Hooray for Horrible Oscars Outfits

Sunday, February 27, 2011
It's Oscars night, and while the show has sometimes been unpredictable, one thing you can always count on is at least one or two kooks showing up in a God-awful outfit. The Academy Awards has seen their share of them, so let's take a trip down memory lane, shall we?

Betty Davis, early 60s - at the risk of getting into trouble with Getty Images, I simply had to chance posting this curious looking dress worn by Ms. Davis in the early 60s, which looks like something she borrowed from the Wicked Witch of the West's closet. By contrast, Grace Kelly looks classic and lovely. I will say this: the angled shoulders look like something we'd see on the red carpet today; pretty progressive by 60s standards.

Barbra Streisand, 1969 - Well hello, Dolly, and hello backside. The front of this ruffled pantsuit with the sailor collar and clown outfit cuffs was bad enough, but the rear is truly jaw dropping to me.

Tatum O'Neal, 1974 - There's a difference between tomboy and just plain boy. I don't know if this outfit was Tatum's idea or her parents', but I would've preferred she came to the ceremony looking like a girl.



Diane Keaton, 1977 - And the Unsexiest Oscar Outfit goes to Diane Keaton, who celebrated her Best Actress win for Annie Hall by dressing like...well, Annie Hall, or your 1970s CCD teacher. I still can't tell if she's wearing a hat or if that's her hair piled up on top of her head.

Helena Bonham Carter, 1987 - HBC is a great actress but alas, not always a good dresser. I'm going to cut her a break here, though - it *was* the 80s, after all. Who didn't have something similar to this hanging in their closet in 1987?


Cher, 1987 - I've always liked Cher as an actress and I love Bob Mackie's dresses, but this was one instance where the combination didn't quite work for me. I think we all got it that Cher had a great body at the time, but surely she and Mackie could've imagined a much better way of showing it off?


Jon Bon Jovi, 1991 - Bon Jovi broke the golden rule of couple dressing on the red carpet: never, ever, ever outshine your wife. Pretty hard to do when she's wearing head-to-toe sequins but his purple haze suit accomplished that. 


Whoopi Goldberg, 1993 - Speaking of "the color purple," she should have stuck with just the one shade, not the garish lime green combo. 

Celine Dion, 1999 - This ass backwards outfit will go on...as one of the worst in Oscar history. 

I'm stopping here because venturing into the 2000s wouldn't quite be retro. Going to get the popcorn ready tonight and enjoy the show!

7 comments:

  1. Oh wow...those are truly abominable!

    Bette Davis looks like she's wearing a swim cap, too! Ha ha ha.

    That butt shot of Barbra Streisand, though...I did NOT need to see. UGH!

    What WERE Tatum's parents thinking?

    And Jon...oh you disappoint me so!

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  2. Hilarious. I kind of love bad Oscar outfits, at least they are different. My father was madly in love with Barbara Streisand, I wonder what he thought when her saw her in that?

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  3. Thank you so much for this post. The outfits are hilarious! Really, what was Barbra thinking?? I've been reading your blog more through my Google Reader than by actually coming to the site, which is really too bad, because the redesign is incredible. Brava!

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  4. Also, I thought Diane Keaton only dressed like that for Annie Hall. It breaks my heart to see her like that. For shame!

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  5. You know what's funny and I should have predicted this, but Helena Bonham Carter's dress this year looked an awful lot like an 80s dress that had been altered. At the Golden Globes, she looked a lot like Cyndi Lauper. She does seem to favor the same style.

    Desiree - thanks!

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  6. I needed a good laugh - thanks for this post. I never really watched any awards shows but I read about them and check out the fashions in the paper and mags. Before scrolling down that awful Cher dress was on my mind. The Jon Bon Jovi photo was so funny. I just saw him at the concert at MSG last Friday and he looks alot better now then he did back then. I hope that you are having a great day!

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