Red carpet rivals: Baftas v Grammys

At the Baftas, staged in a chilly Covent Garden, "safe" didn't even begin to cover the wealth of conservative dresses on display. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic at the Grammys, not one of the outfits came close to being remotely unassuming.

Where in LA there was the blue-haired Katy Perry resplendent in a blue beaded fish-tail gown by Elie Saab, in London we had a beautiful but pared-down Michelle Williams, who opted for a monochrome silk column gown by H&M.

It was certainly a night of contrasts: the simple versus the intricately embellished, the fish-tail versus the streamlined column - and the utterly outlandish versus the downright plain.

Surprising at the Baftas - given that budding stars often opt for breakout British design talent - there was a notable lack of young, home-grown labels. The likes of Roksanda Ilincic and Christopher Kane were only notable by their absence.

At the Grammys, Elie Saab and Versace proved popular choices for our American cousins - who by contrast are known for their appreciation of established fashion houses.

The palette of choice on this side of the Atlantic was also remarkably low key. While the red carpet at the Grammys was punctuated with accents of vibrant tangerine and blood red, among the Bafta set black prevailed.

Of course, neither ceremony was without its highlights. Among the British contingent in attendance in London was the delectable Tilda Swinton, who dazzled in a stark two-piece creation from Phoebe Philo's Céline label, while Stateside it was the controversial hip-hop star Nicki Minaj who stood out from the crowd - sadly for all the wrong reasons.