The 15 Best Oscar Dresses of All Time

By InStyle Staff
Updated: Feb 19, 2019 @ 3:26 pm
Photo Illustration. Photos: Getty Images

There's no formula for how to choose the perfect Oscars dress. There's no specific color, style, or embellishments that is guaranteed to land you on "Best Dressed" lists. Our best advice to nominees? Take cues from stars from the past, dating all the way back to Grace Kelly in 1955. Here, our top ten favorite Oscars dresses of all time.

 

 

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Grace Kelly in Edith Head, 1955

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Grace Kelly won an Oscar for her performance in The Country Girl in an ice-blue gown by Edith Head. The gown, which was originally created for the movie's premiere, was cut from a bolt of $4,000 French satin and paired with a matching evening coat, a red lip, and a perfectly glamorous hairstyle.

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Gwyneth Paltrow in Ralph Lauren, 1999

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The actress took home the award for Best Actress for her performance in Shakespeare in Love while wearing a pink Ralph Lauren gown and a diamond choker by Harry Winston, which her father, the late Bruce Paltrow, later purchased for her.

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Cate Blanchett in Jean Paul Gaultier, 2000

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Blanchett’s 2000 Gaultier gown was a work of art: adorned with gold chains (complemented by perfect gold jewelry)—it looked like it was made for her.

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Julia Roberts in Valentino, 2001

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There are little black dresses, and then there’s the vintage black dress Julia Roberts wore to the 2000 Oscars. "This dress made me nervous,” Valentino himself told InStyle. “You are never sure who is going to wear what until they walk out onto the stage. That night I was in Rome, watching the Oscars live on television, and I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning to see if she wore it."

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Halle Berry in Elie Saab, 2002

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This may very well be the original naked dress. And we can’t think of anyone else who could have better launched the trend than Halle Berry (and her fabulous pixie haircut). The mesh embroidered dress is never left off red carpet best of lists.

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Hilary Swank in Guy Laroche, 2005

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You may not think it was all that when you saw it straight on, but boy were you wrong when you saw Hilary Swank’s sapphire gown from the back. Fun fact: The gown was made up of 27 (!) yards of silk jersey.

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Michelle Williams in Vera Wang, 2006

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Michelle Williams's canary yellow Vera Wang dress went down in Academy Award history since she first wore the design in 2006. She paired the elegant saffron gown with an equally bold crimson lip that matched the red carpet. But her best accessory of all that evening was her boyfriend, the late Heath Ledger, who was nominated for Best Actor in Brokeback Mountain.

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Nicole Kidman in Balenciaga, 2007

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As one of the most iconic red dresses of all time, no one can forget Nicole Kidman's floor-sweeping Balenciaga gown. Its halter neckline was secured with a dramatic bow that swept down her bare back. Kidman kept her accessories refined with two diamond cuffs and a crystal-embossed clutch.

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Zoe Saldana in Givenchy Haute Couture, 2010

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Almost a decade later, Zoe's Givenchy dress from the 2010 Academy Awards still upholds a fun sophistication. An ombre ruffled skirt in varying shades of purple meets a crystal-embellished bodice that encapsulates the actress's staying star power.
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Angelina Jole in Atelier Versace, 2012

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Yes. That dress. When good ol’ Angie stuck her right leg out from the high slit of her Atelier Versace velvet gown, history was made.

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Gwyneth Paltrow in Tom Ford, 2012

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Gwyneth unwittingly set a trend when she attended the 2012 Oscars in a Tom Ford cape dress. Now, the style is a signature when it comes to red carpet dressing.

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Jennifer Lawrence in Dior Haute Couture, 2013

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J.Law may not be red carpet-ready all the time, but she certainly showed up when she won Best Actress for Silver Linings Playbook in 2013. In addition to her pale blush Dior Haute Couture gown, the actress sported a Chopard 74-carat strand of 150 diamond beads, worn backwards.

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Lupita Nyong’o in Calvin Klein, 2015

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Celebrity favorite stylist Micaela Erlanger dressed Lupita Nyong’o in a 6,000 pearl custom Calvin Klein gown, which was dramatically later stolen from her hotel room following the awards. The dress was valued at $150,000.

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Ruth Negga in Valentino, 2017

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There were high expectations for what Ruth Negga would wear to the Oscars, and she definitely did not disappoint in a long-sleeve ruby red Valentino gown, which she paired with an Irene Neuwirth crown, ruby earrings, and an ACLU pin.

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Margot Robbie at the 2018 Academy Awards

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Margot's angelic white Chanel column gown from the 2018 Academy Awards is elegance epitomized — a 180 from the gaudy (sorry) figure skating costumes she wore in I, Tonya, which was nominated multiple times.
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