If you’re still searching for the definitive fashion trend seen at the Oscars 2025, run down to your parents’ basement, dig out that old photo album, and have a laugh at the fact that almost all your favorite actresses attended Hollywood’s biggest night wearing versions of gowns you might have worn to your junior prom, your senior prom, your sorority formal, or—if you’re that very specific girl—your arrival at the mansion where you hoped to accept a rose. And it was delightful!
Stars including Demi Moore, Selena Gomez, Mikey Madison, Goldie Hawn, Kylie Jenner, Ana De Armas, Doja Cat, Mindy Kaling, and Penelope Cruz, arrived at the 97th annual Academy Awards looking obviously like the movie stars they are, but also like they could have maybe used a wrist corsage, an elaborate updo, and a seat inside a white stretch limo. Prom-core was on the Oscars 2025 mood board and, honestly, it felt right. Because as much as in-the-know labels, stark minimalism, or avant-garde designs will always have a place on the red carpet, well, this is the Academy Awards, not the CFDA Awards.
Jeff Kravitz
Frazer Harrison
The Oscars 2025 brought with it a back-to-basics approach to—and uncannily literal interpretation of—red carpet dressing: crystal covered gowns, curve-hugging cuts, dramatic drapery, icy metallics, so much boning! Fashion houses including Armani Privè, Ralph Lauren, Oscar de la Renta, and Dior were abundantly represented, storied brands known for having a hand in creating the blueprint for true aspirational Hollywood glamour.
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Jeff Kravitz
Arturo Holmes
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Lots of these Oscars looks weren’t striving to be idiosyncratic which is part of their appeal. Save for the Wicked girls—Ariana Grande in sculptural Schiaparelli and Cynthia Erivo in high-drama custom Louis Vuitton—they were exquisitely designed but many felt of a piece with another era entirely, whether a version of midcentury America (Marilyn Monroe wouldn’t have looked out of place in Demi’s hourglass-shaping Armani gown, nor would Audrey Hepburn in Mikey Madison’s elegant Dior) or the strange, sightly garish glare of Y2K, whose influence we’re still seeing permeate fashion.
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Arturo Holmes
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I’m not sure what I was expecting from this particular red carpet—drab sacks to accurately represent the epic disaster that is 2025, perhaps? Overdone high-concept designs as acts of political protest? Nope.
We got a return to traditional Oscars—and prom-night—glamour in the form of Demi Moore’s plunging, shimmering gown, followed by the fizzy champagne shade of Selena Gomez and Emma Stone’s body-skimming looks, followed still by the aggressive draping and ruching on dresses worn by women including Penelope Cruz and Connie Nielson, and the mirrored columns of Mindy Kaling and Halle Berry‘s designs. Everything felt lovely but—in their own way—normal because you probably wore a version of one at some point. And right now, any type of normalcy shouldn’t be undervalued.
To see all the looks from the Oscars 2025 red carpet, head here.
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