BEST DRESSED: EMMYS 2012

All of the usual suspects showed up on the red carpet at the Emmys this year: J. Mendel, Marchesa, Nina Ricci, along with more than a few Zac Posen gowns—including a cute, miniature one for Ms. Kiernan Shipka.

Not to be argued with were some very obvious themes. There were more than a few ocean-inspired numbers that would have made Ariel proud—our favorite being Nicole Kidman's embellished Antonio Berardi dress. As for Sophia Vergara's fully beaded mermaid suit, it's hard to find the right way to describe that, so we won't even try. And for some reason several attendees decided to go with yellow, the hardest color to wear. We liked Julianne Moore's all-yellow, long sleeved Dior Couture dress and Claire Danes wore a marigold, baby bump-hiding Lanvin gown.

As always, there were dresses that we loved and hated, but only a few of TV's leading ladies turned out to be risk takers, which is why our best dressed awards are given to those that took the more fashion-y route. Our thought on the matter is this: For one night, you get the chance to wear an all-out fancy couture or custom dress—why wouldn't you go for one on the edgier, less boring side?

Here's who didn't look boring: The Khaleesi took the cake! Game of Thrones star, Emilia Clarke, was our favorite in her straight-off-the-runway Chanel dress. And Zosia Mamet's futuristic chic moment was a bold decision that turned out well. (She kind of had to redeem herself from an entire season of wearing bubblegum pink Juicy Couture jumpsuits on Girls).

Golden Globe nominees, consider this your warning: You have from now until then to find more stylish dresses that will wow us and make us think you have killer style. And if we may beg for a minute: please retire your prom dresses your Grecian dresses that everyone always wears. And maybe wear something a little bit shorter, so we can see your shoes.

Here are our very fair (we didn't just give it to the stars of our favorite shows, Lena Dunham and Claire Danes) NYLON awards for the best Emmy dresses.

Compare them to last years Emmy dresses, which are right here.

Kate Mara's dreamy Badgley Mischka dress and thick eyeliner tells us that she definitely read our New Romantics trend story.

There'a a pair of Casadei ankle strap heels peeking out from the side slit of Jena Malone's J. Mendel dress.

We hardly recognized Game of Thrones star, Emilia Clarke, without her bleach blonde "Queen of the Dragons" hair, but we'll never forget her Chanel runway dress.

Zosia Mamet clearly reads our NYLON trend reports too because she showed up wearing not one, but three of them: A black and white Bibhu Mohapatra dress, sleek hair, and

Revenge star Emily VanCamp wore a chiffon J. Mendel dress in a shade of grey that we approve of.