BEST DRESSED: GOLDEN GLOBES

When it comes to the Golden Globes, it seems young starlets are left with two options: Prom Queen or Runway Redux.  But there's a good middle ground between all-American pouf ball and out-there couture, and a few of our favorite girls managed to find it.

To keep it interesting, we widened our pool of candidates to include those who attended Golden Globes after-parties and related events... and since winner Aaron Sorkin gleefully proclaimed "elite is a good thing," we've narrowed our list from the traditional ten to the Elite Eight.

8.  Jennifer Lawrence in Louis Vuitton

The blondie was nominated for her star-making turn in Winter's Bone, and although she lost to Natalie Portman, she certainly held her own on the red carpet with a chic and daring combo: navy blue and black.  The combination of Apple-Pie Starlet and Fashion-Heavy Silhouette was a home run for both the actress and the dress' designer, Marc Jacobs.

7.  Claire Danes in Calvin Klein Collection

It's modern, it's cool, it's ultra-femme... honestly, the only reason Claire didn't score higher on the list is because she's consistently well dressed, so her appearance was more of a "well, duh" than a "wow."

6.  Dianna Agron in J. Mendel

The nude color palette gives the Glee ingenue an ethereal glow, and she chose to wear her princess getup with black

nails - a subtle contrast to the Good-Witch vibe of the outfit.

5.  Michelle Williams in Valentino

Paging Edie Sedgwick, Mia Farrow, the Crayola Factory, and the background illustrators of The Smurfs - we don't know how you all got together and made a daisy printed love child, but it's awesome and adore-worthy.

4.  Kirsten Dunst in Rodarte

While we were disappointed the three-time NYLON cover girl wasn't nominated for her strong work in All Good Things, we're glad to see she dressed like a winner anyway.

3.  Leighton Meester in Burberry

The long sleeves.  The neutral color palette.  The easy hair.  It's like Stevie Nicks became a couture house and churned out a dress that would upstage everyone else! 

2.  Hailee Steinfeld in Prabal Gurung

You're an emerging actress with a blazing future.  Your gown is by a young designer with similar prospects.  And since you're fourteen, you go with a ponytail instead of some fussy chignon-thing because you're really smart.  It may have been fun standing next to Justin Bieber, but the real dream team of the night was you and this dress.

1.  Emma Stone in Calvin Klein

"Um, yeah, it's peach!" she told Ryan Seacrest on the red carpet.  And so are you, Emma.  So are you.

Runners Up:  Anne Hathaway in Armani, Emma Roberts in Julien McDonald, Jayma Mays in Alberta Ferretti, Heather Morris in Lorena Sarbu.