5 Celebrities We Wish Would Take More Fashion Risks (Because Basic Is Boring)

While fashion risks are scary and making sartorial mistakes can be embarrassing, there are a few of Hollywood’s hottest women who need to step out of their comfort zone a little bit more. Stunners like Kim Kardashian and Margot Robbie have been leaning too much into the same silhouettes we’ve seen a million times, in such tedious, neutral tones that we’re bored stiff. We have to say, though, that these stars can serve a face card like nobody else. They’re beautiful women who would look gorgeous in anything, so it’s no diss at who they are inside, and everybody gets in a fashion rut from time to time. Of late, gals like Dakota Johnson and Michelle Williams have allowed their styling to get a bit drab.

It’s time for a change. We want to see these red carpet sirens go out on a limb with wardrobe choices. After all, it’s so much more fun to try something new. Uma Thurman got it right in 2004 when she spoke about her Oscars dress from that year that got panned for being unusual. “We’ve gotten so savvy with stylists that’s a kind of warfare of defensive dressing out there,” Thurman said (via Time). “Everyone looked the same. Everyone had it down to such a perfect T … You get bored. That’s when you have to say, ‘I will be worst-dressed.'” While people might not be aspiring to land on the worst-dressed list, such an accolade does mean that someone’s taking risks, and that’s what we love to see. 

Hear us out. With the exception of her “Barbie” premieres, Margot Robbie’s red carpet style is very uninspired. At the 2024 Academy Awards, Robbie showed up in a black, sequin column gown by Versace, marking a sharp end to the festive pinks of her “Barbie” era. There was nothing wrong with the gown; it fit Robbie just fine and looked sleek. The problem is that after the dazzle and fun of watching her dress in historic “Barbie” costumes, the black gown felt like a tough comedown. In fact, the “Barbie” mania reached such a frenzy, that people wanted to know how to emulate Robbie’s iconic dressing and take on the “Barbie” trend, even if they hated pink. 

But apart from Barbiecore, Robbie frequently wears black. At the 2020 Academy Awards, Robbie wore a black gown by Chanel that was mediocrely jazzed up by a brooch. In February 2020, she attended the EE British Academy Film Awards in a high-collar, black lace long dress that gave her the aura of a Victorian school marm. Robbie has been an ambassador for Chanel since 2018, and while the brand and the actor are incredible in their own powers, the combination was such a snooze. Robbie’s gowns were consistently beige, white, and gray. Instead, we’d love to see the “Mary Queen of Scots” star embrace color. It doesn’t have to be pink, but seeing the beautiful star in richer, brighter tones would be a refreshing change from these somber neutrals she’s been wearing for years.

Michelle Williams attended the 75th Annual Directors Guild Of America Awards in February 2023 wearing a strapless gown with a plunging neckline and a fold of fabric over the waist. The gown was butter toned, and was as drab as could be. Its shapeless structure was unflattering on the stunning star, and the tone of the dress couldn’t decide if it wanted to be white or beige. While Williams has some moments in her red carpet history that are stunning — think of the bright-yellow Vera Wang gown that she wore to the 78th Annual Academy Awards in 2006 — she has since veered towards red carpet styles that are somber and unmemorable. In 2011, at the Venice Film Festival, she wore a gray gown by Jason Wu with a white bow as embellishment. At the 2011 Oscars, she wore an off-white column dress by Chanel, and at the 2017 Golden Globes, she wore a gray dress by Louis Vuitton with a black bow choker.

We’d love to see Williams embrace some of the bolder choices that we saw her in a decade ago. Her pink Dior gown, worn at the 2012 Paris premiere of “My Week with Marilyn,” is a great model of the playfulness and variety we wish to see on Williams again. A rotation of unique silhouettes and brighter colors would add some dazzle to her red carpet looks going forward.

Kristen Stewart is beautiful and an accomplished actor, but her red carpet wardrobe seems to consist either of black or white, or both together. There’s rarely an event where we see her in something colorful. On top of this, her recent fixation with oversized pantsuits has gone on too long. The blazers look shapeless and overly large on her frame, and her slacks often appear bunchy at her heels. At the “She Came to Me” premiere in Berlin in 2023, Stewart wore a white gown by Chanel with black, floral shoulder straps. To be fair, it’s a look that Bella Swan would have hated in that it was certainly more feminine than some of the outfits her famous character would have chosen. Nonetheless, it was boring. At a promotion for “Living For The Dead” in New York City, Stewart arrived in black shorts and a black-and-white grandpa-esque blazer. While she has been known to rock the pantless trend, the looks are almost always in black, beige, or somewhere in between. 

We’d love to see Stewart embrace tones beyond her staple entourage of neutrals. The star is absolutely beautiful with a mesmerizing screen presence; we wish she’d bring a little of that magic to her red carpet outfits to change up her pattern. And without a doubt, it’s time to drop the oversized pantsuit. 

Dakota Johnson is unbelievably gorgeous. She’s got so much going for her: She’s stunning and talented, and she makes us want to get bangs. The actor undeniably enjoys a minimalist style on the red carpet, and while that has its charm, we feel like things have gotten too minimal. Sure, she’s worn some bright reds over the years, like she did at the “Madame Web” premiere in Mexico City in 2024, or at the 2018 Venice Film Festival, but besides those rare jolts of color, Johnson primarily wears black, white, and brown to public events. At the 2021 premiere of “The Lost Daughter,” Johnson wore a black bustier with black, leather trousers. In June 2022, she wore a white blazer dress at the “Cha Cha Real Smooth” premiere. Then at a 2024 screening of “Daddio,” Johnson wore a beige, short dress with black tights. Finally, at the 2024 Bvlgari party in New York City, Johnson wore a brown satin dress. The outfits feature few embellishments, and are notably plain. 

Johnson is so stunning that she could pull off anything. In light of this, she shouldn’t be afraid to take more risks. We’d love to see the star in a wide range of color choices, and experiment with silhouettes beyond sleek, fitted ones. She can shelve the browns and blacks for a while. Imagine seeing Johnson in a hot pink, A-line ball gown on the red carpet. It would be heavenly.   

We can’t believe we’re saying this, but Kim Kardashian makes the list of celebrities who need to spice up their wardrobes. Once upon a time, the queen of reality TV set the trends and made daring choices. However, of late, Kardashian has gotten stuck in a boring routine of beiges, grays, and creams. While she looks hot as heck, she hasn’t done anything interesting with her outfits in a long time. We understand that promoting your own product is essential, but it feels like all she walks out in is her SKIMS loungewear. The palettes are all grays, charcoals, and marbles. Even when she’s not in loungewear, lately Kardashian looks much the same. When she opened her SKIMS flagship store in New York City in December 2024, she wore a plunging corset and slacks in light cream. Obviously, she’s beautiful and objectively looked great, but there was nothing new or interesting about her outfit. 

We’d love to see Kardashian in different silhouettes — something besides the body-con fit. She used to set the tone for red carpets, and we want to see her push the boundaries yet again. She also looks stunning in bright colors, so we’d love to see her steer clear of the oatmeal tones she’s been living in of late. We get it that SKIMS is primarily about neutral palettes, but it would be fun for Kardashian to take a break from that styling choice.