Billy Porter, Lady Gaga, Amal Clooney
Dan MacMedan/Getty Images; Daniele Venturelli/WireImage; Dominique Charriau/WireImage
With the launch of Instagram in 2010, red carpet style came into sharper focus during the last decade, with the full power of social media and a digital age pushing it forward. Amidst the moment-by-moment wash of images, The Hollywood Reporter picked the 20 looks that stood out as particularly influential.
Some are tipping points of trends to come (Beyoncé’s semi-naked dress at the 2014 Grammys and Gwyneth’s cape dress at the 2012 Oscars), style signals with deeper cultural significance (Billy Porter’s gender-bending or the fashion blackout in 2018), “a star is born” markers of fashion influencers on the rise (Amal Clooney at Cannes in 2016 or Lupita Nyong’o’s awards season run in 2014), or simply outfits so unforgettable that they set Twitter on fire, spawned memes and were impossible to get out of mind even years after the fact (Rihanna’s 2015 yellow fur Met Gala gown and Angelina Jolie’s leg-revealing black Versace dress in 2012).
Arguably the most monumental moment was the fashion blackout at the 2018 Golden Globes that made a statement in support of the Time’s Up movement to fight sexual abuse and to promote gender equality in Hollywood.
This year, Pose star Billy Porter has championed gender fluidity on the red carpet — most notably in the black velvet tuxedo gown and bolero jacket by fashion designer Christian Siriano at the 91st Academy Awards. This ensemble was so statement-making and culturally significant that it swept THR’s lists of Best Looks of 2019 and Wildest Looks of 2019, as well as this list and the Wildest Looks of the Decade.
And then there was J. Lo’s redux of that barely-there, jungle-print Versace dress from the 2000 Grammys during the Versace show at spring 2020 Milan Fashion Week. Both moments (twenty years apart) went viral. So this, too, had to land on our Best of 2019 and Best of the Decade lists of sartorial milestones.
Of course, this best-dressed list is by no means all-inclusive or definitive; there are certainly many more Hollywood moments that are equally memorable. As a starting point, our red carpet roundup includes 20 fashion high points from the last 10 years, in no particular order.
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