Desperate Housewife Awarded Worst-Dressed Top Spot
By Arthur Spiegelman, AP<CENTER>
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LOS ANGELES (Jan. 11) - "Desperate Housewives" star Nicollette Sheridan, known for short skirts, tight pants and a famously dropped towel in a television ad, was named the worst-dressed woman of 2004 on Tuesday by fashion designer Mr Blackwell.
In his 45th annual no-puns-barred list of what he calls "The Bad, The Sad and The Downright Ugly," Mr Blackwell said the 41-year-old actress, who a plays a suburban vamp in the hit ABC series, is "a taste-free pain."
"Let's crown her the Tacky Temptress of Wisteria Lane!" he added as he placed her at the top of his list, which has become a Hollywood tradition.
Also on this year's list were teen actress Lindsay Lohan, sisters Jessica and Ashlee Simpson and a potpourri of other celebrities: Courtney Love, Paris Hilton, Serena Williams, Britney Spears, Paula Abdul, Meryl Streep and Anna Nicole Smith.
Mr Blackwell said the biggest fashion faux pas of 2004 was Janet Jackson's famed "Wardrobe Malfunction" which involved her briefly baring a breast during the Super Bowl's halftime show.
But he added that her "peekaboo flash was a "total tempest in a teapot as far as I'm concerned. If you really want a stylistic scandal, look no further than the Ten Terrors gracing this year's List."
Sheridan caused her own controversy last year, provoking some 50,000 complaints when, during a promotional spot for "Desperate Housewives" preceding "Monday Night Football," she dropped a towel and jumped, apparently naked, into the arms of receiver Terrell Owens.
Mr Blackwell had no comment on that, possibly because he found the towel tasteful.
<!-- /PARAGRAPH OBJECT -->He gave second spot on his list to teen star Lohan, calling her, "Over-hyped and under-dressed. What's happened to Lindsay? When it comes to fashion she's in a schizophrenic frenzy!"
The singing Simpson sisters tied for third, with Mr Blackwell decrying, "From gaudy to grim to downright frenetic these two prove that bad taste is positively genetic!"
He called singer Courtney Love "a Medusa stuck in a meltdown mode" and named her fourth. Socialite Paris Hilton was fifth: "This is one Hilton that should be closed for renovation."
In sixth place was tennis champ Serena Williams, whom Mr Blackwell said has moved "from the queen of tennis to fatal fashion menace." He was no less unkind to Britney Spears, saying she is "a "clothes encounter of the catastrophic kind."
He dismissed singer Paula Abdul, calling her "a paint by numbers fashion foul." As for Meryl Streep in ninth place, Mr Blackwell said, "Forget 'Lemony Snicket,' Streep packs the fashion punch of Jiminy Cricket!"
The final victim on his list was former Playmate married to a millionaire Anna Nicole Smith, whom Mr Blackwell said looked like "a rag doll trapped in a wind machine."
On the former fashion designer's best-dressed list were Natalie Portman, Nicole Kidman, Barbara Walters, Kate Winslet, Annette Bening, Oprah Winfrey, Scarlett Johansson, Gwen Stefani, Teri Hatcher and Jennifer Garner.
Mr Blackwell's lists are a Hollywood tradition and over the years have poked fun at everyone from Queen Elizabeth to Elizabeth Taylor.
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