The Look of Love

She’s conquered the big and small screens and become known in Hollywood as much for her brains as for her beauty, and now Salma Hayek is about to settle down. The lucky man is French luxury goods mogul François-Henri Pinault, whose firm owns many of the fashion world’s most desirable labels, including Yves Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta and Gucci. Since the Oscar-nominated actress has topped best-dressed lists wearing many of the couture names in her fiance’s portfolio, her future certainly looks fashionable.

For the opening of the Palazzo Grassi in Venice, Hayek accented her tiny waist in a full-length gown with mesh inserts.

Hayek conjured a bit of old-Hollywood glamour in an Yves Saint Laurent check dress, some serious Gucci shades and a classic black Bottega Veneta bag when she attended last year's ABC summer press tour in Hollywood. "Salma believes that women of the 1920s who broke the rules--Coco Chanel, Marlene Dietrich--were pioneers in their sexuality and strength," celebrity stylist Freddie Leiba has said. "They did something besides just being beautiful."

Salma emphasized all the right curves in a Dior by John Galliano gown at this year’s Golden Globes. In addition to scoring another style win, Hayek was honored for her hit TV show Ugly Betty (she’s the Executive Producer), which picked up the trophy for best television comedy series. The lovely Latina accented her draped frock with hard-to miss-jewelry by Chanel and Sergio Rossi heels. "I always got lots of attention," the star has said. "I made sure of it."

Ladylike should always look so good: Hayek chose a black Chloé dress trimmed with an eye-catching raffia band for the unveiling of Robert Wilson's "Voom Portraits" at the ACE Gallery in Los Angeles. Plunging necklines and fitted silhouettes represent "her unique knowledge of what is right for her," Narciso Rodriguez has said. "She's inspiring."

Hayek was a brunette bombshell at the Cartier Charity Love Bracelet party in New York City. The siren chose a fiery Oscar de la Renta frock and metallic YSL pumps in which to spend an evening with some of her fellow leading ladies, including Sarah Jessica Parker, Liv Tyler and Scarlett Johansson. "The world's most unforgettable beauties embrace the very traits that set them apart," Hayek wrote in the foreword to Iman's 2005 book, The Beauty of Color.

"The twenties were sexy,” Hayek has said-she often refers this time as her favorite fashion era. “Even the makeup and hairstyles had romance and glamour. Clothing was chic, and makeup highlighted the eyes." The star chose to evoke her vision of the decade when she showed off demure slivers of shoulder in a floor-length Fendi gown and kept her hair long and loose at the Producers Guild Awards last month.