Generally, Emmy fashion tends to be very hit-or-miss. Some people show up looking either very budget, or totally flawless. This year was neither the best nor the worst in Emmy fashion. There was no one who showed up that made me scream “Oh, God! Why, why, why? Get thee to a stylist, Budget!” On the other side, there wasn’t anyone who made me sit up and yell “Yes! Best Dressed, hands down!” And, yes, I talk to my television. Speaking of, I watched the red carpet show on E!, and I was pleased to see Nene from The Real Housewives of Atlanta doing some commentary. Nene uttered my favorite line of the night, in regards to Ryan Seacrest’s interview with Stephen Moyer of True Blood. She said, “Black girls aren’t into vampires. That’s a white girl thing.”

The fashion trends this year seemed to be a hodgepodge: lots of girls were wearing metallics; many chose either an extreme blue, like a navy-black or a bright turquoise-teal, or a very, very pale ice-blue, almost white. The other trend was the one that needs to dragged out into the street and shot, the beige-nude color that too many girls wear, and very few can pull off.

My best dressed of the evening:

*Surprise, surprise, my absolute favorite of the evening was a Gossip Girl. I loved Blake Lively’s dress and styling. She wore a provocative, deep-V-neck, red Versace that showed off her flawless figure. Some will say she looked trampy. But if you’ve got that figure, you can wear that kind of dress and just look sexy. She showed the most skin of any girl there, but I think she stayed on the right side of the “classy” line. I also loved that she had her hair/extensions in one massive braid – it was a surprising choice, but it worked.

*Tina Fey, for thinking she’s an average girl with an average figure, but in reality, she’s a brainy bombshell. She chose a simple black dress that didn’t show off much skin, but I still liked it. She looked like herself, only slightly dressed up.

*Julia Louis-Dreyfus, in her teal strapless Vera Wang. The fit was perfection, the color was perfect for her, and she kept her hair and makeup very simple.

*Drew Barrymore – one of only two women that I saw who effectively pulled off a shade of beige. Her strapless rose-beige dress (I think it was Oscar de la Renta) was lovely, and she looked very elegant and classy. Great upswept hair, and good makeup.

*Honorable mentions: Sandra Oh – (for best use of a metallic with a mustard-gold strapless with some kind of embroidery); Heidi Klum (for looking like she was ready to give birth on the carpet, poor girl); Kyra Sedgwick (just because I love her, and her pink L’Wren Scott was surprisingly cute, feminine and girly); and Jenna Fischer (for most improved – she usually screws up her look completely, but she looked very pretty in a simple black strapless, good jewelry and good makeup).

Worst Dressed:

*Jessica Lange – The dress wasn’t even that bad. But everything felt off with her, from her face to her hair, to her sort of drugged-out eyes. She just seemed like a total mess of a once-gorgeous woman.

*Hayden Panettiere – Dina Lohan called, and she wants her look back. Seriously, Hayden could teach a class with Ali Lohan on how to look like a 40-something Rockette who has lived hard.

*Vanessa Williams – Once again, it wasn’t even the worst dress, although it did look cheap. The styling messed her up big-time, though. She looked very “budget beauty pageant third runner up” rather than “Emmys”.

Weird (but not necessarily bad) Dressed:

*I can’t decide whether I like Leighton Meester’s dress. The shoulder appliqués were too big, the makeup was overdone, the hair was messy, and she looked very shiny. And yet in a weird way, it all kind of worked.

*Mila Kunis – once again, I can’t decide if I like it. It made her look very “blood-soaked ballerina”. I liked the color on her, I liked her makeup and hair, but I didn’t love the whole look.

*January Jones – I think January’s problem is that she’s become famous for playing a character that is always in corsets, housedresses and anything that will make her look like Grace Kelly. So January rebels, and tries to be edgy and high-fashion. When I saw her on the red carpet, she looked uncomfortable – a totally rigid bustier will do that to you. The white-silver color is okay, the skirt is fine, so I’m left with the idea that she was simply trying too hard.

As for the men, very few deviated from the standard classic tux or well-tailored black suit. Some guys looked better than others – like Jon Hamm, Jason Segel, Simon Baker and John Krasinski. Some guys just looked a little “meh” – like Mark Wahlberg and Stephen Moyer (but his accent is a panty-dropper). It wasn’t a stunning night for fashion, but there was some good stuff there.

Most photos credit: Juan Rico/Fame Pictures. Some photos of male celebrities credit: Albert L. Ortega / PR Photos. Also shown in order are Ginnifer Goodwin, Kathy Griffin, Steve Carell, Elizabeth Perkins, Julie Benz, Sigourney Weaver, Lisa Edelstein, Padma Lakshmi, Holly Hunter, Sarah Silverman, Marcia Gay Harden, Jane Krakowski, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Kate Walsh, Christina Hendricks, Kourtney Kardashian, Kim Kardashian, Alyson Hannigan, Cat Deeley, Neil Patrick Harris, Jennifer Morrison and Amaury Nolasco, Debra Messing, Elisabeth Moss and Fred Armisen, Olivia Wilde, Sally Field, Toni Collette, Mariska Hargitay, Chloe Sevigny, and Christina Applegate