Flashback: Emmys 2009

Kyra Sedgwick

This is quite an Easter egg of a dress -- in the actual Fancy Pastel sense, not the "hidden objects that have meaning to fans" sense.

Marcia Gay Harden

That's fabulous on her and this photo cracks me up, because she looks like she's having NONE OF IT.

Christina Hendricks

I look back and I STILL want to scream on her behalf at the way people treated dressing her as if it were an insurmountable challenge. Look at this lovely person and tell me it's that hard, people. I wish this fit a bit better, but she's a damn fox in it anyway.

Christina Applegate

This looks like it was draped on the fly.

Mindy Kaling

Out of all the 2009 flashback posts we've done, Mindy's makeup looks the best in this one, FINALLY. I like the dress, too. And please behold the BRACELETS. She knew.

Sarah Silverman

This looks like a very limp period costume.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Fabulous, as always.

Vanessa Williams

I'll say it again: COME BACK TO TV, VANESSA. We'll find you a bitchy, soapy part. Your eyebrow-raising skills must not be wasted.

Victoria Rowell

This really does look like a souvenir blanket she bought on Etsy.

Mary Louise Parker

She was nominated for Weeds (she lost to Toni Collette, whose photo I don't have for some reason). This might have worked better if it were floor-length.

Padma Lakshmi

I believe here her cleavage has won first prize somewhere.

Ginnifer Goodwin

I didn't really like this at the time. My heart has softened.

Mila Kunis

There's a shadow in this photo that makes it look like she's wearing a choker; thankfully that doesn't seem to be the case. This is fine, but I feel like... the role of this person in this basic dress soon thereafter was handed to Sarah Hyland.

Sigourney Weaver

Yes MA'AM.

Hayden Panettiere

She is so talented, and I always worry about her. The dress is a jumble, but I'd take it in exchange for her being back on my TV and happy.

Carrie Preston

She looks phenomenal.

Cobie Smulders

Interestingly, we just featured her in a red dress that ALSO needed a hoik. But not as badly as this one does.

Jennifer Morrison

Oh, girl. We didn't know the years of bad outfits we had ahead of us. GOOD TIMES.

Blake and Leighton

A classic! We have Leighton Meester wearing a WHOLE LOT more makeup than she needs, in a dress that looks like she used bedsheets to try and make a flotation aid, and we have Blake Lively doing such strong Boobs Legsly that we can actually SEE the thread that's purporting to hold her skirt together.

Kim Kardashian

Kim was having a hard time peering out under the weight of her eyelashes, but let's admit it: The dress works, and if she wore it now, we'd be like, "IT'S A BREAKTHROUGH."

January Jones

Betty Draper's art-deco bodice is cool, but this ALSO needs a hoik, and perhaps a necklace.

Olivia Wilde

Was this the year she turned up first to everything? I believe it was, and I thought to myself, "I would bet a bean that this is Marchesa," and it IS, so hooray, I get to keep both my kids.

Sandra Oh

Don't you sometimes wish you could reach through the screen and be like, "Psst, Sandra, in 2019 you will be the toast of the town again."

Rose Byrne in Valentino

I was going to guess Elie Saab for this one; I would have been wrong. She was there for Damages. Little did I know how funny she is. I would tell 2009 Rose Byrne that she's going to be GREAT in Spy.

Holly Hunter

She looks great in that, and probably could and would still wear it today.

Kate Walsh

Ah, Addison Montgomery. This dress's side draping ended up looking odder in motion. This is making me miss classic Grey's.

Drew Barrymore

Drew was there for Grey Gardens, and needs a major necklace IMMEDIATELY (ten years ago). Someone remedy that! It's never too late.

Chloe Sevigny

I love this -- it's one of my favorite things she's ever worn. And while that may be some slim competition, the fact remains that the dots over the gentle yellow sheath are great. Linings: THEY WORK.