Revenge, Rush, 3D Scan: 21 Stories Behind Iconic Star Outfits
Zendaya/Bella Hadid
Many celebrity outfits become iconic and remain in memory and pop culture, but each of them has its own little story – we propose to learn them today. Funny incidents, revenge, regrets and hastily packing: collected 21 memories of stars and their stylists about some of the legendary images.
Barbra Streisand and her transparent suit at the Oscars in 1969
Streisand received her first Oscar for her role in Funny Girl in 1968. The victory went down in history thanks to the spectacular outfit of the actress. Streisand later admitted that she had no idea that the costume would be so transparent under the spotlight.
Barbra Streisand
Streisand told W Magazine in 2016. Cher in Bob Mackie at the 1986 Oscars
When designing the look for the ceremony, Cher consulted with her friend, costume designer Bob Mackie, who designed many of the star’s other memorable outfits. The singer admitted that her lover at the time, Joshua Donen, "almost passed out" after seeing this oriental-style costume with a spectacular headdress.
Cher
Cher herself admitted that the extravagant image was a kind of protest against the Academy, which, in her opinion, underestimated her as an actress.
— Cher recalled with a laugh about her fashionable revenge in an interview in 2019.
Be that as it may, but two years later, academics finally appreciated Cher’s talent: she received an award in the nomination "Best Actress" for her role in the film "Moon Power".
Elizabeth Hurley wearing a Versace pin-up dress in 1994
This is certainly one of the most famous stories, how a person makes an outfit iconic, and an outfit makes a person famous. At that time, the not-so-famous actress Liz Hurley naturally woke up as a star after she appeared in a Versace dress at the premiere of Four Weddings and a Funeral.
At the event, Liz was accompanied by actor Hugh Grant, whom she was dating at the time. In later interviews, Grant said that several designers refused to send Hurley a dress for the premiere, as she was not well known, and only Versace was the only one who agreed.
Elizabeth Hurley
Liz recalled in a 2014 interview with Harper’s Bazaar.
What was the last hope for the young actress ended up becoming one of the legendary moments in fashion history.
Lizzie Gardiner wearing a credit card dress in 1995
Australian costume designer Lizzy Gardiner designed this gown for the Oscars. That year, by the way, she received a statuette for her work on the film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
The dress was made from American Express cards and of course became a red carpet event. But for some, this outfit caused not delight, but anger!
Lizzy Gardiner
In a 2017 interview with ABC News, Gardiner noted that the dress was very controversial for the time and "really upset a lot of people."
Lizzie noted.
Princess Diana wearing a Dior slip dress in 1996
A year before her death, Princess Diana was a guest at the Met Gala. At the event, she appeared in a dark blue Dior silk dress with lace. Fashion choice has become an event for several reasons.
So, it was one of the first outfits by John Galliano, created for the house of Dior, which hit the red carpet. The release of Princess Diana was a major boost for the designer, who was placed at the head of a very conservative brand, which he had to completely reform.
Princess Diana
Many then considered the outfit not too suitable for the "royal dress code", but it turns out that Diana herself made several adjustments, making the dress even more "open". So, Galliano said that Diana herself wished to remove the inner corset, which was originally in this dress, making the fit looser, but at the same time emphasizing the natural curves of the body.
Celine Dion in a Dior back-to-front suit in 1999
In recent years, everyone could make sure that Celine Dion is ready for fashionable experiments, but this quality is not at all new for her – the singer loved to take risks before! To see this, just look at her image from the Oscar ceremony in 1999.
The iconic look, which in many ways was ahead of its time (and then also criticized), was also created by John Galliano for Dior.
Celine Dion
— said the singer in an interview with People in 2017.
Jennifer Lopez wearing a Versace tropical print dress in 2000
Another dress from Versace, which entered not only the history of fashion, but also the history of technology development. The excitement that caused the singer’s outfit at the Grammy ceremony inspired Google to create an image search service. By the way, as in the case of Liz Hurley, the dress was an outfit found at the last moment.
Jennifer Lopez
J. Lo recalled in an interview with Vanity Fair in 2020.
Courtney Love in a cut Dior dress in 2000
The dress Courtney Love wore to the Golden Globes was featured in a homeless-inspired collection (John Galliano looked for beauty everywhere, which is what made his collections special). But, as it turned out, Love was not the first star to wear a dress, although that fitting took place away from the eyes of photographers and the public.
