For the 71st "Academy Awards" in 1999 when Paltrow won Best Actress for her performance in "Shakespeare in Love," she wore a simple ballerina bun with a deep side part. The look was classic and elegant -- everything a leading actress should be.
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Angelina Jolie
Soft, romantic curls were a huge trend on the red carpet in 2009, but Jolie, nominated for Best Actress for her performance in "Changeling," stole the show wearing them in a half-updo alongside Brad Pitt. The two strutted down the red carpet like Hollywood royalty prompting jaw drops and "Jen, who?"s heard 'round the world.
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Julia Roberts
Talk about old Hollywood glamour, Roberts stunned at the 73rd Annual "Academy Awards" in 2001 when she wore a vintage Valentino gown and a hairstyle so structured and elegant it made everyone else on the red carpet look like a schlub. She won Best Actress for her hard work in "Erin Brokovich" that year along with our vote for best hairstyle.
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Kate Winslet
In 2008, Winslet wore a seriously sculptured wavy hair roll reminiscent of the '40s when stars like Katharine Hepburn reigned as queen. The old-school glamorous hairstyle coupled with the modern neckline of her dress was a winner, just like Kate was that night for her Best Actress performance in "The Reader."
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Marion Cotillard
Having brilliantly played Edith Piaf (strange eyebrows and all), Best Actress winner Cotillard was truly the belle of the ball in 2007 where she showed off soft, side-swept curls. There is a reason American women secretly want to be French, and we don't think it's just because they don�t get fat.
We've heard through the celebrity hairstylist and makeup artist grapevine that before factoring in skin care, Botox, or manicures, it usually takes about three hours for a female nominee or presenter to get ready for the Oscars.
That is some serious "this could be my career-defining moment"-hair and makeup Oscar prep time.
And it's time well spent, as the "Academy Awards" ceremony is arguably the most prominent awards show. Broadcasting live in more than 200 countries, it makes sense celebrities spend the better half of the day primping -- there's a whole lot of people judging their chignons.
So what do all of these countless hours of hairstyling actually do for these celebrities? It makes or breaks their livelihood. OK, not really. But bad celebrity hairstyles make big news come Monday morning. (Remember the 2000 Oscars when Angelina wore an Elvira-inspired hairstyle or when Jennifer Lopez in 2002 thought that huge bouffant was a good idea?)
On the other hand, if an actress wears a pretty, yet subdued style, it usually goes unnoticed. But sometimes, just sometimes, a celebrity hairstyle is so perfect, so gorgeous, so Oscar-worthy itself that it gets just as much water cooler time as the awful dresses or horrid hairstyles.
