Thank you Unsplash for the free less than perfect perfect images of women.

It was the one job Vanity Fairs new editor had to get right. The vanity Fair Oscar party, an event that had lost its lustre over the last few years. It was reported in the Hollywood press he had spent weeks even months fine tuning culling the guest list to ensure only those with a AAA celebrity rating were getting in.

When Oscar nominee Emma Stone was asked about her after party plans and Vanity Fair even she said she thought it was weird even for some people nominated (not her specifically) weren’t able to go.her Bugonia people were going to Universals party before going on to A24.

So what happened at the party to create the “Light Mare” that left some celebrities run home crying after the pictures that showed all the cracks were published.

The first mistake happened when the venue was changed to LACMA from Wallis Annenberg Centre in Beverley Hills. The idea was celebrities would get first look at the new David Geffen exhibition (galleries are set to open to the public 19th April, 2026) and galleries however the refurb wasn’t ready in time and the party had to be relocated to a less glamourous wing of the museum.

The shindig organisers famous for their near perfect red carpet lighting designed to cover and conceal the flaws (I use the word to describe anything less than than perfection) of anyone deemed worthy enough to be photographed on it got it completely wrong this year as the celebrities complained one after the other about the glare of the totally unforgiving bright lights.

In the hasty move to LACMA one insider quipped someone forgot to bring the dimmer switch.

Of course social media commentators lapped up the best of the worst on platforms like Instagram and TikTok where pictures of Kris Jenner, Heidi Klume, Jane Fonda, Demi Moore, Mia Goth, Kate Hudson, Donatello Versace shot on the grey carpet under reportedly boiling hot lights took a beating.

Interestingly the amount of time, money and effort spent by celebrities, particularly the women, who are once again the victims in this situation, to get that one beautiful picture going out immediately to a global media and fan base can be completely ruined by one party snap.

I wonder how long it took Mark Guiducci’s boy friend time York times reporter Shawn McCreesh to peel back the covers and get him out of bed on Monday morning.

Or whether the new editor can save his job after a celebrity fiasco on the scale.

For me I think it goes a long way to show how it’s all about the lighting, the setting and the skill of those set and lighting designers to ensure the shots shot are celebrity perfect. In short it’s not real. And ironically none of the men, less effort, less time spent, less modification, make up looked bad, they were all fine.

So what exactly are we all buying into when it comes to women’s perfect that aren’t perfect, faces, bodies, Venus like statues as they practise their angles and photo stanches for hours on end. All simple to create an illusion of Hollywood movie star glamour.

I for one loved seeing the Vanity Fair images, not because the women were less beautiful, for me in many ways they were more beautiful because they weren’t flawless, they were the reality and what do they say, the truth will set you free.

Women like Pamela Anderson have been criticised for her no make up stanch of late and sure she doesn’t look the same as she did in her red swim suit Baywatch glamour days but I admire her courage to go against the grain and be beautiful just the way she is.

I think of actress Demi Moore making the movie The Substance and then caring about a Vanity Fair picture where she looks less than perfect. And how fake that is. Come on Demi. Which is it? Are you a brilliant actress sharing a universal truth in a highly and critically acclaimed movie or are you an insecure mannequin parading on a red carpet?

And why can’t you be both?

It would have been great for the actresses, instead of immediately posting their best party pictures from Oscar night to try and mitigate the fallout to have posted even worse pictures saying, you think that’s a bad picture of me, take a look at this one?

Seeing the humour in the magazine gaff would have blown a hole in the power the media holds over females and an outdated system making all these gorgeous talented women we admire for their brains and talent, wit and real life sex appeal want to run and hide the minute a bit so flattering picture of them hits the internet.

Come on, give us more credit. We know no one is perfect. Even Hollywood movie stars.

let’s celebrate this Vanity Fair gaff people. These women we love to watch on screen or recognised for their gifts and talents in other fields are so much more than one picture snapped at a party on an ugly carpet in harsh lighting.