≡ 10 Oscar Outfits From the ’70s That Were Wilder Than Anything We See Today ➤ Brain Berries

These days, Oscar outfits are glamorous, stylish, and very tasteful. The room is filled with elegantly dressed, beautiful people, all styled by teams of professionals. It’s quiet luxury at its peak. But the Oscars looked completely different in the ’70s. It was still the biggest event in showbiz, and everyone showed up dressed to the nines, but the idea of what that looked like was wildly different. It was a lot less quiet and a lot more wild and free.

You still had your glamorous celebs, but you also had some wild cards showing up looking like cowboys, disco lovers, and the occasional Renaissance fair fanatic. ’70s fashion simply didn’t have the word “subtle” in its vocabulary. Everything was louder, brighter, and bolder. And luckily, there are plenty of photos and videos throughout this article to prove just how wonderfully chaotic it all was. Let’s take a look, shall we?

Raquel Welch’s Sparkling Jumpsuit Was Ready for a Stage

Raquel Welch arrived at the 1979 Oscars in a fitted blue sequined jumpsuit that looked ready for a spotlight and a disco anthem. Sleek, glittery, body-hugging, and impossible to ignore, it was pure late-’70s glamour.

The funny thing is, it doesn’t feel completely dated. Put something similar on Dua Lipa, Sabrina Carpenter, or Harry Styles today and it would look perfectly at home onstage. At the Oscars, though? Still pretty daring.

Farrah Fawcett Looked Like an Oscar Herself

Farrah Fawcett clearly understood the assignment at the 1978 Oscars. If everyone is gathering to hand out shiny gold statues, why not dress like one?The Charlie’s Angels star wore a slinky gold chain-mail gown by Stephen Burrows, held up by delicate spaghetti straps and shimmering with every movement. It was sexy, effortless, and unmistakably ’70s.

Fawcett was there to present the Film Editing award with Marcello Mastroianni, but the dress had its own main-character moment. Metallic gowns still appear at the Oscars, but modern versions often feel more engineered. Fawcett’s looked loose, glamorous, and ready to dance.

Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton Were Peak Hollywood Glamour

Some couples attend the Oscars. Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton arrived like they were inspecting property they already owned.At the 1970 ceremony, Burton wore a classic tuxedo, which was probably wise when standing beside Taylor. She appeared in a plunging violet chiffon gown by Edith Head with the enormous 69-carat Taylor-Burton diamond around her neck.Not a delicate pendant. Not a tasteful little sparkle. Sixty-nine carats.

Burton had bought the famous diamond the year before, and by Oscar night it was practically a celebrity itself. He was nominated for Best Actor for Anne of the Thousand Days, but between Taylor, the gown, the jewel, and their legendary relationship, the pair looked like peak old-school Hollywood excess. Honestly, that diamond deserved its own seat.

Sonny Bono and Cher Were a Matching ’70s Moment

It’s hard to discuss Cher’s look without mentioning that her abs were doing a fair amount of the styling.Cher wore a bright yellow, gold-pleated two-piece, while Sonny Bono paired her sparkle with a checkered velvet jacket. Together, they looked like someone had taken every recognizable element of 1970s celebrity fashion and put it into one photograph.

There was color, pattern, texture, skin — basically everything a modern stylist might warn you not to combine at once. Yet on them, it worked. Or maybe more accurately: it worked because Cher was involved.

Cher Went Even Bolder in 1974

Of course, Cher was never going to stop at one unforgettable Oscar look.In 1974, she wore a playful Bob Mackie creation filled with color, skin, and floral details. Seen today, it almost looks like the ultimate outfit for a glamorous ’70s-themed beach party.

Except Cher wasn’t referencing the ’70s. She was the reference.On someone else, the whole thing could have tipped into costume territory. On Cher, it simply looked right. She could wear something wildly theatrical and somehow make the clothes seem less dramatic than the person inside them.

Margaux Hemingway’s Stripes Were Loud and Proud

Stripes were everywhere in the 1970s, and Margaux Hemingway fully embraced the trend at the 1976 Academy Awards.Her red-and-white halter-neck dress was bold, breezy, and perfectly suited to the decade. Looking at it now, though, it feels surprisingly relaxed for the Oscars. You could easily imagine something similar on a stylish seaside holiday.

That’s part of its charm. Today’s red carpet can feel incredibly serious. Hemingway’s dress looked glamorous without acting as though glamour had to be difficult.

Jeanne Moreau’s Technicolor Dress Was Not Here to Blend In

Minimalism clearly did not get an invitation to Jeanne Moreau’s wardrobe.She wore a gloriously colorful dress that seemed to operate on one simple principle: why choose one shade when you can have all of them?

Modern Oscar fashion often favors monochrome gowns, controlled color palettes, and sleek silhouettes. Moreau’s look belonged to a time when clashing colors could be the entire point.Would a stylist today call it “too much”? Probably. But that’s exactly what makes it fun.

Isaac Hayes Wore the Most ’70s Tux Imaginable

Some outfits are inspired by the 1970s. Isaac Hayes’ tuxedo looks like the 1970s personally designed it.He wore a tux with bright blue fur-trimmed lapels and cuffs, then added a matching blue ruffled shirt underneath. Fur. Ruffles. Formalwear. At the Oscars.

On paper, it sounds ridiculous. In reality, it was magnificent.The look was flamboyant, theatrical, and completely committed. If you’re going to wear blue fur to the Academy Awards, hesitation is not your friend. Even now, Hayes’ outfit still feels almost impossible to top.

Jack Nicholson’s Printed Shirt Was Peak ’70s Mischief

Jack Nicholson has always had a talent for making formal occasions feel slightly less formal just by showing up.So naturally, when he hosted the Oscars, he wore a busy printed shirt under his tuxedo rather than a plain one. Printed shirts were hugely popular at the time, but this look now feels like a wonderfully preserved piece of ’70s chaos.

Is it timeless? Not remotely. Does it look a little like expensive vintage wallpaper? Maybe.Still, there’s something likable about it. Nicholson looked comfortable, mischievous, and perfectly dressed for his own decade.

Meryl Streep and Dustin Hoffman Chose Subtlety

Then, in a decade obsessed with color and excess, Meryl Streep and Dustin Hoffman quietly went in the opposite direction.Streep wore a white dress with a cropped jacket, while Hoffman chose a classic black suit and white shirt. Beside all the sequins, prints, velvet, bare midriffs, and blue fur, they look almost shockingly restrained.

And that’s probably why their outfits have aged so well.You could put almost identical looks on the Oscars carpet today and nobody would question them. They’d simply be called elegant, timeless, maybe even minimalist.

Perhaps that’s the lesson hidden inside all this glorious ’70s chaos: trends can be enormous fun, but simplicity has staying power. Then again, when you’re Meryl Streep and Dustin Hoffman, you probably don’t need your clothes to do much shouting. The talent already has that covered.