Nicole, that's too much cleavage

When it comes to cleavage, how much is too much? As Nicole Kidman stepped out at the very British Bafta awards ceremony, welcomed by some very British weather, it just seemed possible you can have too much of a good thing.

Torrential rain may have forced the A-list guests to huddle under umbrellas as they stepped out on a soggy - and strangely foaming - red carpet to enter Leicester Square's Odeon cinema venue last night, but it didn't dampen some stars' appetite for exposure.

Inclement weather conditions meant resorting to plan B for many of the awards most glamorous invitees. Toni Colette in Alberta Feretti pleated nude chiffon? What, with that wind? She sensibly switched to a black tuxedo suit. Brigitte Jones's Renee Zellweger, a vision in a pale pink chiffon dress and matching pale pink taffeta coat from Chanel Haute Couture? Not in that down pour thank you very much. The pale pink stayed safely left in the hotel suite and out came an equality glamorous, but more sensibly splash proof, offtheshoulder black dress.

In fact, the black dress became the order of the evening. With notable exceptions such as our own Dame Judi Dench - she had opted for exquisitely embroidered and beaded full-length cream, and no amount of rain was going to stop her - and British beauties Saffron Burrows and Anna Friel in standout red, practically every actress had chosen a little black number.

It is hard to go wrong with a little black dress - or so you would think. Nicole Kidman had gone to the master of understatement for her Bafta outfit and somehow managed to come up with one of her most revealing numbers to date. Her Yves Saint Laurent black velvet dress, from the French designer's final Haute Couture collection shown last month, only just kept Ms Kidman decent with a miracle of boning and clever cutting. Defying gravity and some of the rules of good taste, for some Nicole's dress was a plunge too far.

Kate Winslet has never been a sure bet in the style stakes. With more hits than misses under her belt - remember her over-the-top gold embroidered Givenchy gown at the Oscars - her figure-hugging black dress with gold foil looked more suited to advertise a box of chocolates than a night at an awards ceremony.

American actress Halle Berry had stayed away from black and opted for a burnished gold dress with a boned and corseted bodice.

Perhaps she shares the same stylist as Nicole. Her heaving cleavage wouldn't have looked out of place in a bawdy Restoration comedy, but was a little overwhelming to present the Best Actor Award.

Who got the black dress just right?

Thandie Newton looked a picture of elegance in a black strapless dress and black ribbon lace-up shoes, but it was Jennier Connelly, winner of the Best Supporting Actress gong for A Beautiful Mind, who could have easily picked up a best dressed award too.

Her softly draped black taffeta dress showed the rest how it should be done.