Fashion Review: 2024 Oscars

You didn't imagine it — I missed a few red carpets in the chaos of a busy, busy winter. But I would never skip my beloved Oscars (even if I still haven't seen half the movies, yikes). And if time allows, I might do a best-of awards season wrap-up!

Depending on your personal fashion taste, there was something for everyone, but it was an especially delicious night for fashion history nerds with lots of great theme-dressing and historical references. There were some big swings (thankfully) and some ho-hum disappointments (to be expected). Let's take a look!

Best Dressed

Nominated for her role as the glamorous wife of conductor/composer Leonard Bernstein, Carey Mulligan called back to the era of the film with this timelessly elegant Balenciaga, a recreation of a 1951 design. It's a dress fit for Rita Hayworth made modern by simple jewelry and a blunt short bob. The lines are so beautiful — a perfect sweetheart neckline mirrored by a scalloped hem, with tightly pleated layers of tulle fanning out. It looks like she stepped out of a Horst P. Horst photo.

America Ferrera capped an awards show season tour de force with an indulgent Barbie-referential gown of sequined perfection by Atelier Versace. This is a masterwork in construction, and the color is so beautiful on her. Her bob continues to be goals. 

Emma Stone's Louis Vuitton didn't quite survive the night (I'm sure the design house's workroom was cringing as she declared her dress had split in her acceptance speech), but it shouted loudly what I've known is coming: the return of the peplum! The embroidered mint gown accessorized with a canary diamond was interesting and different without trying too hard. 

My inner fashion history nerd swooned when I realized Anya Taylor-Joy's Dior gown was a modernized take on the designer's famous Junon dress, held in the collection of the Met Museum's Costume Institute. The jeweled petal motif is elegant and eye-catching, exactly how you want to look as a star on the rise.

Lupita Nyong'o won her Oscar 10 years ago wearing an ice blue gown fit for Cinderella. Last night, she returned to the stage to present an Oscar to Da'Vine Joy Randolph, also wearing Cinderella blue, and this time, she was playing the role of fairy godmother in this absolutely perfect Giorgio Armani gown. Its feathered hips and hem gave beautiful movement, and she looks like she's about to nail the role of Josephine Baker conquering Paris.

It is SO delightful to see Greta Lee, who has put in years of amazing supporting performances, as a leading actress and fashion star. She had a great and adventurous red carpet run this awards season, and I love this edgy-yet-classic Loewe gown that uses the same stretch of white fabric from the neck to the hips, beautifully draped. Her cheekbones are really the only accessory she needs. 

Cynthia Erivo is going to spend the next year reminding us why it's good to be wicked, and if we are kicking off with sculptural ruffled green leather by Louis Vuitton, I'm here for it. It's so singular and I truly cannot imagine anyone else wearing it.

When you are the star of not one, but two, Best Picture nominees and most Americans have never heard of you, it's a good idea to take up some space. In Schiaparelli sleeves wider than bat wings, Sandra Heller called to mind vintage Hollywood, looking ready to deliver Bette Davis famous line, "Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night." I hope we get to see much more of her! 

Good

Things that ran through my head when I looked at Ariana Grande: It's a duvet. It's a Christo art installation. It's a sandworm. But ultimately, it's a really fun take on the Good Witch, and we better get used to a LOT of Good Witch fashion from Ariana in the ramp-up to the release of Wicked. It's custom Giambattista Valli, obviously. 

Zendaya is the reigning queen of surprises on the red carpet. She's never ever boring, but I will say this palm tree-motif Armani struck me as pretty, but not a personal best. It's all good, but I'm not sure it's memorable.

Hailee Steinfeld wore a classic Oscar night gown by Elie Saab. She was swathed in mint chiffon with a glamorous neck scarf and bejeweled bodice — perfectly lovely for a night when you aren't meant to be the star, but want to look the part.

I've loved seeing the thoughtful and elegant ways Lily Gladstone has honored her heritage through fashion during her historic awards season. Her Oscar gown was no exception; Gucci partnered with indigenous artist Joe Big Mountain to cover her velvet cape with quillwork, a form of embroidery incorporating the quills of porcupines or birds. Just incredible, and so regal!

Charlize makes it look so effortless to look this cool. I love the pairing of her diamond chokers and earrings with this loosely twisted Dior gown. It's always tricky when satin inevitably has some wrinkles, but on camera her look was perfect. 

Greta Gerwig went with a can't-miss sleek and simple silhouette of champagne sequins by Gucci. It reminds me of some of Jodie Foster's best Armani looks in the 90s — it's flattering, sporty and modern.

