Chloë Sevigny

"I'm just this girl from Connecticut, very plain looking," indie darling and Oscar nominee Chloë Sevigny has demurred. Many would beg to differ, including those who put together Vogue's Best-Dressed List: The oval-faced actress with the endless legs has earned a spot two years running. When Jay McInerney hailed Sevigny as "the It girl for the nineties" a decade ago, she was still in shell suit-and-skater mode. These days, the vintage-clothing fan prefers Lanvin and YSL for her red carpet appearances. Sevigny has also said she's more open to commercial projects—though we're not sure "mainstream" is the right term for Big Love, the HBO hit in which she plays a scheming, debt-saddled sister wife to polygamous husband, Bill Paxton. Still, you can bet that come next season, her Mormon-mom prairie prints, long modest skirts, cowboy boots, and flaxen braid will turn up on more than one runway.

—Laird Borrelli