Courtney Love
Love said in an interview with The Guardian in 2019.
I would love to see those Polaroids!
Gwyneth Paltrow in an Alexander McQueen dress in 2002
At the 2002 Academy Awards (three years after winning Best Actress for Shakespeare in Love and that millenial pink dress), Gwyneth Paltrow made another small fashion revolution by bringing punk style to the red carpet. track.
The dress did become iconic, although Gwyneth still has some regrets about her look that evening.
Gwyneth Paltrow
— admitted Paltrow in 2013.
Elle Macpherson in a yellow Calvin Klein dress in 2005
A yellow dress designed by American designer Narciso Rodriguez for Calvin Klein became one of the most photographed outfits at the 2005 Met Gala.
El MacPherson
In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar, the model admitted that she was initially somewhat shocked by the bright shade of the dress. In addition, she had a little secret – she went out on the track in slippers! Under the long skirt, they were still not visible.
Lady Gaga in a meat dress in 2010
The real meat dress, which was created by designer Franco Fernandez for the MTV VMAs, has become one of the most shocking of the last decade and, perhaps, one of the latest fashion provocations. That year, Gaga was the most nominated artist at the ceremony with a record thirteen nominations.
Lady Gaga
Many then thought that the outfit was just another daring trick of the singer without any secret meaning, but it was not so. In an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, Lady Gaga said that the image was a hairpin to the so-called "don’t ask, don’t tell" policy practiced by the US military so that military personnel can keep their sexual orientation a secret. In addition, this law, passed in 1993, prohibited homosexuals of both sexes from serving in the US Armed Forces if they did not hide their sexual orientation.
— said the singer.
This law, by the way, was repealed in 2011.
Kim Kardashian in a floral print dress in 2013
The Met Gala ball is supposed to be a showy gown that will be discussed weeks after the event, but rare outfits have drawn such controversy as the dress designed by Riccardo Tisci for Givenchy, which Kim Kardashian wore to her first Costume Institute Ball. At that time, she was pregnant with her daughter North.
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West
Kim herself was not yet popular at that time and admitted that she personally did not receive invitations and was marked on the lists only as “+1" to Kanye West, who performed that evening.
Kim later recalled.
A tight-fitting dress with gloved sleeves and a stand-up collar on the same day became the main topic of all memes, where it was compared, among other things, with a sofa. Other stars joined the jokes. For example, Robin Williams compared the image of Kim with his screen character – Mrs. Doubtfire, writing that such an outfit suited him more.
Robin Williams as Mrs Doubtfire
Kardashian admitted.
She also noted that she originally thought of a dress in black, but Tisci suggested a floral print to her.
Kim quoted the designer.
But there were also those who supported the "debutante of the ball." Kardashian recalled that the Olsen sisters approached her at the event and complimented her outfit.
Anne Hathaway in a soft pink Prada dress in 2013
In this dress, the actress appeared at the Oscars, where she received a statuette for her role in the film Les Misérables. The elegant image, however, was remembered by one piquant detail – the bodice was tailored in such a way that the illusion of “elastic nipples” was created (this is how Ann herself described it, by the way).
As it turned out, Hathaway also chose the outfit in a hurry, and she did not have time to think. After the ceremony, Hathaway said that she decided to wear the dress only two hours before the ceremony (the alternative was a dress from Valentino, to which Anne was already almost leaning).
Ann Hataway
– this is how Ann described the preparations for that ceremony in an interview.
Rihanna in a translucent dress with crystals in 2014
In 2014, singer Rihanna received the CFDA Style Icon Award, and of course, the outfit for this occasion had to be special. Embroidered with 216,000 Swarovski crystals, a transparent dress from designer Adam Selman fit perfectly. For the fashion designer himself, this was a great success – the dress made a splash, and Selman literally woke up as a new celebrity in the fashion world.
Rihanna
But Rihanna herself has a few regrets. In her opinion, she and Adam did not finish the image a little, and she went out on the path without underwear in vain.
Rihanna admitted in 2018.
Lupita Nyong’o in a baby blue Prada princess dress in 2014
For the 2014 Oscars, Lupita Nyong’o and her stylist Mikaela Erlanger chose one of Hollywood’s classic cuts. Inspiration was sought in the images of the stars of the past, including Elizabeth Taylor.
