Hollywood's new leading men brought some creativity to the awards and managed to avoid daggy territory by looking dignified and dapper with their "it's all in the detail" dressing mentality.

Style leader Ryan Gosling's absence from the awards allowed the men with facial hair to shine in all their unkempt glory with a plethora of five o'clock shadows and longer locks popping up on the red carpet.

Guy Pearce looked rock star cool with acetate sunglasses, an open collar and a three day growth while Gerard Butler, with a shaggy hair do and full beard, was all business from the neck down complete with a bow tie and waist coat.

Fellow facial hair aficionado Brad Pitt, who injured his knee after a fall while carrying his daughter, relied on a goatee and cane to hobble into the awards.

The only colour on the night came from host Ricky Gervais who made a bold statement even before he took to the podium at the Beverly Hilton with a three-piece maroon suit while ex-Friends star Matt LeBlanc ditched the black tie dress code altogether and wore a navy tuxedo with striped tie.

Modern Family's Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Elton John wore their animal attraction on their collars with both pinning diamond encrusted animal brooches to their lapels.

Coloured ties and textured jackets allowed others to make a point of difference and that difference was pointed out on the red carpet.

Director Steven Spielberg accessorised his dinner suit with a cashmere scarf while John’s partner David Furnish jazzed things up south of his ankles with a pair of Christian Louboutin’s Rollerboy Spikes slippers.

Wrist adornments were noticeably bigger this year with the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Maroon 5's Adam Levine and Will Arnett from Arrested Development going sans cufflinks to make room for sizeable (no doubt Swiss) timepieces.