Mr. Blackwell's Ten Worst Dressed Women - 1990s

1990s

Fashion designer Mr. Blackwell, of Beverly Hills, released a list of "fashion independents" on the second Tuesday of January every year. On the same day, he would release his list of the previous year's ten worst dressed women, along with caustic comments about why they were included.

1999

Blackwell released his 40th annual list in January, 2000. He also praised Oprah Winfrey, Barbra Streisand and others as "fabulous fashion independents" [ "Cher tops Blackwell's worst-dressed list," AP report in "Indiana (Pa.) Gazette", January 13, 2000, p24 (Blackwell had some nice comments for Barbra Streisand, Hallie Berry and Helen Mirren as "fabulous fashion independents") ]

* 1. Cher ("A million beads and ONE over-exposed derrière--when it comes to the ultimate fashion fiasco...ladies and gentlemen, it's Cher!")
* 2. Celine Dion ("In her backward tuxedo there's no way of knowing whether Diva Dion is coming or going - a profusion of confusion.")
* 3. Queen Elizabeth II ("Was she the palace Christmas tree or just a royal clown? I've seen a lot of queens, but Queen Elizabeth is the worst!")
* 4. Martha Stewart ("She dresses like the centerfold for the Farmer's Almanac.")
* 5. Fiona Apple ("A kinked and curled Kewpie Doll wrapped in a collection of yesterday's fatal fashion frights.")
* 6. Britney Spears ("This belly-baring songbird is better heard than seen - wearing over the top fashion flops unfit even for a bubblegum queen.")
* 7. Sarah Jessica Parker ("From "Sex and the City" Sarah's fashions are a mix-and-match pity.")
* 8. Jennifer Aniston ("She's a fashion bore and a snore. Here's the fashion buzz: Brad Pitt looks better in a dress than she does!")
* 9. Cameron Diaz ("On "Any Given Sunday" Cameron falls prey to a freaky fashion curse - and as the week continues, she just slips from bad to worse.")
* 10. The Dixie Chicks ("They look like a trio of truckstop fashion tragedies trapped in a typhoon...tacky, tacky, tacky.")

1998

Released from his Beverly Hills home, Blackwell's list was headed by Linda Tripp, whose secret recordings of Monica Lewinsky led to President Clinton's impeachment, and Blackwell's sarcastic comment that she was "everyone's favorite best friend". [ "Linda Tripp leads list of worst-dressed women," Daily Herald (Chicago) Jan. 13, 1999, p2 ]
* 1. Linda Tripp ("Linda's bad fashion 'tripp' is beyond debate - a shaggy sheepdog in drag, the 'Starr' of her own Stylegate.")
* 2. Madonna ("Mama Madonna has become a neo-Gothic fright - a glitzy gargoyle searching for a "Ray of Fashion Light.")
* 3. Kate Winslet ("From gaudy gowns to creepy combat boots, Kate's a fashion panic - in fact, her whole wardrobe should have gone down with the Titanic.")
* 4. Carmen Electra ("Fashion Viagra in heels.")
* 5. Courtney Love ("Looks more like cold cuts and Spam than the goddess of glam.")
* 6. Mariah Carey ("Shrink-wrapped cheesecake.")
* 7. Marisa Tomei ("The high priestess of fashion pretense.")
* 8. Sigourney Weaver ("If you are looking for an "Alien", call Sigourney.")
* 9. Sandra Bullock ("A Victorian lampshade on the loose.")
* 10. Alex Kingston ("She mixed, she matched...she missed.")

1997

On the list released January 13, 1998, the entire Spice Girls band was at the top. [ "Mr. Blackwell unveils '97 worst-dressed honors," "Daily Herald" (Chicago), January 14, 1998, p2 ]
* 1. The Spice Girls ("Five candy-colored beauties trapped in fashion waste - the only spices on the planet that have no taste.")
* 2. Ellen DeGeneres ("Throw those baggy fashion bombs back in the closet.")
* 3. Madonna ("Let's be blunt, yesterday's Evita is today's Velveeta.")
* 4. Pamela Anderson ("Looks like a Martian Venus - in search of a shell.")
* 5. Jennifer Tilly ("Tilly the tornado has arrived - she's El Niño in heels.")
* 6. Sigourney Weaver ("Resembles a shrink-wrapped mummy...in a peep-show revue.")
* 7. Emma Thompson ("She's wearing "The Remains of Yesterday"!")
* 8. Alicia Silverstone ("Has a collection of retro rubbish from toes to nose.")
* 9. Frances Fisher ("Her flowered fiascoes are so loud they could cause an international panic.")
* 10. Marilyn Manson ("He looks like Alice Cooper doing "Rosemary's Baby".")