Lupita Nyongo
But the dress was "encoded" and a few more secrets. So, the light blue shade of the dress symbolized Nairobi – it is this color that reminds the actress of the capital of the country where she grew up. In an interview, Erlanger also said that the discreet glitter effect on the skirt was meant to be reminiscent of champagne splashes.
Beyoncé wearing a sheer embroidered dress in 2015
Beyonce showed an enviable constancy in terms of the choice of outfit: at six Met Gala balls she appeared in outfits from Riccardo Tisci (then he worked at Givenchy). In 2015, this was the fourth time Beyoncé wore a Tisci dress to the Met Gala, so the choice was well thought out, although this completely see-through dress, embroidered with stones from Lorraine Schwartz, can certainly be called the most spectacular. Improvisation happened with a hairstyle.
beyoncé
Beyoncé rarely talks about her looks herself, but her hairstylist Neil Farina told Us Weekly that the star suddenly asked for a brand new hairdo as they were heading to an event. So they had to go back and Neil redid the hair. The high ponytail caused as much buzz in the press reviews as the dress itself. Well, Beyoncé and Jay-Z were the last to arrive on the red carpet. And the most photographed. However, such a spectacular image was worth the wait.
Bella Hadid in a high slit dress in 2016
The Alexandre Vauthier outfit, in which model Bella Hadid appeared at the Cannes Film Festival, also went down in fashion history as one of the most risky outfits. Bella herself called him in an interview in the most daring way she has ever shown. It’s all about the high cut of the bright scarlet dress, which reached almost to the waist. The dress became one of the most talked about at that festival.
Bella Hadid
Bella admitted in an interview with Teen Vogue.
It was difficult for critics to find fault – Bella made sure that the moment of triumph did not turn into a failure. It seems that with this cut you will have to do without underwear, but it was sewn inside the dress.
Amal Clooney in a suit with a train in 2018
Another outfit that went down in the history of the Met Gala, however, not without scandal. Like Kim Kardashian, Amal chose a floral print for her first Costume Institute Ball, but, as it turned out, she was supposed to appear on the track in a completely different outfit. For the wife of George Clooney, a dress from Tom Ford was prepared, on which the design team worked for several weeks, but at the last moment Amal changed her mind and opted for the young British brand Richard Quinn (he became widely known after Queen Elizabeth II visited the show) .
Amal Clooney
However, the dress from Ford came in handy for her – Amal put it on for a private party after the ball, which upset the designer even more, as he asked the client to completely abandon the dress, since she did not comply with the agreement to appear in it on the red carpet.
Gemma Chan wearing a pink Valentino dress in 2019
Attentive and practical fashionistas immediately noticed the best detail of the evening dress that Gemma Chan wore to the Oscars ceremony – pockets!
Gemma Chan
Let’s face it, designers are depriving women in ordinary everyday clothes, to say nothing of evening dresses! Apparently, Gemma could not resist such a curiosity.
In an interview, the actress joked that she chose this dress with pockets to hide chocolate cookies there and snack on them during the show.
Chan said with a smile.
Zendaya wearing a Tom Ford wrap top in 2020
Hardly anyone could take their eyes off Zendaya at the Critics Choice Awards, despite the fact that another celebrity had tried on a spectacular armor-like top from Tom Ford before that: Gwyneth Paltrow posed in it for the shooting of the American Harper’s Bazaar. But Zendaya’s stylist Lo Roach was not satisfied with the catwalk model (the cost of the thing, by the way, is 15 thousand dollars!). For Zendaya, they made an individual top according to her standards. For this, a 3D scan was performed.
Zendaya
— said the stylist.
The perfect fit was in many ways the key to the fact that the image of Zendaya made such a splash.
Kim Kardashian in a vintage Alexander McQueen oyster dress in 2020
The Oscars and the subsequent Vanity Fair party were among the last major social events just before the coronavirus pandemic came to a halt.
Kim Kardashian
Prior to that, Kim has already established herself as a connoisseur of vintage things, but the dress from the Alexander McQueen spring-summer 2003 collection can clearly be called one of the main decorations of Kardashian’s retro wardrobe. The outfit is considered one of the most iconic creations of Alexander McQueen and a true fashion rarity. There are only two copies: one Kanye West gave Kim, having bought it from one of the collectors, and the second is kept in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.