There’s still two and a half months to go until the Oscars are descending again to take by storm not just the film industry, but the fashion scene as well. Through the years, the pre-ceremony appearance of Hollywood’s who’s who on the red carpet has become an event at least as important and, surely, more mediatized than the actual handing out of the awards. Gradually, other such events followed suit, with celebrity-packed ceremonies being plagued by swarms of paparazzi and used by fashion designers as high-exposure high-street shop windows. Perhaps solely for your own entertainment, but maybe in case you’re looking for inspiration for a not-so-affordable dress to rent or buy for your prom or for a wedding, let’s take a look back at what were the best red carpet dresses of 2014.
1. Jennifer Lawrence at the Oscars
Jennifer Lawrence has easily become one of the most interesting female apparitions in Hollywood. Consequently, hers was one of the looks that the media was most interested in while waiting, camera in hand, around the 86th Academy Awards’ red carpet. Lawrence did not disappoint in the least, appearing in one of the sexiest red Dior cocktail dress that perfectly complemented her figure. The two side-flaps that flanked her hips, the only additions to the otherwise simple dress, gave the whole allure an ethereal, slightly futuristic vibe that turned a nice, efficient dress into a stunning one that kept the celebrity newspapers talking for days.
2. Miley Cyrus at the amfAR LA Inspiration Gala
While Tom Ford is a designer well-known for his refusal to dress more than one celebrity per event (for fear of dresses looking alike?) this gala was thrown in his honour, so the exception was understandable. It was one of his dresses that were chosen by Miley Cyrus for the event. Despite gathering entirely the worst kind of media attention – but media attention nonetheless – for her attire in 2012 and 2013, Miley Cyrus proved good at pulling off a perfect BDSM dominatrix-inspired piece, ever proving that less is in a way, more, and that she can maintain the air of provocation, while also not looking like an attention-craving teen.
3. Beyoncé at the Met Gala
Despite the fact that the whole thing was overshadowed by the now famous altercation between Jay-Z and Solange that took place at the afterparty of the same event, Beyonce’s choice of dress still managed to be talked about for a long time. In monochrome black beaded Givenchy Couture and matching accessories that strongly reminded everyone of an old-school, 1920s themed vintage style of red carpet dresses, Beyoncé looked stunning and was already destined to hold the front pages even before the sordid affair came to light.
4. Taylor Swift at the Academy of Country Music Awards
Wearing a crop-top at a black tie event? Few people would try and even fewer would manage to pull it off, yet here she stands in a J. Mendel white crop-top with elegant shoulder slits and a black, simple, thigh-baring skirt, wearing them as if they were a one-piece.
5. Katy Perry at the Grammys
While she might have misunderstood the expression “dress for the occasion” and hence ended up wearing one of the most literal-minded red carpet dresses in the history of the Grammys, Katy Perry looked stunning dressed in a white see-through outfit from Valentino’s 2014 couture collection that was covered with musical notes from the waist down.
6. Kim Kardashian at the MTV Video Music Awards
For this year’s edition of the MTV VMAs, Kim Kardashian decided to do away with those conventional, stylish, monochrome dresses that usually fill the red carpet and instead put on a magnificent short tapestry-patterned Balmain mini-dress that showed a lot of skin and that can only be described as “the poncho’s sexy cousin”.