Last year’s Supporting Actress winner (for Vicky Cristina Barcelona) and a nominee this year (for Nine), Cruz wore a satin pleated Donna Karan couture gown and Chopard jewels. She held hands with boyfriend Javier Bardem while seated in the audience.

Not only did Best Supporting Actress winner Mo’Nique thank Hattie McDaniel, the first African-American performer to win an Oscar, in her acceptance speech, but she also paid tribute to the Gone With the Wind star through her choice of dress. "The reason why I have on this royal blue dress is because it’s the color that Hattie McDaniel wore in 1940 when she accepted her Oscar," she told reporters after her win for her portrayal of an abusive mother in Precious. "The reason why I have this gardenia in my hair [is] it is the flower that Hattie MCDaniel wore when she accepted her Oscar." Mo’Nique’s gown is by Tadashi Shoji.

Bigelow made history by becoming the first woman to win a Best Director Oscar, for The Hurt Locker. Right after, she looked positively shocked when she was called to return to the stage to pick up a second Oscar, for Best Picture. "I dedicate this to the women and men in the military who risk their lives on a daily basis in Iraq and Afghanistan-and may they come home safe," she said. On the fashion front, this age-defying beauty (she’s 58!) shined in an Edition Soir Yves Saint Laurent by Stefano Pilati gown.

Last year’s Best Actress winner (for The Reader), Winslet presented the Best Actor Oscar to Jeff Bridges. She looked elegant in a silver Yves St. Laurent gown with bustier and a Tiffany necklace reportedly worth $2.5 million.

Nominated for Best Actress for her turn as Leo Tolstoy’s wife in The Last Station, Mirren was the picture of elegance in a silver Badgley Mischka gown paired with dazzling Chopard jewels.

"I kind of am pulling for all the young gals," Streep, who earned a record-breaking 16th nomination for her role in Julie & Julia, said before the ceremony began. Her flattering Chris March dress, which she paired with diamond and black onyx jewels by Fred Leighton, a Swarovski clutch and Jimmy Choo shoes, was as classy and bright as her attitude.

The legendary star and director presented the Best Director Oscar to Kathryn Bigelow in a tuxedo gown by Randolph Duke (her own beaded Victorian lace blouse added feminine flair). "The time has finally come," she said before announcing Bigelow as the first woman to take home the award.

Pfeiffer, red-hot in Carolina Herrera, paid tribute to her Fabulous Baker Boys costar Jeff Bridges, who went on to win a long-overdue Best Actor Oscar for Crazy Heart.

The pop diva showed off her unglamorous side as the social worker in Precious, but she was all about the glitz on Oscar night, wearing a curve-hugging Valentino Haute Couture dress with a high slit. ("I had them build a body suit," she said on the red carpet. "I was concerned about a Marilyn moment.") She accessorized with a Judith Leiber bag, an H. Stern diamond bracelet and Chopard diamond earrings.

The star was radiant in lavender satin by Badgley Mischka Couture, with diamond and pink sapphire jewels from Chopard.

She spoke eloquently about Best Actor nominee Colin Firth, her costar in A Single Man, and turned heads in her shimmery Calvin Klein gown and Bulgari diamonds (Moore is the new face of Bulgari).

The Precious costar showed off her baby bump (her husband is singer Robin Thicke) in an orange Carolina Herrera gown; Martin Katz jewels were the finishing touch.

Weaver wowed the crowd in a one-shoulder Lanvin design, a Neil Lane brooch and Jimmy Choo heels. Avatar, she said, "was the most ambitious script I’d ever read."

Seymour sizzled in a vibrant David Meister design.