The red carpet-turned-runway at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif., last night was largely a sea of white, with the glitz coming more from a smattering of metallic dresses and embellishment instead of blinding diamond necklaces.

Among the stars who wore white to the black-tie event were Jennifer Garner in a beaded V-neck dress and Heidi Klum in a strapless gown.

Salma Hayek was in a draped short-sleeve gown with an open portrait neckline; Ellen Pompeo wore a Versace high-neck gown with an open back and silver trim; and Kate Winslet was dressed in a strapless white Azzaro gown.

"It was amazing because of the beautiful white dress and Kate's incredibly white, milky skin. I asked, 'What will make her look the most striking?'" said Pati Dubroff, Dior Beauty's makeup artist who worked with Winslet. Dubroff said she imagined a 1930s screen siren in a black-and-white photograph.

Dubroff also worked with Naomi Watts, who wore a strapless turquoise gown with metal beadwork.

Cameron Diaz, with very dark hair and very red lips, wore a one-shoulder white fitted bodice with a skirt made of tiers of white tulle and a jeweled belt with a black bow.

Cate Blanchett wore a black off-the-shoulder gown by Alexander McQueen with lace sleeves, a delicate jeweled belt and an asymmetrical hem. Also stunning in black was Penelope Cruz in a scoop-neck Chanel Couture gown with a delicate ruffle around the neck.

Blanchett made W magazine Fashion Market Director Treena Lombardo's favorites list. She also liked Angelina Jolie's smoky gray strapless gown by St. John. "Gray was a gorgeous color because her eyes are so smoky and she has that smoky persona," Lombardo said.

Since most stars played it safe, there weren't any glaring misses, Lombardo noted, although she would have liked to see Katherine Heigl in something more fun and playful than her very grown-up Escada black strapless gown with a fishtail hem and train. But, she added, the dress certainly showed off Heigl's voluptuous curves.

Jennifer Hudson took her spin in the spotlight in a navy V-neck Vera Wang gown with short sleeves, while co-star Beyoncé wore a metallic plunging V-neck gown with a keyhole opening on the belly for extra vavavoom.

Jessica Biel shimmered from head to toe in a silver beaded gown with spaghetti straps and an open back.

Sienna Miller was shivering in her white Marchesa cowl-neck and cowl-back gown with gold embroidery in a lattice pattern.

Jennifer Lopez also wore Marchesa. Hers was a scarf-style, one-shoulder black gown. "My husband loved it. That's usually the deciding factor," she said.

Brightly colored dresses, including Renee Zellweger's emerald green strapless gown, Jada Pinkett Smith's pleated tangerine Armani Prive gown, Rachel Weisz's red strapless Bill Blass and Eva Longoria's navy gown with jeweled straps and bustline by Emanuel Ungaro, were rare — and therefore really stood out.

AP writer Sandy Cohen contributed to this report.