Photos: Fairchild Archive (Rooney); courtesy of the designer
Since becoming the girl with the dragon tattoo, Rooney Mara has transformed from an unknown ingenue into one of the most talked about people on the red carpet. That won't be credential enough, however, to face sharing a Best Actress category with Meryl Streep at this year's Academy Awards. What Mara's really going to need is one helluva dress.
At once both hard and soft, quirky and refined, the actress's personal style seems to gravitate almost effortlessly toward fashion far left of most Hollywood starlets. She wore Givenchy Couture to the Dragon Tattoo premiere in December, for example (and nothing is more fashion with a capital F than Givenchy Couture).
Sheer panels, dramatic cutouts, heavy embellishment—all details Mara has favored since her sudden introduction to the award show circuit, and all of which converge on this stunning gown (above) from Elizabeth Fillmore's Fall 2012 collection.
With streams of sequins and beads that flow down the bodice and disappear into jagged tiers of tulle, Fillmore's gown rises to match Mara's air of mysterious glamour. Paired together at the Oscars, we think this actress-and-gown combo could even beat an iron lady. —Phillip B. Crook