“It’s crazy when you got a dress on and your whole vagina is out the whole night,” said one star of her uncomfortable dress, while another passed out because their gown was too tight.
The old adage “beauty is pain” definitely rings true when it comes to red carpet fashion. Although celebrities may look elegant and poised while stepping out for premieres and events, it turns out that isn’t always the case. Sometimes celebs are asked to wear outfits that are straight-up uncomfortable and so tight they can barely breathe. In fact, Elle Fanning once passed out at an event because her dress was so constricting. While these stars may look good while walking the carpet, it truly makes you question today’s beauty standards.
Find out what these stars had to say about their outfits…
1. Anne Hathaway
When Anne Hathaway recently attended Milan Fashion Week, she got the chance to don a custom Versace look — and while she looked amazing, it wasn’t exactly comfortable. In a video on Instagram, Anne showed that it was almost impossible to sit in the tight-fitting red leather dress, joking that she would have to lay down to “respect the integrity of the corset.”
“Breathing? 😎Sitting? 🙃😂love you @donatella_versace,” Anne captioned the slideshow.
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2. Priyanka Chopra
Priyanka Chopra is used to being uncomfortable on the red carpet, even from the very early days of her career. When she was crowned Miss World in 2000, she had to be taped into her dress and because she was sweating, the tape began coming off. By the end of the night she had to walk in a certain pose so her dress wouldn’t fall off.
“The whole time while I was doing my walk or whatever when I won, I kept my hands like this in a namaste, which people thought was a namaste but actually was holding my dress up. So uncomfortable!” she told People.
Since then, Priyanka says she’s had to be sewn into dresses and has worn some very uncomfortable looks. At the 2018 Met Gala, she wore a Ralph Lauren gown that was so tight that she couldn’t breathe. In a now-deleted Instagram post, she wrote that the corset “reshaped” her ribs and it was incredibly “hard to sit during dinner.”
3. Kim Kardashian
Kim Kardashian is no stranger to the idea that beauty is pain. At the 2020 Oscars Vanity Fair afterparty she wore a dress she was unable to sit in and at the 2021 Met Gala, she donned a Balenciaga jumpsuit that covered her face, rendering her unable to see anything. Perhaps her most uncomfortable look was at the 2019 Met Gala, where she wore a corseted dress that required her to take “breathing lessons” from Mr. Pearl.
“I have never felt pain like that in my life. I’ll have to show you pictures of the aftermath when I took it off — the indentations on my back and my stomach,” she later told the Wall Street Journal.
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4. Elle Fanning
Elle Fanning once wore a dress that was so uncomfortably tight that she actually passed out. While attending the 2019 Cannes Film Festival’s Chopard Trophee dinner, she collapsed and fell off her chair. Thankfully, her sister Dakota was nearby and after she regained consciousness, they were helped exit the venue by security. Elle was okay and later cleared things up on Instagram, explaining that her dress was simply too tight and it was her “time of the month.”
“Oops, had a fainting spell tonight in my 1950’s Prada prom dress but it’s all good!! #dresstootight #timeofthemonth,” Elle wrote on social media.
5. Jennifer Garner
Back in 2016, Jennifer Garner wore a custom Versace gown to the Oscars that had a corset that was so tight, it “moved her organs around.” During an appearance on The Tonight Starring Jimmy Fallon, she said that she had to be screwed into the metal corset and it was extremely uncomfortable. Halfway through the award show, her ribs starting spasming and she had to leave.
“What they do is, they move your organs around. There are basically two men who come in with screw guns, and they screwed me into a metal corset — this isn’t true, but it was a metal corset, and it did take two Italian people who were talking very quickly. And the next thing you know, my ribs were compressed…It is very intense. These people kind of just move your ribs and they move your liver out of the side and they pop you in…Anything for fashion, right?” Jennifer said.
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6. Zendaya
The dress that Zendaya wore to the 2021 Dune premiere in Italy was custom made to fit her body — but it was so tight, she couldn’t breathe. She says the leather corset was made from a mold of her body and after putting in on, she had to spend all of her time focusing on her breathing.
“This is made of leather but it kind of looks liquid, but it’s all solid. So it’s really difficult to sit in and to breathe in because it doesn’t, you can’t breathe. It’s just, like, hard, so the whole movie I’m like…just focusing on breathing,” Zendaya told Harper’s Bazaar.
7. Bella Hadid
In 2018, Bella Hadid opted for a full Chrome Hearts look for the Met Gala, including a massive Chrome Hearts x Gareth Pugh veil. It turns out that the veil was exceptionally heavy and it made it quite hard for Bella to walk the carpet.
“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,” Bella later shared on her Instagram story.
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8. Doja Cat
Doja Cat admits that she was incredibly uncomfortable while attending a Victoria’s Secret party in 2023. After wearing a black gown with a plunging back, she explained that it actually had a thong built in which didn’t fit her correctly. In an Instagram story, Doja complained about the look, admitting that she had really wanted to just wear a simple slip dress.
“It’s crazy when you got a dress on and your whole vagina is out the whole night and the straps on the dress pull ur tits all the way down to your knees and all you asked for was a slip dress but i digress…A bitch coulda got a uti…What a beautiful night MINUS them UNADJUSTABLE straps,” she wrote. “When i tell u the panty was built into the dress so when i put it on, the shoulder straps pulled the string up through my cervix and split me like a block of sharp cheddar cheese.”
9. Naomie Harris
When Naomie Harris attended the 2017 Golden Globes, she wore an Armani gown that didn’t allow her to move. In fact, she wasn’t allowed to eat or drink for most of the day because she was unable to take the dress off if she needed to use the bathroom later.
“I got carried to the car by the man who made the dress, and he lay me flat so I wouldn’t crease it!” she said on Lorraine. “I was very glad to get out of it. It was like a corset. I could barely breathe! I wasn’t allowed to eat or drink from 12 o’clock as I couldn’t go to the toilet in that dress!”