Ali Larter's Killer Legs Couldn't Distract From Her Cheap-Looking Awards Show Outfit

Despite presiding over a rollercoaster career where she was constantly launched into the zeitgeist and enjoyed periods of relative obscurity between projects — from 1999's iconic "Varsity Blues," to "Legally Blonde," "Final Destination," "Resident Evil," and her resurgence thanks to Taylor Sheridan's "Landman" — one thing remains absolutely consistent about Ali Larter, and that is her stunning beauty in real life. It's definitely a show-stopper for the ages, evidenced by the fact that Larter can still turn heads even without makeup on. But she also has a great sense of fashion. In fact, if anything, Larter's most daring looks are a testament to her natural gift for working a red carpet and stealing the spotlight.

That doesn't always pan out as well as she'd like, of course. You stay in this industry long enough or even occasionally forget to hog the limelight in moderation, and all hell will break loose over every little thing you do. The awards season is a window ripe for nitpicking and that's why it may have caught Larter off-guard when she appeared for the Critics Choice Awards in January 2026.

Phillip Faraone/Getty

As ever, she looked absolutely stunning when posing for the cameras. Her makeup and hair highlighted her once-in-a-generation beauty, and her physique was screaming "I still got it" — every bit as striking as fans have come to expect. The only problem? Her dress, which, for lack of a better word, looked jury-rigged and cheap, as if a designer had sewn it together just the night before in a hurry.

At a glance, there's nothing wrong with Ali Larter's outfit for the 2026 Critics Choice Awards. Black as a color is eternally chic, and it goes a long way to highlight Larter's toned body and slim physique. Yet when you take a closer look at the dress, those clunky visible seams connecting the panels become a bit jarring. People often marvel at how high-end pieces flow continuously as one apparent piece, but that wasn't the case with Larter's leg-baring ensemble. The diamond-shaped cutout in the midsection also made things infinitely worse. And if you think the back situation is better, it's unfortunately the same mess of visible lines hugging her figure. The dress was a Nina Ricci, though why the designer brand, known for dressing countless Hollywood A-listers over the years dropped the ball so hard on this look is anyone's guess.

Of course, credit where credit's due, Larter walked that red carpet with such confidence that you'd be hard-pressed to find anything wrong with her presentation, and from certain angles, her aura, all elegance and zero hesitation, was more than enough to compensate for the cheap-looking dress. Larter tends to fly under the radar between gigs, so if you're wondering whatever happened to the "Legally Blonde" star, the answer is simple enough: she's right here, turning her "Landman" scenes into tour-de-force performances and looking better than ever.