The Oscars

Sometimes household-name status comes at a price. Yes, Oscar night is the world’s biggest fashion party and has upped designer-brand awareness exponentially around the globe. But fashion’s relentless playing to the megastars who play to the mass television audience, while hoping to avoid morning-after trashing, has led to a woeful dumbing down of eveningwear on the runways.

Reuters/Gary Hershorn/Landov