As much as we love the pomp and circumstance of the Oscars, it's rarely the most surprising red carpet. You can count on your standard couture mixed in with a heavy dose of Marchesa and the occasional surprise from the likes of rule-breakers like Tilda Swinton and Helena Bonham Carter. But tonight, we jumped out of our seats when we saw — wait for it — Helen Hunt!
Her strapless purple dress looked like standard fare, until we found out it was from H&M. Yeah, that's right. The same H&M that just moved into your local mall. The same H&M where you got those ten T-shirts for $5. Granted, it was custom couture and she was dripping with $700,000 worth of diamonds, but that's still a lower total budget than most people on the carpet tonight.
Usually, when you hear about relatable dressing in Hollywood, it means somebody's worn the same multi-thousand dollar designer dress on more than one occasion, cutting cost per wear in half. But this is a whole new level of economy — a surprise, but a very pleasant one! Although, we are dying to know if she borrowed or bought this number.
Photo: Courtesy of Great Press.