best dressed: oscars

At last night's Academy Awards, just about every major movie from 2012 went home with at least one statue--Argo, Lincoln, Django Unchained, Zero Dark Thirty, Life of Pi, Les Miserables, Silver Linings PLaybook, Amour—the list goes on. But on the red carpet, winners were a little more obvious. For one thing, there was a lot of blush, champagne, and white out there. There was also a lot of strappy (or strapless) gowns. As the New York Times pointed out today, there weren't many sleeves to be seen. For guys the look of the evening was definitely black-on-black--which we're still debating.

Overall, though, we'll admit: There weren't a ton of wow moments on the red carpet. Lots of dresses that were pretty, but not many that stood out to us as the iconic dress of the year. There were still a few surprises--like both Jennifer Lawrence and Anne Hathaway wearing their blinged-out necklaces backwards, or the gradient effect on the bottom of Zoe Saldana's dress, or even Kristen Stewart showing up on crutches and still looking glamorous.

And speaking of glamorous, we thought Jessica Chastain, Naomi Watts, and Jennifer Hudson brought their a-game. And then there was Kerry Washington, whose dress we would have liked if it were just any color, but we loved because it was NYLON pink. We've pulled together the eight that we were most excited by--let us know in the comments which woman you believe deserves the award for Best Dressed.

Jennifer Lawrence in Dior Haute Couture.

Anne Hathaway in Prada

Kerry Washington in Miu Miu

Naomi Watts in Armani Prive

Jennifer Hudson in Roberto Cavalli

Jessica Chastain in Giorgio Armani

Zoe Saldana in Alexis Mabille

Kristen Stewart in Reem Acra