Oscars 2018: The 20 Best-Dressed Celebrities on the Red Carpet

Dressing for the Oscars has become a demure affair in the past few years, with many decrying the decline of red-carpet risks. Critics asked 'When Did The Oscars Red Carpet Get So Boring?' and asked for a return to the bygone era when stars arrived to the Oscars in acid green gowns (Nicole Kidman), cotton candy confections (Gwyneth Paltrow) and even backwards suits (shout out to Celine Dion). And yet, the red carpet at the 90^th annual Oscars was a delightfully dotty affair, perhaps signaling a return to the flagrant individuality of years past.

Nicole Kidman’s Armani Privé dress resembled a Rorschach ink blot, while Whoopi Goldberg arrived in a humongously proportioned Christian Siriano floral gown that looked like it could have been pulled from a 17^th century Velazquez painting. (Whoopi told her red carpet interviewer that Siriano designed the dress to have pockets because she “likes to be comfortable.”) Salma Hayek arrived in a brilliantly batty Gucci gown featuring purple paillets with a crystal chandelier draped over her shoulders, and Annie Clark of St. Vincent showed up in a glorified bodysuit with a single ballooning sleeve, somewhat reminiscent of Missy Elliott’s garbage bag jumpsuit.

The most prominent colour of the evening seemed to be white – a colour with ties to the suffragette movement – and a number of actors came clad in simple sheath dresses of varying colours. Saiorse Ronan wore baby pink Calvin Klein, Viola Davis wore Michael Kors in a shocking shade of Schiaparelli pink, and Maya Rudolph was resplendent in a modest tomato-red turtleneck dress.

The platonic ideal of an Oscar outfit is one that is bold and beautiful. Andra Day was certainly the former in her in Marie Antoinette-inspired gown – all that was missing was the white powdered wig! – and Alison Williams was the latter in her nude sparkly sheath by Armani Privé, but the following contenders had both in spades. Here are FASHION’s choices for Best Dressed at the 2018 Oscars. And the award goes to…

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Photography by Kevin Mazur/WireImage

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Oscars 2018 Best Dressed

Taraji P. Henson in Vera Wang