Winning an Oscar is largely based on merit, but there are forty years of data packed into a study to prove that a bit of luck might go a long way in the process. According to research conducted by Design Bundles, there is a correlation between dress colour and an actress’s chance of winning “Best Actress” and “Best Supporting Actress” at the Oscars.
Actresses and stylists, take note: statistically speaking, wearing a black dress to the Oscars improves a runner-up’s odds of winning the most. According to the study’s findings, this colour has the best track record, with 33% of winners for the “Best Actress” and “Best Supporting Actress” categories wearing black while taking home their award. Just take a look back at the Oscars’s most recent history; the last actress to win “Best Actress,” Frances McDormand, won while wearing a black Valentino dress.
The second-best colour to don at the show is a shade of gold, with 14% of category nominees wearing it while taking home an Oscar. One of the most notable winners was Emma Stone in 2017, when she won the “Best Actress” award for her work in La La Land. Not only does the colour help an actress’s chances, but it also acts as a mirror to the golden award they take home. It’s a match made in Hollywood heaven.
Statistically speaking, wearing a black dress to the Oscars improves a runner-up’s odds of winning the most.
The third most lucky colour to wear while gunning for the “Best Actress” and “Best Supporting Actress” awards is the colour white. 14% of winners throughout history have won in their categories while wearing it. A prime example is Audrey Hepburn, who wore a white Givenchy gown while winning her “Best Actress” award in 1954 for Roman Holiday. The actress later dubbed the dress her “lucky dress,” proving that sometimes you make your own luck.
For something to be lucky, there must be an absence of luck elsewhere. As opposed to the previous dress colours, purple is the unluckiest dress an actress nominated for “Best Actress” and “Best Supporting Actress” can wear. A mere 1.5% of winners in the last forty years of Oscars’s history have worn it while receiving their award. Of course, this is not a hard and fast rule. Natalie Portman won “Best Actress” while wearing the colour in 2011 for her role in Black Swan. A job well done is a job well done, and no dress colour could change that.
