Now You Can Dress Like an Oscar Winner

Dressing for the Academy Awards is as quirky as Sharon Stone mixing Valentino with the Gap. It’s as elegant as Elizabeth Taylor in an Edith Head violet ball gown or as outrageous as Cher in a Bob Mackie harem dress.

Now Oscar fashions are also charitable. Christie’s auction house has teamed up with Vogue and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to sell some of the more famous Academy Award-night gowns from the last 40 years to raise funds for the American Foundation for AIDS Research, or AmFAR. A catalog, “Unforgettable: Fashion of the Oscars” (pictured) is available.

Gowns from Taylor, Cher, Janet Leigh and other stars will go on the auction block in New York in March. But a dozen of the 54 gowns will be on display at Christie’s in Beverly Hills this weekend, beginning today. Another eight will be displayed at the Barneys New York store in Beverly Hills.

Christie’s, 360 N. Camden Drive, Beverly Hills, from 10 a.m to 5 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Monday, and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. The catalog is $40 at Christie’s or $45 by mail from Christie’s Publications at (800) 395-6300, or for $39.95, plus shipping and handling, from the Home Shopping Network at (888) 872-3992. All proceeds will benefit AmFAR.