In recent years, the red-carpet Oscar parade has started to look remarkably bland and homogenous. Most stars seem to follow a similar blueprint: discreetly elegant gowns, softly swept-up hairdos, and lots of diamond jewelry. Where are the risk-takers and trailblazers? In the 1970s and 1980s, there was a bizarre and wonderful array of sartorial eccentricity: rainbow colored muumuus, tattered denim, Indian headdresses, sequined jumpsuits, and psychedelic patchworks. Today, dressing for the Academy Awards is a serious business. The choice of an Oscar-worthy dress is almost as important as an Oscar-worthy role.

Many blame the lack of personal flavor on the celebrity stylists that are hired to glam up celebrities for the big event. “There are a group of maybe 12 stylists that tend to dress the majority of Hollywood’s leading ladies,” said Michael Quintanilla, former style editor of the Los Angeles Times. “I’ve heard stories about them sending around the same gowns to different actresses. No wonder their clients start to look alike in the end.”

Celebrity stylists are a fairly recent addition to the ever-expanding Tinseltown beauty squad. “Image is the single most important aspect of a celebrity’s career,” said Jeanne Yang, a stylist whose clients include Renee Zellweger and Calista Flockhart, “They have to look perfect all the time.” So what does her job entail? “My goal is that nobody will notice what I do,” Ms. Yang said. “I want the client to be beautiful without seeming styled.”

In other words, her job is to help their clients look so chic that they end up on the front page with a flattering headline, or at the very least, avoid an appearance in the “What was she thinking?” section. As the tabloid frenzy surrounding celebrities has peaked in recent years, stars are more scrutinized than ever.

Ms. Yang also strives to build a close relationship between her client and a designer who can create an exclusive wardrobe for her. For example, any red carpet fashion follower has noticed that Ms. Zellweger has been sporting a lot of Carolina Herrera in recent years. But a large part of Ms Yang’s work is also based on old-school fashion wisdom, like knowing which shapes flatter which body type.

“If somebody has a lanky, gamine figure you may want to soften her up with a pouffy skirt,” she said. “Or if someone is curvy, you’ll want to try something more vampy.” The artist’s career and image also play a part in her choices: “When you work with a serious, award winning actress you want to think twice before you put her in fishnets and a mini,” she said. “With a rock star, you can go as crazy as you want.”

Some benefits of a high-profile fashion image are obvious. Where would Jennifer Lopez be without that green Versace dress? And how many people had even heard of Elizabeth Hurley before she stepped onto the red carpet in the “safety-pin dress,” also by Versace, at the premiere of “Four Weddings and a Funeral?”

But the relationship also works in reverse. The PR boost of a star wearing your gown to the Oscars is invaluable for a designer. Uma Thurman put Miuccia Prada in the fashion spotlight when she wore her lavender dress to the Academy Awards in 1995. And images of starlets in Chanel and Dior keep cash registers ringing in perfume departments across the world.

“Fashion houses go to extreme lengths to seduce a star into wearing their clothes to high profile events,” said Mr. Quintanilla, who recalled paying a visit to haute couture embroidery master Francois Lesage in 2002. Mr. Lesage showed him a swatch of a meticulously hand-crafted, crystal beaded fabric, which was exclusively created for a one-of-a-kind Valentino gown that the designer had made for Oscar nominee Halle Berry. The cost for such a garment could easily be between $50,000 and $100,000 – a worthwhile investment if Ms. Berry chose to wear it. She didn’t.

Rather than choosing gowns from a designer’s collection, many celebrities wear clothes that have been created especially for them to wear to the Oscars. “It’s such an important night of their life, you don’t want to put them in something that has already been seen,” says Annabel Tollman, Interview magazine’s fashion editor, who also moonlights as Scarlett Johansson’s stylist.

Ms. Johansson is known as one of the few actresses who consistently hones an individual look, and she often comes up with her own fashion concepts. For the BAFTA Awards last year, the actress expressed a desire to look like Marilyn Monroe; Ms. Tollman enlisted Prada to create a shimmering, form-fitting dress that looked straight out the 1950s. For last year’s Oscars, Italian designer Alberta Ferretti created a vampy, jade-green number that had a similar, old-fashioned bombshell quality. For less high-profile events, Ms. Tollman pulls off-the-rack clothes from independent designers such as Proenza Schouler and Martine Sitbon.

Unlike Ms. Yang, who makes a point of separating her own tastes from her client’s, Ms. Tollman works on a very personal level. “Scarlett and I have largely the same tastes. When I get clothes for her I think: What would I wear if I were 19 years old, had a gorgeous body, and was going to the Oscars? It’s lovely to work with her because she is not afraid to push buttons,” she said.

Pushing fashion buttons can be risky for a celebrity. Not everyone appreciates Ms. Johansson’s outfits, which have been called “too mature” and “unflattering” by the likes of Joan Rivers and her “Fashion Police” colleagues. When Gwyneth Paltrow, who does not work with a stylist, wore a semi-sheer Alexander McQueen gown to the 2002 Oscars, she was mocked for months. Bjork still hasn’t been forgiven for the Marjan Pejoski swan gown she wore to the 2000 Academy Awards. “There are some tabloids that have entire sections devoted to celebrity fashion faux pas,” said Ms. Yang. “It puts a lot of pressure on people.”

Mr. Quintanilla believes that increased media scrutiny has made celebrities wary of showing an independent sense of style. “It’s safer to be a follower than a leader,” he said. “If you’re a leader you can get blasted in the press.” Ms. Tollman agreed. “There is a certain formula to getting good reviews,” she said.” A classically elegant, preferably bias-cut, gown in a bright color will always be considered stylish. That’s why so many stars look the same.”

I just hope that, this year, Hollywood’s finest dare to defy the critics and show some old-fashioned over-the-top personality on Sunday night’s red carpet. Cher, where are you when we need you?