The couple we'd all most want to double-date with — Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemmons! They both are so chic in classic, modern Gucci. White spaghetti straps and red lipstick are all Kirsten needs to look fabulous.

Da'Vine Joy Randolph hopped on the statement sleeve trend with voluminous sleeves and a long train by Louis Vuitton. Her Cinderella take ended up being a beautiful complement to the gown worn by her award presenter, Lupita Nyong'o, and she looked luminous.

I LOVE polka dots, and I love this overall elegant look on Jennifer Lawrence, but it leaves me wanting more. I want to see polka dots on layers and layers of tulle or chiffon, or varying sizes of dots, or dots with jumbo paillette sequins or op art dots. Just maximalist polka dots.

No one looked more effortlessly chic than French director Justine Triet in a louche suit of rhinestone pinstripes by Louis Vuitton accented with nothing more than a red lip and classic French tousled waves. 

So many of the men were really adventurous, bringing back '70s silhouettes with slightly flared pants, but I was most impressed by how debonair Ke Huy Quan looked in his plum double-breasted suit and absolutely fabulous tinted sunglasses. He's giving Bond.

Best/Worst

Honestly, good for Emily Blunt. She knew she wasn't going to win, but she also knew she'd be on stage and she decided to wear this hilarious Schiaparelli underwear-outline gown with exaggerated, elevated straps. It's aggressively weird and styled completely seriously and I have to imagine it left a lot of people scratching their heads on whether it was "good." 

Andrea Riseborough wore what appears to be a formal gown by Loewe depicting the unraveling of a Stewart tartan. Don't get me wrong, I would love to see this at a holiday revue in Glasgow, but it isn't the most obvious choice for the Oscars. The purse only adds to the feeling she's wandered into the wrong event. It's giving J.Crew holiday.

Meh

Margot Robbie wore exactly what I would wear if I made the biggest movie of the year, an ode to womanhood that skewers how patriarchy holds us all back, and ended up not only not nominated but watching as Hollywood instead chose to honor a movie about the man who invented the atomic bomb. What was that about the patriarchy holding us back? Anyway — so yeah, I'd also probably wear a kind of boring and vaguely villainous black Versace.

Florence wore a futuristic gown by Del Core with some interesting details that feel fit for her role as Princess Irulan in Dune, but may ultimately prove forgettable. It makes sense for her overall vibe as a DGAF baddie, but it has a lot going on. It also features this strange phenomenon of straps that hover above the shoulders, plus a curving peplum at the hips and beading that looks like water droplets. 

Issa Rae looks predictably great in this sexy black sequined dress by AMI Paris, but it feels like a missed opportunity to really pull out all the stops. 

Danielle Brooks also trotted out a simple black corseted gown by Dolce and Gabbana that just feels a little ho-hum. 

Billie is giving a secretarial take on Barbie in classic Chanel. It's fine. It's grown-up for her — maybe too much so. 

Worst

Diane Warren has been nominated for 15 Oscars and continues not to win, but she stays winning as a perpetual resident on my worst-dressed list. I almost can't be mad at her commitment to being herself, and that vibe is costumey-Elvis. She was nominated for a song called "The Fire Inside," so naturally she wore a flame-embroidered pantsuit fit for Jerry Lee Lewis, because OF COURSE SHE DID. Can't wait to see her back on the red carpet next year. 

If you're an elder millennial, you may think of Erika Alexander as cousin Pam on The Cosby Show or Maxine on Living Single, but it's exciting to know she recently starred in "American Fiction." I'm happy to see her thriving, but this red carpet moment was ... a lot of look. It has a real "make it work" energy that implies she had a white dress but felt like she had to make it "couture" and tacked on a child's fairy tutu, added a vintage statement necklace and borrowed Carey's black gloves. It's frenetic, but I'll admit it's eye-catching.

Nicolas Cage's wife Riko Shabata wore some adventurous couture that makes it look like she's being attacked by a smoke monster, or molting, or being hugged by the corpse of Groot. On one hand it's daring, and on the other, it might be dark magic. 

I love how our male stars are being so, so adventurous now but mercury wrinkled satin is not a winning look, Dwayne.

With hair high enough to touch heaven and voluminous sleeves that appear to be attacking her other sleeves, Melissa McCarthy looked like she had just wandered off stage after performing "Love Will Build a Bridge" with the Judds in 1990. Should we be preparing for teased bangs again?