The Most Outdated Outfits Nicole Kidman Has Ever Worn

Iconic actor Nicole Kidman has done more than make a name for herself in the film industry. From career-defining projects like "Practical Magic" and "Eyes Wide Shut" to current buzz-generators like "Babygirl," she's basically enthroned herself in the ranks of Hollywood royalty. Still, it's hard to believe that Kidman has been appearing in major movies for decades now — after all, she's one of those famous older women who never seem to age. This status is only helped by Kidman's ongoing interest in fashion, which allows the star to dip her toe in aesthetics from the alluring to the elegant.

Of course, with years of life spent in the public eye, Kidman has also displayed some flops and even landed on lists like the worst-dressed celebs in Oscars history. It's no wonder that the "Cold Mountain" actor is famously critical of cutthroat fashion round-ups. "I'm not a fan of 'Worst Dressed' things because I don't believe in crucifying people for their individual [taste]," she told PORTER in 2017.

Honestly, we love that Kidman's flair for fashion isn't constrained by public opinion. However, even the most self-confident and boundary-pushing fashionista sometimes gets tripped up — not just by experimentation but also by style trends destined to fall by the wayside. From frumpy blazers to poorly styled necklines, Kidman has worn some outdated fashions that were unfortunate products of their time.

Styled well, a pantsuit transcends come-and-go fashion fads, but when styled wrong, a pantsuit can give instantly outdated vibes. Unfortunately, Nicole Kidman stumbled into the latter situation when she attended the 1992 Hollywood premiere of "Year of the Comet" with then-husband Tom Cruise. The Australian bombshell chose a navy-blue blazer with chunky piping at the collar and pockets and paired it with loose and forgettable cream slacks. This silhouette was fairly common at the time, but did nothing for Kidman. Even wearing her golden curls wild and loose only underscored the stiffness of her outfit.

When Tom Cruise embedded his handprints and footprints outside Mann's Chinese Theatre in 1993, Nicole Kidman was right at his side. But the "Batman Forever" star was also strangely dressed for the momentous occasion, arriving in a ditsy floral maxi dress, strappy white flats, and a straw hat over braided pigtails. While hats and florals certainly had their time in the sun during the early '90s, the whole look still seemed out of step, serving more "Anne of Green Gables" vibes than era-appropriate red-carpet glamor.

The thought process behind Nicole Kidman's Roaring '20s-inspired look at the 2004 Golden Globes was good: Who doesn't love a riff on flapper-chic style? However, a lack of reinterpretation and modernity ultimately dated the 'fit. The modest hemline, dropped waist, and cutesy headband were all on the nose for 1920s style, lacking fresh perspective or risk-taking. Even the gown's one truly daring feature — its would-be plunging neckline — was undercut by the addition of gauzy fabric. Did Kidman look good? Of course — she's gorgeous. But this ensemble would better suit a fancy Halloween party than an awards show.

The popularity of statement necklaces waxes and wanes, but there's a limit to their versatility, even when they're in vogue. Sadly, it seems that Nicole Kidman doesn't know where the line is. At the 2011 Screen Actors Guild Awards, Kidman bafflingly chose to cram a heavy statement necklace on top of her ruffed lace neckline, ruining the intended design of the dress. Worse yet, the style and color scheme of the floral jewelry had nothing to do with the rest of her aesthetic, making it a jarring and childlike add-on.

Remember when cold-shoulder styles were absolutely everywhere? Nicole Kidman does, as shown in her dress at the 2011 BMI Country Awards. The "Moulin Rouge" actor attended the event in a Stella McCartney gown that already had a lot to say with its busy, red-and-white pattern. A print like that calls for a simple silhouette, but Kidman's dress instead incorporated a wacky and swooping cold-shoulder neckline that left one arm fully sleeved and the other completely bare, only adding to the look's visual chaos.

We're betting that Nicole Kidman was going for demure and understated when she debuted an Erdem dress at the 2015 Women of the Year Awards, but the garment's eye-boggling design instead landed somewhere between prairie housewife and Victorian ghost. Lace may be a perennial favorite of TikTok's coquette fashion trend, but it didn't work here. The relentless texture of the layered lace was worsened by unnecessarily complicated patterning, and the outfit's color scheme — black, white, gray, and yellow? — just added more noise to the cacophony. 

Nicole Kidman's Gucci gown at the 2016 Screen Actors Guild Awards gave us major flashbacks to the early Noughties. From the pink-and-purple color scheme to the fabric's glittery finish and inexplicable black piping, this pastel overload served a brand of nostalgia that seemed out of step with the black-tie event. It felt like a barely grown-up take on Hannah Montana's wardrobe or a sartorial rendering of a sparkly Caboodles makeup case — neither of which would have been fashion-forward in 2016, much less today.