The Prettiest Oscars Red Carpet Looks in History

published 2 March 2025

The 97th Academy Awards will be held in Los Angeles on March 2. This year's nominees include Zoe Saldaña, Timothée Chalamet, Demi Moore, Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Mikey Madison, Colman Domingo, and more. I'm waiting with bated breath to find out which movie will win Best Picture, but I'm mostly excited to see what everyone will wear on the red carpet. I am a fashion editor and not a movie critic, after all.

Ahead of tonight's ceremony, I wanted to take a walk down memory lane and revisit some of the prettiest Oscars dresses in history. This list is highly subjective, but I did my due diligence reviewing hundreds of outfits dating back decades. Just for fun, I also polled my Who What Wear co-workers to find out which dress they think is the most beautiful. Their top pick? Carey Mulligan's Balenciaga look from 2024. In my mind, however, all of these dresses deserve our praise. Scroll down to see my favorites.

Lupita Nyong'o won her first Oscar wearing this ethereal Prada gown in 2014.

Emma Stone's fringed Givenchy dress from 2017 will certainly go down in fashion history.

best Oscars red carpet dresses in history

If I had to choose just one look, it would probably be Marion Cotillard's Jean Paul Gaultier dress from 2008.

Halle Berry's excellent Elie Saab dress from 2002 is etched into my brain.

Gwyneth Paltrow memorably wore a Ralph Lauren dress to the Oscars in 1999, the year she won Best Actress for her role in Shakespeare in Love.

Julia Roberts won gold wearing this striking Valentino dress in 2001.

Diahann Carroll at the 1969 Oscars wearing a pink gown

My list would not be complete without mentioning Diahann Carroll's 1969 dress.

Wearing this dramatic feathered Versace gown, Penélope Cruz arrived at the 2007 Academy Awards as a Best Actress nominee for Volver.

Audrey Hepburn chose this charming lace dress in 1954.

Carey Mulligan's Balenciaga dress from 2024 was inspired by a gown from 1951.

Lucy Liu looked spectacular in Versace at the 2000 Academy Awards.

Zendaya earned a spot on my list thanks to this Armani Privé number from 2024.

Greta Lee's black-and-white Loewe dress in 2024 was elegance personified.

In 2005, Hilary Swank won Best Actress for Million Dollar Baby wearing this backless Guy Laroche dress.

Erin got her start as a Who What Wear intern over 14 years ago—back when the site only published a single story per day. (Who What Wear has since increased that number twentyfold.) She graduated magna cum laude from USC, which is how she ended up moving to Los Angeles from her hometown of San Diego. In college, she also interned at Refinery29, where she was promoted to editorial assistant and then assistant editor. After nearly three years at R29, she came back to WWW in 2016, where she currently holds the title of Associate Director of Fashion News (as well as the unofficial title of resident royal expert—in case you haven't noticed her numerous Kate and Meghan stories). She spends her days trying to incorporate her idols, Anna Wintour and Roger Federer, into as many stories as possible.