The 45 Best Oscars Looks Of All Time

Published 2 weeks ago• 3 minute read

’s blush pink Ralph Lauren dress is etched into fashion history—perhaps even more so than her Shakespeare in Love Best Actress win, which was clouded by controversy. And who could forget Halle Berry in her blood-red Elie Saab gown, looking every bit the icon as she accepted her Monster’s Ball Oscar—just moments before fending off an unwanted kiss from Adrien Brody? (We can only imagine her blood was boiling as much as the fashion world was swooning.)

And, some Oscars dresses bring their own drama and outshine the nominated films. Puckish Icelandic singer Björk’s Marjan Pejoski swan dress ruffled more than a few feathers when she wore it to the Oscars in 2001 with some calling it a joke and others recognising its avant-garde brilliance. And in 1969, Barbra Streisand scandalised viewers in a sheer Arnold Scaasi pantsuit—a daring move that, unbeknownst to her, revealed more than she intended under the stage lights. A controversy at the time, now it’s a look we’d wear to dinner without a second thought.

As we anticipate the 2025 Academy Awards red carpet, we’re reflecting on the best Oscars fashion moments of all time—the dresses that live rent-free in our memories.

2024 Oscars

2023 Oscars

2022 Oscars

2020 Oscars

2019 Oscars

2018 Oscars

2017 Oscars

Zendaya in Vivienne Westwood, 2015 — Image: Getty

2015 Oscars

2014 Oscars

2013 Oscars

2010 Oscars

2008 Oscars

2007 Oscars

2006 Oscars

2005 Oscars

2004 Oscars

2003 Oscars

2002 Oscars

2001 Oscars

Renée Zellweger in vintage Jean Dessès — Image: Getty

2001 Oscars

1999 Oscars

1998 Oscars

1997 Oscars

Nicole Kidman in John Galliano for Christian Dior — Image: Getty

1997 Oscars

1996 Oscars

1994 Oscars

Winona Ryder in Winona Ryder in Badgley Mischka — Image: Getty

1996 Oscars

Cindy Crawforn in Herve Leger — Image: Getty

1993 Oscars

1992 Oscars

Martha Plimpton in vintage — Image: Getty

1989 Oscars

Jamie Lee Curtis in Marlene Dietrich vintage — Image: Getty

1983 Oscars

Farrah Fawcett in Stephen Burrow — Image: Getty

1978 Oscars

1973 Oscars

Elizabeth Taylor at the Oscars — Image: Getty

1970 Oscars

1969 Oscars

Grace Kelly at the Oscars — Image: Getty

1955 Oscars

Ruby Feneley Senior Writer, Fashion + Beauty

After completing a Bachelor of Arts at The University of Sydney (English Literature/Gender and Culture Studies), Ruby started her Australian media career as a media and marketing reporter for Mumbrella after a brief stint working in fashion marketing in New York. An ex-makeup artist, she quickly transitioned to beauty journalism and has held multiple in-house positions as a Beauty Editor. Ruby’s writing can be found across print and digital titles, including Dazed, GRAZIA, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian Financial Review, Body+Soul, Refinery29, POPSUGAR, marie claire and ELLE. Now, she loves covering internet subcultures, TikTok trends, sex and relationships and fashion as much as she loves scouring shopping aisles for the best non-sticky lip gloss and tracking down the perfect pencil for a faux freckle.