1996

Cross-dressing Chicago Bulls star Dennis Rodman was Blackwell's choice for the worst-dressed woman of 1996. Rodman was the third man to make the list; Howard Stern and Milton Berle had preceded him. [ "Dennis just a menace to fashion world," "Daily Herald" (Chicago) Jan. 15, 1997, p2 ]

* 1. Dennis Rodman ("The Fashion Menace may be the Bad Boy of basketball-- but in fishnet and feathers he's a unisex wreck")
* 2. Glenn Close who played Cruella DeVille in the remake of 101 Dalmatians ("Forget the Dalmatians-- Glenn should be starring in '101 Fashion Frustrations,' it's doggone depressing."
* 3. Lisa Kudrow from "Friends" ("Television's 'Friend' is Fashion's Foe. When it comes to couture, she's a cavalcade of fashion woe.")
* 4. Helen Hunt from "Mad About You" and "Twister" ("A 'Twister' has hit her. In those cut-out catastrophes and peek-a-boo dreck, the Diva of Fashion Disaster resembles a twisted wreck.")
* 5. Goldie Hawn and Diane Keaton, co-stars of "The First Wives Club". "Tinsel Town's Twin Titans of Tacky Taste Strike Again. Is it campy camouflage or self-sabotage?"
* 6. Sarah, Duchess of York ("looks like an unemployed barmaid in search of a crown")
* 7. Elisabeth Shue
* 8. Drew Barrymore
* 9. Claire Danes
* 10. Lori Petty

1995

Shock jock Howard Stern headed Blackwell's list as the worst dressed woman of 1995 [ "Stern voted 'worst dressed woman'", "Galveston Daily News", January 10, 1996, p2 ]
* 1. Howard Stern ("Let's face it. Howard's 'Miss America' drag looks like Godzilla impersonating Gypsy Rose Lee.")
* 2. Courtney Love
* 3. Drew Barrymore
* 4. Whoopi Goldberg
* 5. Diane Keaton
* 6. Camilla Parker Bowles
* 7. Emma Thompson
* 8. Jennifer Jason Leigh
* 9. Melissa Etheridge
* 10. Christina Applegate

1994

The sweetheart (and future wife) of Britain's Prince Charles headed the list released January 11, 1995. [ "Parker Bowles tops 'worst' list," "Stars And Stripes" (European Edition), Jan. 12, 1995, p15 ]
* 1. Camilla Parker Bowles ("She looked in a mirror and watched it crack.")
* 2. Demi Moore
* 3. Heather Locklear
* 4. Roseanne Barr
* 5. Ellen DeGeneres
* 6. Barbara Cartland
* 7. Holly Hunter
* 8. Juliette Lewis
* 9. Fran Drescher
* 10. Madonna

1993

Actress Glenn Close, who had starred in the musical "Sunset Boulevard", topped the list [ "Wednesday's Newsmakers," "The Valley Independent" (Monessen, PA), p2 ]
* 1. Glenn Close ("Forget 'Sunset Boulevard'. Glenn's taken a detour down 'Nightmare Alley'")
* 2. Julia Roberts
* 3. Diana Ross
* 4. Rosie Perez
* 5. Susan Sarandon
* 6. LaToya Jackson
* 7. Holly Hunter
* 8. Rosie O'Donnell
* 9. Tanya Tucker
* 10. Daryl Hannah

1992

Diva Madonna topped the list released January 13, 1993 [ "Not so glamorous," "Syracuse Herald Journal", Jan. 14, 1993 pC2 ]
* 1. Madonna ("The bare-bottomed bore of Babylon")
* 2. Geena Davis
* 3. Glenn Close
* 4. Delta Burke
* 5. Sinéad O'Connor
* 6. Shirley MacLaine
* 7. Juliette Lewis
* 8. Demi Moore
* 9. Goldie Hawn
* 10. LaToya Jackson

1991

At the time of the release of Blackwell's 33rd list, actress Julia Roberts had played the role of Tinkerbell in "Hook". [ "Roberts named worst dressed," "Frederick (Md.) Post", Jan. 15, 1992 ]
* 1. Julia Roberts ("This tacky Tinkerbell from fashion Neverland is a number one hymn to homespun horror.")
* 2. Wynonna Judd
* 3. Delta Burke
* 4. Tyne Daly
* 5. Jodie Foster
* 6. Carly Simon
* 7. Faye Dunaway
* 8. Kathy Bates
* 9. Jane Seymour (actress)
* 10. Dame Edna Everage

1990

[ "Syracuse Herald Journal", Jan. 3, 1992 ]
* 1. Sinéad O'Connor ("Nothing compares to the bald-headed banshee of MTV. A New Age nightmare!")
* 2. Ivana Trump ("A psychedelic scarecrow! Looks like a cross between Brigitte Bardot and Lassie!")
* 3. Glenn Close ("The founding frump of Nuns Unlimited! A bad fashion 'habit'!")
* 4. Princess Margaret ("God save the mothballs; the Stonehenge of style strikes again!")
* 5. Julia Roberts ("A zoot-suit fluke - "Godfather III" in drag!")
* 6. Carrie Fisher ("Postcards from the Edge"? Sorry baby - more like Discards from the Dredge!")
* 7. Kim Basinger ("Barbie goes punk - all crass, no class!")
* 8. Laura Dern ("A vision of lust in rags fit for a truck stop!")
* 9. Kathy Bates ("Get the sledgehammer. Put this fashion fiasco out of her "Misery"!")
* 10. Barbra Streisand ("What can I say? "Yentl" 's gone mental!")

References