16 Celebrities Who Took Beauty Risks on the Oscars Red Carpet
This weekend, when the year’s top movie stars take to the red carpet for the 2021 Oscars, certain play-it-safe hair and makeup looks—classic chignons, soft smoky eyes—are bound to make an appearance on Hollywood’s biggest night. But thankfully, there are always a few renegade risk-takers who break away from the pack.
Think Angelina Jolie, who made a high-impact statement in 2012 simply by jutting out one toned leg from her Atelier Versace dress—and became a full-blown meme. Women like Cher and Diane Keaton have always marched to the beat of their own drums, and continued to do so at the Oscars, thanks to a fully exposed midriff and rumpled hair, respectively. For other stars, the awards show is an opportunity to play against type: Rooney Mara subverted the ingenue narrative with a dark lip and a trio of sleek knots, a tack that Gwyneth Paltrow took over a decade earlier when she appeared with a goth slick of black liner that matched her worn-without-a-bra McQueen gown. And in her own impromptu departure from the bombshell playbook, Margot Robbie ditched the screen siren red lipstick in favor of undone waves and a fresh faced, no-makeup makeup glow.
Then there’s Zendaya, the actress and hair chameleon, whose dreadlocks not only paired beautifully with her Grecian-inspired dress, but also sparked an important conversation around the Oscars back in 2016. Following Giuliana Rancic’s suggestion that the hairstyle may have smelled like “patchouli oil or weed,” Zendaya’s powerful response called for an end to offensive cultural stereotypes. And furthering the celebration of natural hair on the red carpet were Lupita Nyong'o, who wore a gilded traditional Rwandan Amasunzu hairstyle and Zazie Beetz, who had her natural Afro molded into a gorgeous high-low updo with a curtain of brow-skimming ringlets. “We are all about changing stereotypes and the way women of color are perceived on the red carpet,” Beetz told Vogue. The best rule-breakers are the ones tearing down barriers along the way, after all.