Whatever actress Carey Mulligan decides to wear to this year's Oscars the fashion police better go easy on her.

Though the newly blonde Brit is a fresh fixture on the red carpet, she has shown style courage well beyond her years by flat out rejecting Anna Wintour's fashion advice.

Mulligan, who is nominated in the Best Actress category for her performance in "An Education," tells People StyleWatch that the revered Vogue editor suggested she wear something short to the Oscars.

Mulligan reportedly told Wintour that she didn't need any dress tutoring. "I was like 'No, that wasn't what I was thinking when I was six-years-old.'"

Ahhhh, we love a girl who has her Oscar attire figured out by the first grade.

The young starlet didn't say exactly what kind of short frock Wintour recommended, but we can imagine that the editrix had a sleek, couture, best-dressed list number in mind. After all, Mulligan is a true gamine petite and too much dress might overwhelm her small frame.

That said, we can already hear the "what-was-she-thinking?" tongue-lashing fashion pundits would dish out the minute the ingenue stepped onto the red carpet in an above-the-knee dress. Cue Joan Rivers: "Carey, dear, did you get lost on your way to the Grammys?"

We're pretty sure, however, that Mulligan is not, um, short on designer offers. And while some British critics lamented her decision not to wear a homegrown designer to this recent BAFTA awards, most raved about her sweeping black and white patterned dress (above) by French designer Vionnet.

Meanwhile, read about the alleged influence Anna Wintour had over model Maggie Rizer's hair color.