5 best dresses of the Spring semester

Sienna Miller in vintage Ossie Miller (A+)

Jennifer Lopez in Oscar de la Renta (A)

Penelope Cruz in Oscar de la Renta (A)

Eva Mendes in Marchesa (A-)

Nicole Kidman in Balenciaga (A-)

Kinda over her

Aside from her terrific ass, I'm not really sure why I was so fixated on Jessica Biel.

Her movies are forgettable, she has more than a hint of man shoulders, and if Us Weekly sales are any metric for how interesting a person is, she falls short of both the Spelling family and Nicole Kidman. Nicole Kidman.

There's no argument, however, over the fact that she can rock a Chloé dress and fitted trench like few others can, evidenced again last night outside Dave Letterman's studio in a Paulo Melim Andersson designed prim white 3/4-sleeve embellished A-line sweater dress and a long gunmetal gaberdine cinched coat. Not crazy about the stacked wooden-heeled peeptoes, but that's a me thing, not a style thing -- I just don't care to see anything fatter than a four-inch Bruno Frisoni toothpick propping up a woman's foot.

Then there's the handbag, or shall I say, bodybag? Seriously, is she carrying a Bowflex in that thing? It's ridiculous. Plus, white-on-white-on-white is almost never a good idea, because unless their tones match perfectly, you end up looking like you've tried too hard to be matchy-matchy. And there's only one thing worse than looking matchy-matchy, and that's tried-and-failed matchy-matchiness. Were I her stylist, I would've chosen for Jess a warm chocolatey brown pair of stiletto pumps like these from Celine and a subtle metallic-and-khaki clutch like this one from Marc Jacobs. Complement, don't match, sweetie.

But perhaps what I find most disappointing in this series of photos - other than her unseasonably mid-winter berry lips - is the realization that Ms. Biel may not be an officer of the cankle club, after all.

Looks like Katie Holmes will be stepping in to pinch-hit for Jess this season!

Best five

My far and away favorite on the red carpet tonight is Nicole Kidman in her cherry red Balenciaga halter gown. The bold color is perfect, the simple cut and form-fitted drape are perfect, and the drama of the exaggerated bow and red metallic trim are startlingly unexpected but still, perfect.

Put simply, she looks just as a Hollywood starlet should.

If I had to choose four others and it wasn't an option to simply say Nicole's name four more times, I'd have to give nods in the direction of Cate Blanchett in another liquid metal Armani Privé column gown, the stylish unit I wouldn't mind getting in between that is Daniel Craig and Satsuki Mitchell, J.Lo in a I-thought-I-hated-it-but-I-actually-kinda-love-it empire waisted jewel-tastic Marchesa gown, and finally, Gwyneth Paltrow in her gauzy apricot, please-check-out-the-back-before-you-judge-it Zac Posen confection.

Enjoy.