Flashing cameras. Handcrafted couture. Professionally done makeup and hair. From the outside looking in, walking a red carpet seems like a breeze.
In fact, it often gets downright painful.
Whether it’s a heavy dress, a spiky skirt or a corset cinched way too tight as in the case of Kim Kardashian, these red carpet-goers have had to suffer in the name of fashion.
Here, 9 times stars gave us a glimpse into the realities of their fashion aftermath.
Kim Kardashian’s Constricting Alexander McQueen Dress
buses to the show, to avoid creasing the dress by sitting down in car. It’s a different story, however, when the tightness of the dress means you can’t sit down altogether.
In February 2020, Kim Kardashian West attended the Vanity Fair Oscar Party wearing a vintage 2003 Alexander McQueen dress—one of only two in the world—and admitted that the corseted dress was so tight, she couldn’t sit down (all in the name of an iconic fashion moment).
Kim Kardashian’s Alarming Mugler Dress
No one can deny that Kim Kardashian’s Mugler dress at the 2019 Met Gala had a huge visual impact. But it turns out that the tiny waist created by the dress’ in-built corset was more than a little painful. “I have never felt pain like that in my life,” said Kardashian to WSJ. Magazine.
“I’ll have to show you pictures of the aftermath when I took it off—the indentations on my back and my stomach.”
In the lead-up to the event, Kardashian even took seven months of ‘breathing lessons’ to be able to breathe in her corset.
Kylie Jenner’s Scratchy Balmain Dress
After attending the 2016 Met Gala in embellished Balmain couture, Jenner showed off the aftermath of her fashion moment.
“When ur dress made you bleed and ur feet are purple,” she wrote on Instagram, adding later: “It was worth it though.”
Nicole Kidman’s Moulin Rouge! Corset
When we saw Satine, played by Nicole Kidman, descend in a flurry of glitter in Moulin Rogue! we were transfixed. But the little silver corset she wore was much more painful than we realised.
“I re-broke my rib getting into it,” Kidman told Graham Norton of the piece. “I had this thing that I wanted to get my waist down to 18 inches, which Vivian Leigh had on Gone with the Wind and I was just like, ‘tighter, tighter’.”
Elle Fanning’s Too-Tight Prada
Guests at a Cannes event in 2019 were given a fright when Elle Fanning fainted and fell off her chair during dinner. As she explained afterwards in an Instagram post, her Prada dress was “too tight” but she was “all good.”
Bella Hadid’s Heavy Veil
At the 2018 Met Gala, Bella Hadid must have developed quite the headache. The model admitted after the night that her veil weighed more than 4.5kg and was sewn onto her head.
She wrote: “If anyone was wondering why I couldn’t move, it’s because a legend by the name of @jenatkinhair sewed a whole entire 10-pound veil to my head.”
Emma Stone’s Historical Accuracy
There are bumps and bruises, and then there is organ-shifting. Yikes. Emma Stone told Graham Norton that the ultra-tight corset she wore for The Favourite ended up leaving a lasting effect on her.
“For the first month, I couldn’t breathe, and I would smell menthol and it would make me think I was in a wide-open space and could breathe for a moment in time. After a month, all my organs shifted—it was gross, and if you don’t have to, don’t do it!”
Ariana Grande’s Ultra-High Pony
Although most celebrities on this list endured their pain for a night, Ariana Grande has been putting up with hers for years. Grande admitted that her signature high ponytail, which she wears with extensions, leaves her in “constant pain”.
Dakota Fanning’s The Alienist Corset
“I actually fainted during my first fitting which gives you some indication [of what it was like to wear a corset],” says Dakota Fanning of her encounters with a corset while filming The Alienist.
