Sarah Snook

January Jones put her new fringe on display when she attended the Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards in Beverly Hills yesterday. She was accompanied by her Mad Men co-stars Jessica Paré, Elisabeth Moss and Kiernan Shipka to pick up their Lucy award, which celebrated all of the women's work on the hit AMC show. Other honorees included The Bling Ring director Sofia Coppola, Laura Linney, cinematographer Rachel Morrison, and George Lucas.

While women were the focus of the night, Mad Men fans have been devoting the past few weeks to trying to sift through all the mysterious Bob Benson theories. We caught up with Elisabeth at the Critics' Choice Television Awards on Monday, where she admitted that she has read up on the theories on POPSUGAR and she finds Bob "weird and mysterious." However, she wouldn't spill any new details on exactly what Bob is up to.

A cocktail party thrown for actress Hailee Steinfeld by Max Mara and W Magazine in LA last night attracted a selection of Hollywood’s hottest starlets, including a handful of Australian actresses experiencing success abroad. Expats Phoebe Tonkin, Jessica McNamee, Yvonne Strahovski, Sarah Snook, Emilie de Ravin and Grace Huang mingled with a Max Mara and Sportmax-clad crowd that included Revenge’s Ashley Madekwe and Christa B. Allen, Sophia Bush and Louise Roe. While Sarah loved catching up with her friends, she also saw the event as an “opportunity to meet some of the industry’s most inspiring women.” Hailee was the recipient of the 2013 Women in Film Max Mara Face of the Future Award to celebrate her career and style achievements.

Photos courtesy of Lucat Trovati for Max Mara

The guests at last night's W Magazine-hosted fete for Hailee Steinfeld might as well have been models for the Max Mara label. Playing co-host to W's Lynn Hirschberg, Nicola Maramotti dressed the VIP attendees in Max Mara so that the fete was as much a what's what of the collections as it was a who's who of Hollywood.

Famous faces like Ashley Madekwe, Harley Viera-Newton, and Angela Lindvall as well as ex-pat beauties Jessica McNamee, Phoebe Tonkin and Sarah Snook all hit the red carpet in a range of Max Mara sheaths and party dresses to celebrate Hailee's Women in Film's 2013 Max Mara Face of the Future award win. To see what everyone was wearing, just keep clicking. Images courtesy of Max Mara. 

Sydney's A-listers have been a busy bunch this week, what with Wednesday night's star-studded AACTA Awards backing-up last night's Christian Dior flagship store opening. The four story emporium situated at 65 Castlereagh Street in Sydney's CBD sits where the old Louis Vuitton store used to be, and whilst this isn't the first Australian foothold for the luxury label, it is a big step up from the original and much smaller Dior store which opened in The Rocks in 1999. The re-vamped store stocks a wider range of shoes, bags, accessories and Raf Simons' much-acclaimed ready to wear lines, and includes a separate Dior Homme boutique for the boys, spanning two levels. 

Now, let's get to the celebrity guest list, shall we? Lara Bingle looked delightful in a pleated Christopher Kane cocktail frock, Emma Freedman stood out (for the right reasons) in a bold, block orange sheath and Megan Gale put on the flirty in a full-skirted navy number. Step inside to see who wore what to this fashionable fête. 

Stylish actors, models and sportstars hit the sidewalk last night to celebrate the opening of the Sydney's first flagship Christian Dior store, in the heart of the CBD. Swimmer Geoff Huegill attended with his wife Sara, while Lara Bingle rocked a red-orange lip and Megan Gale and Isabel Lucas posed out the front. Australian model Nicole Pollard, who is the new face of Dior, was flown in from Paris for the event. Under the direction of new creative head, Raf Simons, Dior has recently seen something of a resurgence, with countless celebs picking the luxury label for red carpets and fashion week events alike. Taking up residence in the old Louis Vuitton store on the corner of Castlereagh and King Streets, the multi-level store was made to resemble Dior's famous boutique on Paris' Avenue Montaigne — it joins a growing list of designer flagships that are opening across Australia. 

