The nine Oscar red carpet outfits once ridiculed are now iconic

6 Nicole Kidman, 1997

At first glance, there doesn’t seem to be much controversy about Nicole Kidman’s Christian Dior 1997 dress, a chartreuse-colored couture creation by John Galliano, who was recently named creative director for the design house. But it marked a watershed moment for the Oscars red carpet. “That dress was amazing, but the colors polarized, and unfortunately for Nicole Kidman, this was a time where, thanks to Joan Rivers, red carpet criticism really escalated,” said Mulhearn. Rivers, who hosted the E! since the mid-90s, calling it “the ugliest dress I’ve ever seen”.

He didn’t stop there. “He literally put his finger down his throat on TV, which is pretty outrageous, but what it also does is freak out all the actresses on the red carpet, make them start questioning their own tastes and doubting their choices.”

Nobody wanted to be Rivers’ next target, so stars increasingly relied on personal stylists to dress them. “That’s when the commercialization of the red carpet came to the fore,” says Mulhearn. “Then, barring a few exceptions, it devolved into the boring pretty dress parades we saw from 2002 to 2010.”