The Academy Awards are widely regarded as the biggest, most glamorous awards show of the year, but over the last decade, the most high-profile Hollywood red carpet has become increasingly boring and safe. It's hard to imagine a time when the Oscars wasn't all strapless solids and big barrel waves, but I promise it existed!

Björk's incredible swan dress didn't happen at the Grammys -- she wore it to the Oscars. Before Angelina Jolie was a UN ambassador, she was channeling Morticia Addams on the Oscars red carpet. And Cher wore THIS during the Reagan administration.

So, when did the Oscars get so boring? Well, the exact time of the switch is unknown, but the change has been incited by a combination of things: the rise of celebrity stylists -- many of whom have multiple Hollywood clients -- plus the pressure to stay off the "Worst Dressed" list and not to have your outfit turned into a meme by Twitter and Tumblr and Reddit. The result has been years of safe, homogenous, and largely forgettable ensembles.

The one silver lining in our future? Lady Gaga will be back at the Oscars this year.

Unless, of course, she plays it safe, too. ?