American actress Julia Roberts wore a black and white Valentino dress to the 73rd Academy Awards on March 25, 2001, during which she won the Academy Award for her performance in Erin Brockovich. The dress was floor-length, with a black body. A single white stripe ran down the front of the dress, splitting into a Y-shape at the bust to form a pair of straps. In the back, the dress fanned out into a black tulle train with several more white stripes running down it.[1]
Widely praised by fashion critics, a poll by Debenhams, published in The Daily Telegraph, voted it the "third most iconic red carpet dress of all time".[2] The dress was a vintage 1992 design from the Valentino archives,[3] intended to evoke the style of classic Hollywood; Valentino had designed for prominent fashion icons such as Jackie Kennedy and Elizabeth Taylor.[4]