all-around favorites were jennifer morrison (house) and portia de rossi (guest of ellen degeneres). each had great hair, makeup and dresses.
jennifer morrison in an elie saab gown
[ side note: also loved her dress at entertainment weekly's 5th annual pre-emmy party the night before. haven't found whose dress it is. ]
portia de rossi in a gown by azzaro by vanessa seward with boucheron jewels
honorable mention goes to marcia cross (desperate housewives). her hair and accessories were rockin, but i wasn't really feeling the dress.
marcia cross in georges chakra gown, lorraine schwartz earrings and bangle, and lambertson truex clutch
least favorites would be: ali larter (heroes), kristen bell (veronica mars), felicity huffman (desperate housewives) and hayden panettiere (heroes).
ali larter (in reem acra) and kristen bell (in yigal azrouel) both looked like they were wrapped in fancy bath towels.
felicity huffman (in david meister) showed too much breastbone as usual and was not age-appropriate. hayden panettiere (in marc bouwer) wasn't very age-appropriate either; she could have gone with a cuter, more form-fitting dress, instead of looking like she were ready to hide some stolen awards under the skirt.
in the male category, milo ventimiglia (heroes) was looking quite dapper. a rumored budding relationship must be the source of his allure. along the same vein, there's a sadness in the eyes and posture of jesse spencer (house); looking kinda sloppy, must be the recently announced broken engagement.