Today we continue with my 50 of the Most ICONIC Red Carpet Looks EVER list. I did my research. The looks in this list are all based on looks that stars wore on red carpets all over the world. Now while some might think of Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly, Katherine Hepburn, Rita Hayworth, and Twiggy when they think of iconic fashion moments. That is true, but you won’t find any of them on these lists. If you’re ready to ask me why I have an answer. Mostly their iconic fashion moments all were created for them by the costume designers contracted by the studios they worked for. I wanted to include only the looks that weren’t planned in conjunction with the studio for their impact. They might have been pulled together by high paid stylist, but not in a way that a studio would craft a look for their star based on the image they wanted them to have. Now this look is only ranked from the oldest to the newest and not based on how iconic I think that the look is. Today we are halfway through this list. So let’s get into it.21) Anne Hathaway in Atelier Versace at the 2008 Venice Film Festival: Anne Hathaway may have gotten her big break in 2001 thanks to The Princess Diaries but she finally made transition to full on movie star with her role in Rachel Getting Married. She became a style icon to be with this tour too. She kicked off promoting the film in easily her most iconic fashion moment ever giving us avant garde couture mermaid vibes wearing this strapless high low ruffled Atelier Versace gown. This is one of the first looks I think of when I think of Anne’s history on the red carpet. It was a risk. It isn’t your typical red carpet gown. The look would honestly have been more suited for a music awards red carpet had you asked me at the time, but Anne wearing this gown in Venice was fantastic. 22) Michelle Obama in Jason Wu at the 2008 Presidential Inaugural Ball: The inauguration of the Obama’s ushered in a new era of glamour to the American Presidency. There aren’t very many first ladies that I think of as truly groundbreaking style stars and there hadn’t been one in my lifetime, until Michelle Obama. She showed us from the very beginning how she showed she knew how to make glamour come to life. She demonstrated knowing how to dress perfectly for every occasion and used her platform as the first lady to, for the most part, champion American talent. Her inaugural ball gown in 2008 was a testament to that. In 2008 Jason Wu was a fledgling fashion label and this ivory one shoulder 3D flower appliqued gown really catapulted him to fashion stardom. It is amazing how one red carpet moment can do that. 23) Fan Bingbing in Dragon Robe at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival: Talking about how one dress can launch a career enter Fan Bingbing in a modern glamorous take on a traditional Chinese Dragon Robe. While the red carpet moment didn’t launch a designer’s career into superstardom, but instead it launched Fan Bingbing as a style icon. It was her first ever Cannes Film Festival red carpet and it was such a glamorous way to honor her Chinese heritage on an international platform. It launched Fan into international fashionista status. Since this look we have seen her wearing every single major fashion brand. It made sure that we learned how to appreciate gowns with cultural significance on the red carpet.  24) Lady Gaga in the infamous Meat Dress at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards: I mentioned the other day that not all the looks in this list are looks that I think are good fashion moments. Iconic is defined as widely recognized and well-established. Well Lady Gaga’s dress made of raw meat at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards is definitely widely recognized and well-established. It is easily the least expected fashion moment ever. I still don’t understand it, but it was definitely one of the things that helped catapult her into superstar status. It wasn’t a cute look. 25) Gwyneth Paltrow in Emilio Pucci at the 2011 Emmy Awards: This is the second look that Gwyneth Paltrow has brought to life to make my ICONIC red carpet moments list. She has been bringing big moments since she came onto the scene. I included this black and nude beaded Emilio Pucci ensemble in this list because it was really the first time a crop top worked on the red carpet. Wearing a look like this has such a casual vibe behind it and is far from what we expect to see on the red carpet at the Emmy Awards. The fact that she did something so unexpected and made it work is what made this look iconic. It also sparked a trend of crop tops on the red carpet. I don’t know whether to love her for it or loathe her, but either way she started a started a sartorial trend and we continue to see the legacy. Also she wore this look weeks before it walked the runway in Milan. It takes icon status to make that happen.

Read Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, and Part 4 here.