The Secret to Winning an Oscar? It Might Be All About Choosing the Right Dress Color
Which dress colors do you think give Oscar nominees the best shot at winning gold?
Published Feb. 28 2025, 4:37 p.m. ET
As the Oscars approach, every detail matters, from red carpet appearances to prevailing moments. But did you know that the color of a Best Actress or Best Supporting Actress nominee's dress might influence their chances of winning?
According to recent research, experts have uncovered the luckiest (and unluckiest) dress colors to wear at the Academy Awards. Here's everything you need to know, including which hues are believed to bring good fortune at one of Hollywood's most iconic events!
Experts reveal the luckiest dress colors for the Oscars!
Ahead of the annual awards ceremony, experts at Pinnacle have uncovered a fascinating fashion secret: The color of your dress might influence your chances of taking home an award!
After analyzing the colors worn by Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress winners since 1980, they've discovered that black gowns have been the most lucky. In fact, over a quarter of past winners in these categories (26 percent) wore black, making it the top color for any and all Oscar success.
Some of the most legendary black dresses in Oscar history include Nicole Kidman's jaw-dropping Jean Paul Gaultier dress at the 2003 ceremony, where she took home her first Best Actress award for The Hours.
Brie Larson wore a blue gown when she won Best Actress in 2016 for her role in 'Room.'
The lovely Julia Roberts also wowed in a vintage Valentino dress at the 2001 Oscars while accepting her Best Actress award for Erin Brockovich.
And who could forget Jessica Lange's stunning Calvin Klein dress in 1995 when she won Best Actress for Blue Sky? These iconic ensembles are forever etched in Oscar history!
White is reported as the second luckiest color, with 15 percent of winners opting for the elegant hue. Michelle Yeoh stunned in a breathtaking Dior gown at the 2023 Oscars, making history as the first Asian actress to win the Best Actress award for her role in the critically acclaimed Everything Everywhere All at Once.
Blue comes in third, with 14 percent of Oscar winners donning this shade, including Brie Larson in 2016 and Hilary Swank in 2005.
Rounding out the top five are gold and green, tied for fourth, and pink in fifth. Could these colors be the key to Oscar's glory? Only time will tell!
Here are the Oscar dress colors that are just totally bad luck.
Now that we've uncovered the luckiest dress colors, let's take a look at the unluckiest. The experts at Pinnacle also closely studied past Oscar fashion to determine which colors have the lowest odds of securing a win.
Kerry Condon (yellow) and Angela Bassett (purple) lost Best Supporting Actress at the 2023 Oscars.
According to their findings, grey, gold/black, and black/purple gowns have historically had the least success at the Oscars, accounting for just 1 percent of past victories — only 1 in every 100. Other unlucky colors include yellow, white/black, silver, purple, brown, nude, and red.
So why do these colors fall short at the Oscars? It could be that while striking, they don't stand out enough against the sea of glamorous, attention-grabbing dresses.
These hues might also be seen as too unconventional or edgy for the Academy Awards, where classic and timeless looks — like sleek black and white gowns — tend to dominate the spotlight.