With her pixieish looks and bona fide ingenue status, Carey Mulligan has been dubbed “the new Audrey Hepburn” more times than she probably cares to count — but none of Hepburn’s LBDs were made of embellished leather, like Mulligan’s gladiatorial Prada number. And the actress does love her Prada, which says a lot about her red-carpet aesthetic: chic in an interesting, intellectual way. Short cocktail dresses are livened up with eye-catching fabrics and sometimes-surprising cuts, befitting a starlet who’s still young enough (25) to experiment with a faux-hawk. Her mistakes are those that don’t take advantage of her cute-as-pie assets — nothing-special black pieces with no real fit or proportion to them.

Wearing: PradaHollywood, California, March 7, 2010 Wearing: The Row London, England, February 22, 2010 Wearing: Vionnet Royal Opera House, London, England, February 21, 2010 Wearing: Prada Beverly Hills, February 15, 2010 Wearing: Prada Lobero Theatre, Santa Barbara, February 7, 2010 Century City, California, January 30, 2010 Wearing: Lanvin Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, January 23, 2010 Wearing: Nina Ricci Beverly Hills, California, January 17, 2010 Wearing: Marni Hollywood, California, January 15, 2010 Wearing: PradaCipriani 42nd Street, New York, January 12, 2010 Wearing: Prada Los Angeles, November 14, 2009 Wearing: Prabal Gurung Beverly Hills, October 26, 2009 New York, October 7, 2009 Sony Screening Room, New York, October 6, 2009 Wearing: Prada Paris Theatre, New York, October 5, 2009 Wearing: Lanvin Los Angeles, October 1, 2009 Wearing: Prada Boom Boom Room, Standard Hotel, New York, September 16, 2009 Wearing: Thakoon MoMA, New York, August 19, 2009 Red-Carpet Look Book: Carey Mulligan

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