailing and "Brooklyn" actress Saoirse Ronan choosing a shiny floral gown. "Carol" star Cate Blanchett, who like Vikander lost in the leading actress category to Brie Larson, also wore a richly- embellished Alexander McQueen dress. The dress was "made with the feathers and that incredible level of embroidery on the top half," fashion commentator Gemma Ebelis told Reuters. "There was (also) a lot of diamonds on this carpet this evening." The men had their share of designer suits, with some choosing dark colors such as emerald green, navy or brown. "There was quite a lot of the velvet sort of smoking-jacket style tuxedos," Ebelis said. It "is always nice to see the men have a play around and not just doing the 'go to black'." (Reporting by Joel Flynn and Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)