A million years ago, I was hired as a model to try on clothes for a runway show that would feature famous red carpet gowns passed over to the Academy of Motion Pictures. Deep within the vaults of a building in Hollywood, there lives nearly every iconic gown to have ever graced the red carpet, from Renee Zellweger’s 2001 canary yellow Jean Deesès dress (incredibly tiny) to a purple Cher number from the ‘80s (complete with headdress). Whatever the gown, the reason it was selected for the archives was because it was iconic. They took risks, and they were handsomely rewarded in the currency that runs Hollywood — attention.

Last year, pastels were trending – Lupita Nyong’o’s baby blue gown with a plunging neckline taking the absolute cake. Gold and glitter abounded, worn by the likes of everyone from Angelina Jolie to Cate Blanchett. I can see this Kay Unger Sequin Animal cocktail dress perfectly pairing with those style icons. Of course traditional black, classic gowns akin to this Jay Godfrey Rutherford Gown had their own moments as well (Charlize Theron maintained her bombshell status in a Dior couture dress). And though hard to predict just precisely which way award season fashion will go this year, the red carpet often looks to the runways for inspiration, meaning perhaps we’ll have more voluminous a-shaped gowns like this Raoul Audrey pleated dress along with ‘70s-influenced sillhouettes, and maybe, just maybe-, a little risque leather.

Inspire us, Hollywood. We dare you.