Perhaps it was the absence of fashion talk on the red carpet – ABC’s Robin Roberts went “off protocol” just once to ask Cate Blanchett about her dress without mention of the designer (Armani) and jewels (Tiffany) – or the general tendency to play it safe, but the fashion buzz at the 88^th Academy Awards on Sunday felt decidedly subdued.

Which is unfortunate. The Academy Awards provide an opportunity to make a powerful fashion statement to the world. For actors – both male and female alike – fashion choices can become the stuff of Hollywood legends. Think Cher’s Bob Mackie dress in 1986 and Sharon Stone’s daring choice to wear a black Gap turtleneck – to name some of the more obvious ones – or Grace Kelly’s beautiful French Satin Edith Head gown in 1955.

For fashion houses, the red carpet can be as powerful as the runway. The right dress on the right celebrity is the equivalent of a marketing bonanza, exacerbated in recent years by social media. It’s no surprise that designers and jewelers are clamoring to dress attendees and that the designer-stylist relationship has become an important facet of the fashion system.

That’s not to say that all the clothes lacked luster. Call us biased, but we loved the strong representation of American designers on the red carpet. The highlights: Saorsie Ronan in Calvin Klein Collection by Francisco Costa; Margot Robbie in Tom Ford, Kate Winslet in Ralph Lauren Collection, Diane Kruger in Reem Acra; Sofia Vergara in Marchesa by Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig, and Lorraine Schwartz jewelry; Chrissy Teigen in Marchesa;  Sarah Silverman in Zac Posen; Maria Menounos in Christian Siriano;  Megalyn Echikunwoke in Prabal Gurung, and Adapero Odiye in Sophie Theallet.

And although he is not a CFDA Member (yet), emerging designer Brandon Maxwell, who hails from Texas, sent a refreshing signal that there is more to the red carpet than  princess/mermaid silhouettes. Maxwell’s bustier trouser-skirt design hit just the right note for Lady Gaga.