The Emmy Awards kick off this Sunday, and you can bet the web will be in a frenzied state of analysis come Monday morning, obsessively scrutinizing every fashion hit and miss. That’s the thing about awards season, though—often we’re so busy studying the most extreme celebrity looks that we tend to disregard several deserving dresses that carry serious fashion cred, looked amazing on a lesser-known star, or simply just fell through the cracks because other starlets stole focus with their more divisive choices.
Take “Mad Men” actress Kiernan Shipka as an example: In 2013 she wore a fresh-off-the-runway floral embellished gown from Spanish label Delpozo’s Spring 2014 collection. It didn’t really warrant a second look from the mainstream media—Shipka was just 13 at the time—but fashion insiders instantly recognized it as the brand’s key piece from its spring runway.
MORE: See the Full List of 2015 Emmy Nominees
Then there’s Jennifer Aniston, who wore a strapless lipstick-red Prada column dress back in 2000. At the time, the pared-back choice was relatively boring when compared to the general red carpet mood of the early 2000s—Sarah Jessica Parker famously wore a pink feathered Oscar de la Renta dress the same year, for example. With the benefit of hindsight, we now see that dress was Aniston’s way of notifying the world of her now-signature minimalist aesthetic.
That’s not all, of course: We found 20 incredible Emmy Awards dresses that deserve way more attention than they got. Click through the gallery to see them all, and let us know if you agree with our picks.