The State Theatre in Sydney hosted a premiere for the second night in a row when The Sapphires (in cinemas now) debuted last night. After events in Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane, stars Jessica Mauboy, Deborah Mailman and Miranda Tapsell, as well as director Wayne Blair, walked the red carpet with producers, writers and more Australian talent such as Reece Mastin, Stan Walker, Timomatic, and the original Sapphires who inspired the movie.

We spoke to the cast and crew as they made their way inside the theatre, and while two of the stars were absent — Shari Sebbens was working on a play — Irish actor Chris O’Dowd sent his love via a hilarious text message that was read out to the audience before the screening, saying he “wanted the Sapphires back!” Following the movie, Jessica hit the stage in a sparkly silver gown and wowed the crowd with her spectacular vocals.

• Miranda on taking in all the positive buzz: “I think I’m just really enjoying the ride at the moment. I’m just so blessed that all these people are coming together — indigenous and non-indigenous — and together we’re really uniting on this story about how much we love it. It’s lovely.”
• Wayne on whether he’s worried people will come in with super high expectations: “Oh, totally! It’s just a beautiful film that we’ve made altogether, and to get this kind of buzz, sometimes it feels a bit too much. We just made a nice little story in 100 minutes. But we want everyone to share it. It’s just one of those things where you want to make a story everyone sees, so hopefully everyone will see it. But look, push comes to shove, one day at a time.”
• Deborah on working with Chris O’Dowd: “I love working with Chris O’Dowd. He’s such a wonderful, incredible man, fantastic actor, and bringing him on board and being part of the story was perfect. I can’t imagine anyone else playing this role. He brought so much intelligence, fun and heart to this role, and we had a ball making this. To be standing opposite him when the cameras were rolling, I was like, ‘OK, sh*t, I’m with Chris O’Dowd right now.’ We played really well together.”
• Jessica on watching the movie: “This will probably be my fifth or sixth time. And I don’t get sick of it. Every time I watch it back there’s something new that I latch on to, that I didn’t see before, so that’s always kind of interesting! And surprising.”

The State Theatre played host to the Sydney premiere of The Sapphires last night, and according to our girl on the ground Pop the grand surrounds setting a glamorous tone for the evening's red carpet arrivals. Leading ladies Jessica Mauboy — who shimmered in a sequinned Montique gown — Deborah Mailman and Miranda Tapsell got seriously glam for the event, as did the Sydney celeb-set. Carissa Walford worked a pair of sequinned skinnies, Sarah Snook looked delightful in a lace prom-style dress and Sacha Horler was elegant in a streamlined LBD. Step inside to see all of the red carpet looks from last night's opulent premiere!

The inaugural AACTA Awards got off to a great start last night, with a sea of stars walking the red carpet at the iconic Sydney Opera House. Previously known as the AFI Awards, which Oscar nominee Jacki Weaver said “were getting a little sad and quiet,” the AACTA Awards made itself known with endorsements from Geoffrey Rush, its president, and Cate Blanchett.

Cate was among the first to take the stage on the night to introduce Geoffrey. An edited clip from The King’s Speech was shown before honours for Australian film and TV achievements were handed out. Judy Davis won the best lead actress award for her role in The Eye of the Storm, while Daniel Henshall took home the best lead actor honour for Snowtown. The Samsung AACTA Award for best film went to last year’s sleeper hit Red Dog.

In the TV categories, it was a successful night for The Slap, which won best telefeature, mini series or short run series, as well as best direction, best screenplay, best lead actor in a TV drama for Alex Dimitrades, and best supporting actress in a TV drama for Diana Glenn. Sarah Snook’s role in Sisters of War resulted in her best lead actress in a TV drama, while SBS’ East West 101 was deemed best TV drama.

Throughout the night, the best film nominees were highlighted with musical presentations from the likes of Tim Minchin, Julia Morris and Justine Clarke. Rachael Taylor presented previews for upcoming Aussie films like Mental and Any Questions For Ben?, and the audience also got a sneak peek for The Avengers. The in memoriam tribute was performed by Megan Washington. Footage from the AACTA International Awards, held in LA last week, was also shown.

Click through to see some of the winners with their new AACTA statuettes, and see the full list on the AACTA website.