In a sea of black strapless dresses, from Tina Fey's elegantly simple mermaid dress to America Ferrera's ruched ballgown, the drama on Emmys' red carpet came in the sprinkle of metallics, rich colors and the occasional leg-bearing high slits.

Ashley Jensen ("Extra's" Maggie) and Ferrera added statement necklaces to the black strapless numbers, but mostly bare neck and shoulders prevailed.

Some other statements on the red carpet last night:

Drama in white: Alyssa Milano in high-collared accordian ruffles, January Jones, almost unrecognizable as "Mad Men's" Betty in a bustier and woven hairdo, and Eva Longoria, with eyes lined in black and a flapper mini topped with a giant beaded bow.

Drama in black and white: Carrie Ann Inaba ("So You Think You Can Dance"), Lisa Edelstein ("House"), Jennifer Love Hewitt ("The Ghost Whisperer") in Carolina Herrera, and Vanessa Williams ("Ugly Betty"), stunning in a Kevin Hall print, all chose to not play it straight black or white.

Color: Brooke Shields ("Lipstick Jungle"), who said this was her first Emmys, was a vision in fuschia. Julia Louis-Dreyfus stood out in satiny salmon, while Nicollette Sheridan and Holly Hunter wore shades of purple and Mariska Hargitay rocked canary yellow.

Side-swept hair: Hayden Panettiere mixed it up with a side-swept up-do, and Ferrera brought old-world Hollywood with a side part and red lips.

Metallics: Before her stint as Emmys host, Heidi Klum sparkled in gun-metal gray on the red carpet. Also shining: Elizabeth Mitchell of "Lost" and Felicity Huffman of "Desperate Housewives," while Christina Applegate ("Samantha Who?") wore a sarong with a metallic print.

And those slits?: Tricia Helfer ("Battlestar Gallactica"), Chandra Wilson ("Grey's Anatomy") and Hargitay used slits to great leggy effect.

The guys: In a sea of black neck ties, Brad Garrett (" 'Til Death") made a black-and-gold statement with a mustard yellow tie on all black and "Project Runway" designer Christian Siriano wore a metallic gold shirt with his black suit. Dashing in bow ties were Patrick Dempsey ("Grey's Anatomy") and Lee Pace ("Pushing Daisies").

-- Sharon Eberson, Post-Gazette staff writer