Oscars red carpet fashion just as recognized as the award winners
HOLLYWOOD, Los Angeles -- Now this might not be true for most people, but for those who watch the Oscars show -- who wears what is almost as important as who wins.
In the high stakes world of Oscar fashion, it's not enough to take home an Academy Award -- you have to look great doing it and the goal is high to match those perfect outfits from the past.
Halle Berry met her moment and made history in a dress that was such success that we still remember it more than two decades later.
"It was almost as if she and the designer knew that she would win and that dress matched the historic nature of it," said host Tamron Hall. "It was elegant, but it was bold. It was powerful, but dainty. It was everything. I think it was just one of the most beautiful dresses I've ever seen on the Oscars."
The Oscars red carpet has been called "fashion's most important runway," a place at the intersection of art and commerce where the success of a dress can make or break a designer's reputation.
"A great Oscars dress to me always starts with a great fit," said fashion designer Zac Posen. "That is the number one essential for me, and something that represents the actual personality, and the character of the woman wearing that gown."
We're going to see sequins," added Women's Wear Daily's Alex Badia. "We're going to see fringes. We're going to see a lot of metallic and sparkle. I think that so far this season, the red carpet has been amazing, to be honest. It's a whole new level. They are really getting close to runway show, the red carpet, to be honest right now."
The award show's red carpet has also been called the world's most important runway.
"Big cultural events like the Oscars have all eyes on them, and I think for someone like me whose work is intended to spread a message of human dignity -- it's a great platform for me to show my work," said fashion designer Willy Chavarria.
Badia believes men at the Oscars are making more of a statement.
"When it comes to men, my money is in Coleman Domingo," he said. "I think that he's been really progressive in his fashion choices."
Domingo is nominated for his title role in Oscar nominee, "Rustin."
Ryan Gosling wore a lavender suit to the Oscars nominees' lunch, and with "Barbie" and so many other fine films up for awards on Sunday night, expect more bold choices on the world's longest red carpet.
This red carpet is such a big deal that some stars agonize about what to wear. When Gwyneth Paltrow won her Oscar, she changed her mind about what to wear just before heading to the show.
It's a quarter of a century later, and some folks are still talking about how she had to be sewed into her Ralph Lauren dress on the way to the ceremony.
