Great Outfits in Fashion History: Gugu Mbatha-Raw in an Updated Oscar de la Renta LBD

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Open for a surprise.

There are perfectly good celebrity style moments, and then there are the looks that really stick with you, the ones you try desperately to recreate at home. In 'Great Outfits in Fashion History,' Fashionista editors are revisiting their all-time favorite lewks.

Throughout her career, Gugu Mbatha-Raw has been consistent on the red carpet: always elegant, always forward-thinking. If you look at her style record, she's fond of classic silhouettes — think column gowns, sharp suiting, fit-and-flare dresses — that have been updated with bold embellishments or striking color palettes, so that they feel modern and exciting.

Take the Oscar de la Renta LBD she wore to the 2018 Directors Guild Of America Awards. It's from early in the Fernando García/Laura Kim era, which Mbatha-Raw has supported from the get-go. (She wore a fully sequined ankle-length gown from their debut collection to the L.A. premiere of "Beauty and the Beast" the year prior.) The strapless dress was embellished with black sequins that build as you make your way down the skirt, like a barely-perceptible gradient. Then, along the curved high-low hemline, there are strings of blue beads that hang almost like rain drops or icicles — an unexpected but beautiful touch.

Before this particular red carpet, Mbatha-Raw had worn Oscar de la Renta to events like the British Independent Film Awards and the Governors Awards — both in 2014, both elegant, high-neck, knee-length dresses — so the actor's relationship with the house goes way back. Now that she'll be promoting "Loki," hopefully we'll be seeing a lot more of her and her style, even if it's through Zoom.

Shop fancy party dresses inspired by this Mbatha-Raw look in the gallery, below.

<p>Oscar de la Renta Fringed Bead-embellished Wool-blend Crepe Mini Dress, $1,398 (from $3,990), <a href="https://rstyle.me/+Zv2TwKifAiBKl-83MewD4Q" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:available here;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">available here</a> (sizes US 2-12).</p>

Oscar de la Renta Fringed Bead-embellished Wool-blend Crepe Mini Dress, $1,398 (from $3,990), available here (sizes US 2-12).

View the 4 images of this gallery on the original article

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