9 Times Celebs Wore Vintage to the Oscars
Can you remember who wore what?
The vintage gowns worn to the Academy Awards Show evoke old Hollywood glamour for movie stars’ dazzling event.
Whether it’s a dress from the 1950s or the 1990s, sometimes a treasure of the past is the only way celebs can dress as extravagantly as warranted by Hollywood’s biggest night. See which actresses wore vintage dresses at the Oscars, whether they were hoping to win themselves or just there to support.
Jennifer Garner wore Vintage Valentino Couture to the 2004 Academy Awards.
Stylist Rachel Zoe guided Garner to this vintage pick and called it one of her favorite Oscars looks she’s styled for The Zoe Report. “The gown was vintage couture from the ’70s and when she tried it on, Jen said she’d never put on a prettier dress,” Zoe said.
2. Penelope Cruz wore a vintage Pierre Balmain dress from the 1950s to the 2009 Oscars.
On this night, Cruz won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress with her role in Vicky Cristina Barcelona. According to the New York Times, during her walk down the Red Carpet, Tim Gunn said of her dress, “It’s really a museum piece.”
3. Natalie Portman wore a 1954 Christian Dior gown to the 2012 Oscars.
Portman borrowed the gown from vintage dealer Rare Vintage, according to Today, and that same year it sold for 50 thousand dollars. In an interview with Into The Gloss, the stylist who dressed Portman, Kate Young, said that Rare Vintage contacted her to suggest Portman wear the vintage gem. “So we went and she put it on, and it needed zero alterations, and Natalie was like, ‘This was meant to be, wasn’t it?’ And I said, ‘I guess it was,’” Young said.
4. Margot Robbie wore 90s Chanel to the Oscars in 2020.
Celeb style-watchers know that Robbie often wears Chanel to awards shows, so it’s no surprise that the archives were opened to dress the star of the upcoming Barbie movie when the Oscars came around. Look out for the 2023 Oscars coming up to see if Robbie does the same this year.
5. Jennifer Lopez wore a vintage dress by Jean Dessès to the 2006 Oscars.
JLo is known to covet old Hollywood fashion, so she naturally chose a 1959 gown from 20th century French Couturier, Dessès. You can see that classical Egyptian and Greek statues influenced Dessès, as one art history blog from FIT suggests.
6. Jada Pinkett Smith wore a Lanvin gown at the Oscars in 2002.
The Hollywood Reporter confirms that Pinkett Smith wore a gown which Antonio Canovas del Castillo designed for Lanvin in the 1950s. In an interview with Variety from 2017, Pinkett Smith reveals she had concerns due to her body changing while filming The Matrix. “I was super muscular, like 115 pounds, and I was just like, ‘How am I going to look feminine in a dress?’” Pinkett Smith said.
7. Marisa Tomei wore a vintage gown by Charles James to the 2011 Academy Awards.
In an article from the Chicago Reader about the The Chicago History Museum’s exhibition of James’ designs, the writer pointed out that some commentators at the time suggested that Tomei’s gown should have been kept in its preservative storage, due to the intricacy of James’ work. “The ball gowns for which [Charles James is] best known are elaborate affairs so intricately engineered—padded, wired, corseted—that they hold their shape with or without a body inside them," the Chicago Reader states.
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8. Kirsten Dunst wore a vintage Christian Lacroix gown at the 2022 Oscars.
The Lacroix haute couture gown came from Fall-Winter 2002, and Dunst chose it for her extra special night since she was attending the awards show as a first time Academy Awards nominee for the Best Supporting Actress award. The nomination came for her role in The Power of the Dog, and while Dunst lost that night, she still looked like a winner.
9. Winona Ryder wore a vintage gown to the Academy Awards in 2000.
Ryder is probably the least surprising person to choose a vintage gown to wear to the Academy Awards, considering that she often chose vintage pieces in the 90s/early 2000s. “Most of my wardrobe is vintage, and I’ve worn dresses to the Oscars that I got for $10,” Ryder told the U.K.’s Red magazine in 2014. This vintage Pauline Trigère dress from the 1940s looks sublime on the Girl, Interrupted actress, no matter how much it cost.
As young stars like Zendaya bring back iconic looks from the early 2000s on red carpets for awards shows, it seems likely that the 2023 Academy Awards will have more vintage gowns than ever before. If they’re anything like the 9 vintage gowns at the Oscars listed here, we’re in for a fantastic red carpet show.