The Worst-Dressed Celebrities At The 2026 Critics Choice Awards

The 2026 Critics Choice Awards on January 4 had the critics out in full force — fashion critics, that is. This year, the annual awards event that serves as an unofficial kickoff for awards season opted for a chic black carpet, rather than a traditional red one. Now, in hindsight, that one seemingly trivial decision may have proved to be a less elegant and more foreboding and ominous sign for all of the fashion disasters that would inevitably trample across it. And we're not just talking about comedian and reigning worst-dressed guest Megan Stalter and Paul W. Downs' hilarious, albeit painful, re-enactment of Kylie Jenner and Timothée Chalamet's matching monochromatic moment in a repulsive shade of vomit-inducing orange, à la the Los Angeles premiere of "Marty Supreme" in December 2025. (Now you know why Stalter has garnered spots on other worst-dressed lists, including the 2025 Emmys and the 2025 VMAs.)

Sadly, when the 2026 Critics Choice Awards honorees and attendees weren't halfheartedly serving up abysmal, unmemorable, yawn-inducing, poor excuses for a look, they were delivering out-of-season vibes and downright offending all five of our senses — much like the time Sarah Huckabee Sanders murdered our eyeballs in a neon dress that even the camera couldn't handle. Don't say we didn't warn you!

Wrong awards show?! A stone-faced Alicia Silverstone arrived on the red black carpet for the 31st annual Critics Choice Awards looking like an Oscar statuette. No, really. While draped in a bedazzled, silver metallic dress cinched in to the hilt at the waist, both onlookers and viewers at home couldn't help but be reminded of the other awards show's Academy Award of Merit. Sadly, Silverstone's stiff posing and frozen-looking facial expression certainly didn't help matters. Perhaps Silverstone needs to file for emancipation from this dress, just like she did from her parents. 

A raven-haired Kaley Cuoco raised eyebrows all up and down the 2026 Critics Choice Awards black carpet, cloaked in an all-black ensemble all the way from the top of her head to her toes. According to Cuoco, the dark, ominous look was completely intentional, as she was channeling her inner Jennifer Aniston circa the 2002 Golden Globes. "From the hair and makeup, to the suit and the jewels, we put our spin on it, but represented a look I always loved, worn by a woman who will always be iconic!" she gushed in an Instagram post. Sadly, for many, it was giving off more of a Wednesday Addams vibe than the legendary golden girl that is Aniston. Better luck next time, Cuoco.

A seemingly holidazed and confused Erin Foster showed up to the post-New Year's awards event wearing a vintage DKNY brown silk gown with a black halter that nearly vanished into the dark step-and-repeat backdrop and black carpet. Think: chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Suffice to say, the entire look was bizarre and notably unmemorable. "From the archives, as they say," she later wrote about the abysmal look in a post on her Instagram Story. As the old saying goes, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

Leighton Meester arrived at the 2026 Critics Choice Awards in a floral and lace, strapless lavender gown that screamed "SPRING HAS SPRUNG." Only awards season is perfectly timed to coincide with the most dreadful, dreariest, dead days of winter. Honestly, we wouldn't be surprised if Meester (aka Little Bunny Foofoo) had donned big floppy white ears on her head and hopped down the event's black carpet, leaving a trail of Skittles-flavored jelly beans in her wake. Taste the rainbow!

Speaking of the Easter bunny, British actor Erin Doherty turned up at the 31st annual Critics Choice Awards looking like a Fabergé egg. Suffice to say, Doherty's mint green and satin bauble-inspired gown completely clashed with the event's black carpet and stuck out like a sore thumb in a sea of the more muted colors the other guests were wearing. And we're not even gonna begin to discuss the logistics as it relates to sitting down in that nightmare of a dress. 

Down comforter meets fuzzy Barefoot Dreams bathrobe?! Actor Britt Lower arrived at the 31st annual Critics Choice Awards looking like she had just rolled out of bed. As one can imagine, the furry white shapeless garb did nothing for her figure, threatening to swallow her whole. One thing is for certain, the "Unforgettable" star's get-up was anything but unforgettable, albeit for all the wrong reasons. Sweet dreams, Lower!