Variety's Power of Youth Event 2009
I have never seen so young actresses in one place as at the Third Annual Variety's Power of Youth Event, held December 5 in Los Angeles. The goal of Power of Youth is to encourage young celebrities to become involved in philanthropic and humanitarian causes and to motivate others to do the same. This year's event benefited St. Jude's Hospital, and patients from St. Jude's even got to attend.
The fashions of a few young actresses who attended, ranked from best to worst:
Isabelle Fuhrman, 12, and Joey King, 10 (posing with a life-size wax replica of President Obama). Isabelle's shiny silver top is similar to the shiny purple dress she wore to the Teen Choice Awards last August, but this color complements her skin tone much better. With the jeans and boots, she's hip, age-appropriate, and neither too formal nor too casual. (We just wish Isabelle would grin sometimes, rather than always smiling with her mouth closed, which makes her look nervous. Maybe she is. Relax, Isabelle, we love you!)
Joey, meanwhile, sported perhaps the most casual outfit at the event in her jeans, t-shirt, and sneakers. In her defense, she was one of the youngest young actresses there, and she'll still super-adorable and talented, but we draw the line at the jacket tied around her waist.
Bailee Madison, 10, and Kay Panabaker, 19. Either this event was casual and Bailee didn't get the memo, or it was dressy and Kay didn't get the memo. Either way, while both girls look nice separately -- Bailee's skirt and blouse are grown-up without being severe, and Kay's jeans and top are casual-chic and fun -- they clash horribly when you look at them next to each other.
Keke Palmer, 16, and Miranda Cosgrove, 16. As a fan of symmetry, I'm not big on the off-the-shoulder dress, but Keke pulls it off well, and its pattern and color strikes a good balance of not too formal or too casual. She looks, as always, just edgy enough for her age. But Miranda's boring, black-and-white square print has to be the unfunnest dud of an outfit at the entire event.
Morgan Lily, 9. The new star of 2012 is drowning in accesories! Earrings and a necklace and barrettes and bracelets are all way too much for a kid. Now factor in the busy print of her shirt, bow at her waist, and lace trim on her skirt, and her outfit becomes busy and cluttered. If she simplified it a little, she would look very cute.
Madeline Carroll, 13. Madeline is so talented and pretty, and she's worn some good outfits -- she looked fabulous at the premiere of New Moon last month -- so I can't understand how she didn't realize that this getup is being attacked by my grandma's ugliest afghan! With the western print, big belt, and turqouise jewelry, it seems like she's trying to recreate '70s fashion. But Madeline, there's a reason those things were left back in the '70s.
Oh, and take a good look at the resemblance (or lack thereof?) between Morgan Lily and Madeline Carroll, because in their next movie, Flipped, they'll be playing the same character at different ages. Given that filming's already begun, I found it odd that they weren't photographed together once at the event. I can't imagine they avoided each other the entire time.
Bella Thorne, 13. I wish Bella would go away. She's had only a few worthwhile acting gigs, but that doesn't stop her from attending every public event she can and walking the red carpet with more attitude than a star twice her age. She's worn so many age-inappropriate outfits (in fact, it's rare to see her dressed decently) that I suspect any attention she's gotten so far has come from pedophiles. Not coincidentally, Bella's three siblings are also models/actors, so their parents must have taught them all to value fame above everything else. This girl is the next Miley Cyrus -- by which I mean that she'll probably grow up to be really trashy, not that she'll grow up to be a big name. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that her career goes nowhere.
Other young actresses who attended the event include Sammi Hanratty, Rachel Fox and Ryan Newman.
This event is always packed. See also the 2010 Power of Youth.