Iconic Oscar Dresses and Red Carpet Looks

The Academy Awards looks people still bring up years later, each photographed on Oscar night itself, on the red carpet, on stage or backstage. To earn a place, a look had to do more than photograph well: it set a trend, made a designer's name, broke the evening's unwritten dress code or became shorthand for its era. Met Gala and after-party outfits are left out, and so are the most recent ceremonies, whose looks have not yet proved they will last. The photos run in date order, from Audrey Hepburn's lace in 1954 to the 2022 red carpet, so the gallery doubles as a quick history of how Oscar night dressing changed.