Editor’s Note: Delving into the archives of pop culture history, “Remember When?” is a CNN Style series offering a nostalgic look at the celebrity outfits that defined their eras.
CNN
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Remember when Angelina Jolie’s right leg became a viral sensation?
It was 2012, and the actress arrived at the 84th Academy Awards in a strapless black velvet dress by Atelier Versace. But this was no ordinary gown: It bore a daring thigh slit — one so high that it artfully unveiled just about the entirety of Jolie’s right leg as she posed confidently for the cameras, one hand firmly planted on her hip.
Jolie, then 36, was already a red-carpet fixture. But the moment catapulted her into the viral stratosphere, sparking media fanfare, a string of memes and even social media accounts dedicated entirely to “the right leg.”
It wasn’t just her thigh that stole the spotlight that evening, though. Amid the sea of pristine white gowns worn by fellow attendees like Gwyneth Paltrow and Milla Jovovich, Jolie stood out in black. It was a striking departure from the icy palette that prevailed at that year’s Oscars — ironic, given that she’d helped spark the trend by wearing a sumptuous satin white satin Versace creation to the Golden Globes a month earlier.
In the room, Jolie’s on-stage leg reveal — while presenting the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay — was well-received, prompting imitations by the award’s winners Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (for “The Descendants”). Rash told reporters backstage that it was not a mockery but a “loving tribute.”
Jolie’s Oscars gown was praised widely in the fashion press, with The New Yorker’s Judith Thurman crowning her as the evening’s “best-dressed” for baring her “to die for”…
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