Designers and stylists have given a preview of what the stars will be wearing at the Oscars.

Frocks, hairstyles and diamonds went on display at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills.

The preview also included a fashion show featuring the creations of seven upcoming dressmakers selected to take part in the Oscar Design Challenge.

The designers are vying to have their original evening gown worn by one of the escorts at the Oscars ceremony, with the winner decided by a public vote.

Jeweller Neil Lane, who is supplying the bling for Angelina Jolie, Kate Winslet and Anne Hathaway, said: "The red carpet is a time for escape and fantasy. And that's what Hollywood does best."

Celebrity hair stylist Roy Teeluck said the global economic downturn would not diminish the glamour of the occasion this year.

He said: "The economy doesn't reflect on how complicated or not complicated we do things.

"But we are celebrating hair this year. And we want to see the hair.

"We don't want to see it pulled back. And we don't want to see it thrown up, as if it looks like a bird's nest, with half of it falling down. We want to see a little bit more structure."

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