In making our list of the Best Dressed of 2013, we try to hit every category that stood out this year: the red-carpet queen, the enfant terrible, the aristo-boho, the rule-breaker, the sultry French girl. We’ve got our bases covered—it’s up to you whose style you aspire toward.
Cate Blanchett
No matter the occasion, the Blue Jasmine star greets the red carpet triumphant, always nailing the daunting combination of fashion-forward and timeless elegance.
Rihanna
The pop queen is a sartorial volcano liable to erupt at any moment in the most fabulous anytime-anywhere ensembles imaginable. She laughs at the phrase dress code, opting for maned and sequined Tom Ford or printed Christopher Kane sweats for a sidewalk jaunt.
Léa Seydoux
The young star of Blue Is the Warmest Color possesses that unnamable Gallic je ne sais quoi in both her performances and her offscreen style. She adds insouciance to Louis Vuitton sequins and meets President Hollande with a scarf artfully knotted at her neck.
Cara Delevingne
Fashion’s enfant terrible is more Terry Richardson than the models he shoots when it comes to her off-the-runway ensembles. No sleek monochrome or doleful pouts here, the cheeky model of the moment puts the belle in rebel.
Kerry Washington
The Scandal star is the way American women dream of dressing. Whether in flirty little frocks or romantic red-carpet confections, she is every woman’s aspirational ideal.
Of course Best Dressed of 2013 is about looking back but it’s also about looking ahead and as 2014 rolls in, it’s these ten women who we’ll have our eye on. Get ready to watch them on red carpets, sidewalks and silver screens the world over.
Lupita Nyong’o
She stole every red-carpet heart this fall with her clean silhouettes, close-cropped coif and ear-to-ear smile. The 12 Years a Slave star brought the same radiance and poise to her wardrobe as her Golden Globe–nominated performance.
Adèle Exarchopoulos
No one does hot mess quite like the French and Blue Is the Warmest Color’s brilliant star is this year’s sultriest export. With morning-after hair and the most voluptuous pout it’s no wonder she steals Léa Seydoux’s heart in the film.
Ciara
Not every pop princess could ricochet from a wide-leg Calvin Klein Collection tuxedo one night to wool bouclé Carven the next. Taken under Riccardo Tisci’s wing, the R&B star is at her coolest in head-to-toe Givenchy, but is fine-feathered no matter what she wears.
Iggy Azalea
A very different Iggy showed up at the Chloé spring 2014 show this fall―all buttoned-up pastels, it was a far cry from the foul-mouthed, take-no-prisoners rapper fans see onstage, proving that her sartorial range is as impressive as her music.
Kiernan Shipka
Little Sally Draper is all grown-up―almost! The fourteen-year-old actress hits the perfect note of fashion forward and age-appropriate; with pretty princess lines and embellished details, she is a consistent straight-A student on the red carpet, and, we hope, in the classroom.