Back to basics: stars take uniform path to red carpet in classic tones

In the words of the great television characters Kath and Kim, “it’s noice, it’s different, it’s unusual”.

But, when it came to this year’s Oscars red carpet, it was hard to apply the quip to all but a few gowns, with most celebrities taking the austere (read: safe) path in black and white, proving once again why, for all its hyperbole, the Academy Awards aren’t the greatest style show in town (that honour usually goes to the Grammys).

How many ways can you skin a black dress? There was slinky (Elizabeth Olsen in Givenchy), feathered (Marlee Matlin in Dolce & Gabanna), ruffled (Harvey Guillén in Christian Siriano), bandaged (Ashley Graham in Alberta Ferretti) and corsaged (Nicole Kidman in Armani Prive).

And, with Paris Fashion Week only wrapping last week, the pared-back aesthetic from the runways continued courtesy of Julia Garner in Off_White and Jennifer Connolly in Louis Vuitton.

But the “freshest off the runway” honour went to Lady Gaga, in a Versace frock that was so hot from the brand’s show in Los Angeles on Thursday it likely still had Gigi Hadid’s antiperspirant lingering in the mesh bodice.

Still, if there was one colour that dominated the “champagne” carpet, it was white. For her first Oscar win, 64-year-old Jaime Lee Curtis wore an elegant column dress by D&G, adding to the evidence that the brand’s exile from Hollywood over allegations of racism against its namesake designers is truly over. The swan brief was also strong for Best Actress nominees Michelle Yeoh, in Dior, and Michelle Williams, who enlisted Chanel to create a cape so sheer that it looked as though a light sprinkling of silver rain was dusting her shoulders.

And although sequins at the Oscars are like prawns at a hotel buffet (Eva Longoria in Zuhair Murad, Ana de Armas in Louis Vuitton and Jessica Chastain in Gucci), the surprise packet was activist Malala Yousafzai in custom Ralph Lauren.