ROSY POSES

Actors know better than anyone that practice makes perfect. Many stars at the 52nd annual Emmy Awards have been down the red carpet before, and they know the fashion drill. Make it sexy, sparkly and show your colors.

Once again, many female stars banished black and tried on new colors. Red-carpet fever infected many with a yen for shades of red and coral, including Jennifer Aniston’s sleek Prada sheath, Calista Flockhart’s beribboned Alberta Ferretti halter, Stockard Channing’s Chaiken gown, Amy Brenneman in a scarlet Richard Tyler ball gown and Debra Messing’s strapless Vera Wang ball gown.

Looking more innocent than her sexy character, Sarah Jessica Parker wore a fairy-tale pink Oscar de la Renta dress and her trademark silk flower. Lara Flynn Boyle blazed in a turquoise blue satin dress from the Barish/Nicholson collection by boyfriend Jack Nicholson’s daughter, Jennifer.

Sela Ward added a new twist in black with a leather-topped ensemble by David Cardona. Patricia Heaton’s black Dolce & Gabbana strapless dress looked almost vintage with its old-style embroidery.

Few new designer names surfaced on the red carpet, including a John Varvatos suit on Eric McCormack, and Valentino mixed with Gucci on Dylan McDermott. Most men kept to traditional tuxedos, though the sleek, black, three-button suit was also a favorite.

Scores of attendees wore a yellow-gold ribbon in support of striking co-workers who appear in commercials. A clever Jane Kaczmarek anchored the ribbon under her diamond engagement ring. “It seemed a great place to put it because it doesn’t distract from the dress,” said Kaczmarek, who wore a dramatic orange Richard Tyler gown and teased, ‘60s-style hair.

The age of glitz-encrusted gowns and dripping diamonds is on the wane, though there was no shortage of sparkle. Instead, metallics showed up mainly in accessories such as silver or gold sandals, or better, in the real stuff--platinum, diamonds and gold. Kristin Davis, in a strapless Richard Tyler dress, kept her neck bare. “When I put the necklace on with my dress, it distracted from the dress. So I got this to make up for it,” she said, flashing a gargantuan bracelet of yellow diamonds.

Davis’ “Sex and the City” co-star, Kim Cattrall, flashing yellow Harry Winston diamonds, looked at so many videos to find the perfect gown that she joked, “It was a full-time job. I think I got blisters from pulling on so many dresses.” Her Randolph Duke gunmetal, beaded sarong-style dress won out.

Gold still does wonders, though. Who knew that under her strictly business wardrobe, “The West Wing’s” Allison Janney had such a hot bod? Strutting in her Pamela Dennis gold-sequined halter took courage: “I was terrified to wear it, but a friend convinced me. I feel like a movie star.”

Perhaps the biggest fashion challenge came to the many expectant mothers at the ceremony. Their Hollywood-perfect figures betrayed only a bump in front, but most showed it off. Kelli Williams and Melissa Rivers chose form-fitting black sequins, while Ming-Na said her stretch-mesh size 4 gown accommodated her swelling belly. Jane Leeves, due in December, didn’t have her Randolph Duke gown custom-made, “but it was altered for me, obviously.”

Sheila Kelley, in an Elie Saab dress and with husband Richard Schiff, showed no trace of having had a baby two weeks ago. She made a tough sacrifice for style, she said: “I’ve got, like, eight girdles on.”