Hailee Steinfeld Has Had A Head-Turning Style Transformation

When you think of modern-day fashion icons, Hailee Steinfeld might not immediately come to mind. But a look back at her head-turning style transformation tells a different story: one that says she is deserving of the accolade. After earning an Oscar nomination in 2010, Steinfeld seemed to jump feet first into the fashion pool, appearing repeatedly in the front row at runway shows in Paris, Milan, New York, and further beyond — and we're not talking for up-and-coming brands. She was playing with the big boys: Valentino, Prada, Tom Ford, Christian Dior, Givenchy, Fendi, Michael Kors, and more.

She also wasn't merely sitting at the shows as eye candy. She was absorbing the material. From age-appropriate outfits in her teens, to the elegant gowns she's worn in her 20s, the "Hawkeye" actor has proven repeatedly that she has the fashion chops to get noticed on the red carpet, and land herself on best-dressed lists year after year.

Before 2010, few people had ever heard the name Hailee Steinfeld. But with her breakthrough role in "True Grit," everything changed overnight. The role in the Western drama thrust the then-13-year-old into the spotlight. Among other recognitions, she soon earned Academy Award and BAFTA nominations, meaning she needed to bring her style game to the world stage.

She delivered outfits that were age appropriate for the most part, but also showed that she was a rising style star not to overlook. For the 2011 Oscars, she wore a ballerina-inspired Marchesa dress that she helped conceive. She paired it with platform gold peep-toe heels, which she swapped for red Converse sneakers for the after parties. It wasn't long before she fell under fashion's spell and began to appear at fashion shows around the world. That included at a Miu Miu show in Paris in fall 2014, where she revisited a sparkly thin headband, which feels like an outdated hair accessory in 2025 but suited the rising star beautifully in that era.

Hailee Steinfeld continued to find success in her acting career, namely with "Pitch Perfect 2" in 2015 and "The Edge of Seventeen" in 2016. One of her most memorable roles in this era was appearing with Taylor Swift's squad in the "Bad Blood" music video in 2015. That ushered in her own pop star phase, as Steinfeld released her first single in 2015. And her fashion followed suit.

Now as a legal adult (Steinfeld turned 18 in December 2014), Haiz's fashion choices felt noticeably more risqué with shorter skirt and dress lengths and more outfits with revealing cutouts in regular rotation. For a performance in New York City in December 2015, the "Most Girls" singer wore sparkly hot pants, a cropped top, fishnet tights, and thigh-high pleather boots. Two years later, she was rocking the same torso-revealing silhouette in a silver Atelier Versace dress at the 2017 MTV VMAs in LA.

In 2020, Hailee Steinfeld released her second album "Half Written Story," announcing to the world that she was no longer a teen starlet, but a force to be reckoned with in the entertainment industry. Her fashion choices mirrored her evolution.

In 2021, at the Fashion Awards in London, she inevitably helped boost sales in H&M jumpsuits when she wore a sequined one from the brand to the event. It was a confident choice, demonstrating that she didn't need to rely on the European designer labels for every red-carpet appearance. Another example of her head-turning style transformation was at the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party, where she wore a fitted slip dress that was sheer-ish, with a textured coat draped over her shoulders, which happens to be one of our favorite transitional outfits for warm days and cold nights. The ensemble perfectly juxtaposed sexiness with sophistication, which is a true sign of maturity when it comes to fashion.

In 2024, wavy blunt bobs were one of the year's most popular hairstyles, with Hollywood starlets like Hailee Steinfeld leading the charge. She showed off the new 'do at the LA "Arcane" premiere, wearing another fabulous dress, this time from The New Arrivals by Ilkyaz Özel. The svelte silhouette of the dress was punctuated by gold paillettes at the chest and a Steinfeld-beloved torso cutout.

Also notable in '24 was the "Dickinson" actor's engagement to Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, whom she married wearing Tamara Ralph in May 2025 in her home-state of California. Her fashion spree continued as she promoted box-office hit "Sinners" in the spring. But when she showed up to the Governors Awards in November wearing a voluminous Stéphane Rolland, fans immediately questioned if she was pregnant. For a celeb that loves a torso-revealing outfit, this seemed off brand. Sure enough, in December 2025, the couple announced the pregnancy, meaning fans could expect a whole new Steinfeld style era as she embraces maternity-wear.