Style Evolution: Nicole Kidman

It's hard to believe that superstar Nicole Kidman labored through seven years of obscurity before she hit the big-time -- and a romance with Tom Cruise -- in 1990's "Days of Thunder." But the same can be said of her fashion sense. Once the poster child for the garden-geek look, the 5-foot-10-inch Kidman has blossomed into one of the most sure-footed fashion icons of the decade, a woman who looks as polished in a pair of jeans as she does in Chanel couture. Click on for a glimpse into her style evolution.

Barry King, WireImage | Dimitrios Kambouris, WireImage for Glamour

Kidman told Glamour magazine in 2008 that when she was married to superstar Tom Cruise, she felt it was her job to fade into the background. Perhaps that explains the wallflower look she picked for the 1992 ceremony adding Cruise's hand and footprints to the famed Mann's Chinese Theater "Forecourt of the Stars."

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Nic's first red carpet step towards fashion stardom was the stunning who's-a-wallflower-now Dior gown that she wore to the The 69th Annual Academy Awards in 1997 when she literally and figuratively towered over Tom.

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Kidman had our eyes wide open when she wore this daring maroon two-piece to the 1999 premiere of Eyes Wide Shut, the controversial film she co-starred in with Cruise. Perhaps some things -- like Nicole's ribs and the Cruises a deux -- are better left to the imagination?

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Lest anyone doubt she has the tiniest waist (and the tightest forehead) on the planet, Kidman bared her belly (and her widow's peak) at the 2000 premiere of Cruise's thriller, Mission: Impossible 2.

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After ten years together, Nicole and Tom filed for divorce in 2001. That summer, a newly single Kidman ooo-la-la-ed in a can-can inspired Tom Ford dress at the Cannes Film Festival premiere of Moulin Rouge.

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She didn't win a statuette, but Kidman, a Best-Actress nominee in 2002 for her performance in Moulin Rouge, glowed as she walked the Oscar red carpet in a tiered pale pink Chanel Couture gown

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In 2003, Nic took home a boatload of awards for her Virginia Wolff role in "The Hours'' -- and just as many fashion plaudits for her turns on the red carpet. To accept her Best Actress Golden Globe, she chose an asymmetric Tom Ford for Yves Saint Laurent dress, and then upped the edginess quotient in the strappy black Jean-Paul Gaultier that she wore to the Oscars.

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Just when she had you thinking she was the ultimate ruffles-and-flourishes gal, Kidman donned a dapper metallic tux for the New York premiere of her 2003 film, "The Human Stain."

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For the 2003 Cannes premiere of Dogville Kidman lit up the red carpet in this bright Christian Lacroix for Emilio Pucci gown, coordinated with multi-colored jewels.

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