The best dressed on the Oscars red carpet
Black might have ruled, but that doesn’t mean Tinsel Town’s night of nights was a boring affair - as well old Hollywood glamour and serious bling there were flashes of personal style.
Arrivals on the red carpet for the 96th Academy Awards, held at the Dolby Theatre in LA, stuck to Hollywood’s night of nights’ general MO – that of classic glamour with the odd twist of made-you-look pizzazz. After-all, the Oscars was where Angelina Jolie wore that leg-baring Versace dress and Nicole Kidman opted for unforgettable bejewelled chartreuse John Galliano for Dior.
This year there was a slew of black gowns and old Hollywood glamour, serious bling and flashes of personal style.
Margot Robbie, whose red carpet run in the lead-up to the Oscars has been the ultimate tribute to Barbie (her blockbuster, culture shifting role that did not earn her a Best Actress nod). This has included custom looks from designers such as Daniel Roseberry at Schiaparelli taking inspiration from the plastic doll’s enviable wardrobe. Her Oscars look, her final nod to Barbie, embodied classic glamour with a twist. Robbie opted for a strapless glow mesh-like Versace column gown from the houses’s recent autumn/winter ’24/’25 collection with ruched detail at the middle, beachy blonde locks tousled just so.
The cultural moment that was Margot Robbie’s Barbie press run is set to be immortalised in a coffee table tome soon.
Titled Barbie: The World Tour, the idea came from Robbie’s stylist Andrew Mukamal’s research for each look.
“I had the idea when I was in one of the [tour] fittings with Margot,” Mukamal told US Vogue.
“I was collecting all these sketches and fabric swatches from designers, and I was like, ‘Wow, all of this would make the most beautiful coffee-table book’.”
The book will also include looks that didn’t make it to the red carpet. All of it proof of the impact the red carpet can have on pop culture and fashion.
Another star nodding to her film was Emma Stone in a mint Louis Vuitton gown, the enormous silhouette shifting peplum a twist on the sorbet-coloured power shoulders Stone’s character Bella Baxter wears in the visceral fashion feast that is Poor Things.
Ariana Grande, in a souffle of bubblegum pink custom Giambattista Valli Haute Couture was another star to reference her film character, for this was a look perfect for Glinda the good witch in the forthcoming film adaptation of Wicked. Grande meanwhile is on a veritable high, having just dropped her new album, Eternal Sunshine.
Black dresses and tuxedos dominated this year but crucially, rather than being dull, the sombre hue allowed for focus on the details and to amp things up a little. Sandra Hüller, nominated for Anatomy of a Fall, wore a sculptural Schiaparelli gown with an off-the-shoulder silhouette that had the effect of looking like wings. A string of Cartier diamonds finished the look.
Carey Mulligan, in haute couture Balenciaga - a remake of a gown from the archives- was another example of the incredible impact a black gown can have, the sweetheart neckline and frothed hemline added to the old Hollywood glamour, so too the elbow length opera gloves.
Laverne Cox was bold in a gold and black Mugler gown while Vanessa Hudgens made an ultimate baby bump reveal in a high-necked and long-sleeved Vera Wang fitted dress worn with Chopard jewellery. Issa Rae was another star to embrace black, but with added oomph, in an AMI Paris gown with silver details and thigh high split. Jennifer Lawrence was completly charming in black and white polka dot Dior Couture.
Meanwhile Ryan Gosling, in custom Gucci, made a black suit look decidedly not dull with crystal embellishment, a shirt left mostly unbuttoned and a gold pendant to finish the look.
Gosling wasn’t the only male celebrity to fully embrace jewellery on the red carpet, fellow incredibly stylish man Colman emanated pizzazz with his bejewelled bow tie, rings on every finger and diamond bracelet. His Louis Vuitton double-breasted jacket had crystal-embellished buttons too. Also in a double breasted Louis Vuitton suit (and Louis Vuitton Tambour watch) was Bradley Cooper, who brought his mum as his date.
Bling was, as ever, in prime position on the Oscars red carpet. Anja Taylor Joy wore a tiered embellished Dior dress that took some 3600 hours of intricate beadwork. She paired the mermaid-like gown with an incredible spiky anemone piece from Tiffany & Co.’s 2023 underwater inspired Blue Book high jewellery collection and a Jaeger-Lecoultre 101 Reine timepiece in white gold with brilliant diamonds.
Other moments in embellishments included Florence Pugh who wore the brand Del Core, a liquid silver skirt with twisted wrought-iron like crystal top.
Other crystalline looks included America Ferrera in sugary, sparkling pink Versace, Lupita Nyong’o in a froth of sky blue sequined and feathered Armani Privé and Michelle Yeoh in crystal encrusted one-shoulder Balenciaga.
Stars who kept to their own signature style included singer Billie Eilish who ditched the glamour gown and opted for a Chanel skirt suit with schoolgirl Mary Jane shoes and socks. Greta Lee, who has earned a cult following for her inimitable, risk taking style – mixing ‘if you know you labels’ such as The Row with Jonathan Anderson’s incredible off-kilter and high fashion looks from Loewe. Lee opted for Loewe for the Oscars, the simple black dress given a dramatic twist with white draping loops attached from the waist to the neck.
Elegance was, indeed, in high supply. So too the bravery and personal style required to wear a pared-back statement look.
In her fascinating book on the history of Oscars fashion, Australian author Dijanna Mulhearn noted how Giorgio Armani, an avowed lover of the movies (who this year honoured Martin Scorsese with a pre-Oscars party) changed the game of Oscars fashion in the ’90s. He tamed the excesses of the ’80s (and the tendency for stars to dress themselves) and he dressed the likes of Julia Roberts, Glenn Close, Jodie Foster and more in his elegant designs.
“I think the biggest moment is the ’90s and George Armani bringing in that minimalist aesthetic,” Mulhearn told The Weekend Australian Magazine when her book was published.
“[Actors] were looking for ways to be taken more seriously and Giorgio Armani came up with the solution. Yes, you could look incredibly chic without looking like a mirror ball.”
This mode continues today, not only in stars such as Zendaya who opted for an off-the- shoulder antique pink with grey embellishments gown by Giorgio Armani Privé ,but also the minimal yet impactful choices such as Kirsten Dunst in a sleek white Gucci dress and Charlize Theron in gunmetal grey Dior.
All of it proof that movie magic comes in all fashions, especially when combined with a movie star’s own take on style.
