Kristen Bell tried over 40 dresses before choosing her Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award outfits.

The 'Frozen' star was the ceremony's first-ever host on Sunday (21.01.18) and worked hard with stylist Nicole Chavez to get her look just right.

The pair began discussing what Kristen would wear as soon as she landed her hosting role in mid-December.

Nicole said: ''I tried to secure as many looks as possible before the holiday break so that when we were back after New Year's we could hit the ground running.''

The eventually narrowed down the pile of dresses to the J. Mendel fuchsia strapless gown Kristen wore on the red carpet at the Shrine Auditorium, and the string of all-black outfit changes she had during the show in tribute to the TIme's Up anti-harassment initiative.

And for Nicole, it was important Kristen looked ''beautiful'' but her outfits didn't take over the event.

She explained to People magazine: ''Obviously I wanted her to look beautiful but also not to make it a fashion show for her, but rather a night about the men and women who gave such superb performances throughout the year.

''We also have her in black throughout the show honouring the Time's Up movement. We wanted her glam but also comfortable and made sure the dresses matched the tone of the show.''

Each of the 37-year-old star's all-black looks had very distinct styles, and Nicole mixed up the order she wore them after checking rehearsals for the ceremony.

She explained: ''Once I saw rehearsal the day before we just moved around the order but all the looks worked and felt effortless on stage.''

And the stylist credited the former 'Veronica Mars' actress' beauty team for helping pull all the looks together.

She said: ''It was all essential to be in constant communication with her glam team -- make-up artist Simone Siegel and hairstylist Jenny Cho -- so that the looks flowed into to one another seamlessly.

''There was not be enough time to do drastic looks for all the changes yet we all wanted to create four unique looks. It's a team effort from start to finish.''

But while the changes seemed effortless, the team had some problems because it was very dark backstage.

Nicole said: ''There is minimal light so we had to get creative with the electricians. The morning is calm and then as it gets closer to show time everyone is buzzing around. It's electric.''