It's biggest fashion runway in the world - the Oscar red carpet. And on Sunday night, the stars did not disappoint.

Sandra Bullock went backless in black and white.

Gwyneth Paltrow made an elegant entry in an off-white Tom Ford ensemble with cape.

(SOUNDBITE) (English), HAL RUBENSTEIN, FASHION DIRECTOR OF "IN STYLE" MAGAZINE, SAYING:

"It was a good night, it was a really good night. I thought Gwyneth looked statuesque and extraordinary. Jennifer Lopez gave people exactly what they wanted as a movie star. And then there was a personal best like Octavia Spencer. It was a real sense of refinement and elegance for the evening as opposed to that sort of overt va-va-voom glamour except for maybe Jennifer."

Angelina Jolie rocked the carpet - fearlessly posing in a thigh-high cut Versace velvet dress.

Viola Davis made her entrance in an emerald green Vera Wang, while Glenn Close chose a similar hue by designer Zac Posen.

For Meryl Streep it was all Oscar gold in her Lanvin gown.

(SOUNDBITE) (English), HAL RUBENSTEIN, FASHION DIRECTOR OF "IN STYLE" MAGAZINE, SAYING:

"And you know Meryl usually, there's always a certain reticence I think on her part when she does the red carpet she always seems to be hiding her body, and this was the one night when she didn't. And she looked glamorous, it's not a word you would always associate with Meryl Streep."

For Cameron Diaz, it was figure-hugging Gucci.

But not all the focus was on the women on the red carpet: Sacha Baron Cohen stole the show when he appeared dressed as his upcoming character in "The Dictator."

Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters.