These Iconic Oscar Dresses Made History: Watch

From the iconic dress Grace Kelly wore in 1955 to Keira Knightley's Vera Wang taffeta, a look at revolutionary Oscar fashion

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Each year at the Academy Awards, actresses walk the red carpet hoping to make a lasting, positive impression — but only a handful of dresses have had a lasting impact on both Hollywood and fashion history, bringing sudden fame to the actresses who wore them or transforming their designers’ reputation.

Ahead of Sunday’s 86th Academy Awards, InStyle Editor-at-Large Hal Rubenstein recalls some of the Oscar dresses that turned heads and blazed new trails in fashion.

In 1997, for instance, Nicole Kidman wore a chartreuse John Galliano gown that raised the designer’s global profile and introduced haute couture as a new standard for red-carpet success.  At the 79th Academy Awards, Keira Knightley strode out in a burgundy taffeta Vera Wang ball gown, and the then little-known actress became a “Who’s that woman?” sensation by the next morning, according to Rubenstein.  And in 2011, newcomer Jennifer Lawrence, who sported denim and plaid in her breakout performance in Winter’s Bone, wore a body-hugging, red Calvin Klein dress that revealed her as a jaw-dropping beauty and certain A-list star.

For more unforgettable Oscar dresses, take a look at InStyle’s pick for The Oscar Dresses We Can’t Forget (And Don’t Want To!), and what the winners wore in 20 Years of Best Actress Dresses.

Each year at the Academy Awards, actresses walk the red carpet hoping to make a lasting, positive impression — but only a handful of dresses have had a lasting impact on both Hollywood and fashion history, bringing sudden fame to the actresses who wore them or transforming their designers’ reputation.

Ahead of Sunday’s 86th Academy Awards, InStyle Editor-at-Large Hal Rubenstein recalls some of the Oscar dresses that turned heads and blazed new trails in fashion.

In 1997, for instance, Nicole Kidman wore a chartreuse John Galliano gown that raised the designer’s global profile and introduced haute couture as a new standard for red-carpet success.  At the 79th Academy Awards, Keira Knightley strode out in a burgundy taffeta Vera Wang ball gown, and the then little-known actress became a “Who’s that woman?” sensation by the next morning, according to Rubenstein.  And in 2011, newcomer Jennifer Lawrence, who sported denim and plaid in her breakout performance in Winter’s Bone, wore a body-hugging, red Calvin Klein dress that revealed her as a jaw-dropping beauty and certain A-list star.

For more unforgettable Oscar dresses, take a look at InStyle’s pick for The Oscar Dresses We Can’t Forget (And Don’t Want To!), and what the winners wore in 20 Years of Best Actress Dresses.