Cate Blanchett Shrugs Off Criticism of Oscars 2011 Dress

For the first time in many years, at this year’s Oscar Awards, Cate Blanchett made it into the worst-dressed list for the Givenchy gown you can also see in the attached pic. Asked why she chose it, Cate stands up for herself: you have to wear what you like.

Cate’s dress, as we also noted at the time, was the only one that managed to polarize discussion to a great extent with fashion gurus.

Whether they applauded the actress for wearing it or not, most agreed that it was odd-looking enough to look dreadful on any other woman, but that, even if it seemed ugly, Cate looked fab in it.

In a recent interview with InStyle Australia, Cate shrugs off criticism: she has nothing to say those who don’t understand or don’t like haute couture.

Then, she adds: if the red carpet at the biggest event of the awards season is not the right time to wear couture, no other is.

“People get so worried about dressing for other people, but you’ve got to wear what you like,” the actress says.

“If people get it, they get it. If they don’t, then it doesn’t matter,” she adds, literally shrugging off the flack she got in the media for wearing the gown, which came in pale lilac and had an intricate and contrasting design in yellow mustard beads on the back.

“There are so few houses that can afford to do couture, and since the red carpet is such a wonderful showcase, we should be celebrating that,” the actress adds.

She says she fell in love with the gown the first time she saw it, and hints that she may actually wear it again, though without the complex “structure” on top.

“I was tempted to wear it two ways, because if you take the top part off, it’s a really simple halter dress underneath. I thought the external piece was so unusual,” Cate says, admitting that the color combination was what attracted her to the gown in the first place.