12 times celebrities talked about what it's really like to wear daring fashion
- Celebrities are always wearing bold fashion, from sheer red-carpet looks to vibrant street outfits.
- Some stars have also talked about what it's really like to wear them.
Zendaya stunned at the London premiere of "Dune: Part Two" in a metal suit — but she almost didn't wear it.
In a new episode of Vogue's "Life in Looks" YouTube series, the "Dune" actor said she knew of the famous Mugler suit and asked her stylist, Law Roach, if they could try it for the sequel's premiere.
They then worked with one of the suit's original creators, who warned the duo that it might not fit across certain parts of the body because it's crafted with hinges and metal.
"But we tried it on, and I was like, 'Guys, I think it's fitting!' It fit like a glove," Zendaya told Vogue.
Still, it wasn't completely smooth sailing from there.
"Immediately, I think after wearing it for like 10 minutes or less than that, I got really light-headed," she added. "The metal conducts and holds onto heat very quickly and traps heat in."
She did wear a bodysuit as a barrier underneath but told Vogue that she started to think "this is a bad idea" in the days leading up to the premiere.
Bella Hadid cemented herself as a style icon at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. But she later admitted that she was embarrassed by the red gown she wore there.
Her Alexandre Vauthier gown was sleeveless and backless with a plunging neckline. It also had a deep slit in its skirt that reached her hip.
But as the model told Vogue during a 2021 interview, she felt "nervous" while wearing it — even if the look is now "apparently a very iconic red dress moment."
"I look very sexual and all these things," Hadid told Vogue. "I was still nervous about cameras and nervous about having a lot of makeup on."
She went on to note that the dress didn't exactly match her style, and gave people a false perception of who she is.
"I kind of get embarrassed of this moment still, even though the dress is gorgeous," she said. "It just, again, doesn't feel so much like me, and I think that this was the start of the 'Bella' persona that everyone sees of me. That's my alter ego. That's Belinda."
"I'm just so the opposite of her," she continued. "She's very va-va-voom. You know, bless her. Love her. She was very nervous."
Kendall Jenner, on the other hand, was "pretty chill" when asked to wear a see-through shirt during her first fashion show.
She wore a sheer, V-neck top on a Marc Jacobs runway in 2014. The model also donned brown trousers, matching tights, and ankle boots.
Jenner reflected on the look while speaking with Vogue in 2022, saying she "actually could not believe" she was featured on the runway. Still, she said she wasn't nervous.
"I was pretty chill — even though my boobies were out," she joked.
Jenner, who had just turned 18 ahead of the show, said she remembers getting a call from her agent who relayed the message that Jacobs wanted her to wear a sheer top.
"I was like, 'I'm game. Like I don't mind. I'm all good with the nipple,'" she said. "It didn't make me any more nervous. I genuinely was just like, 'Dope. Whatever they want. It's their vision, so let's do it.' I was completely comfortable."
The green Versace dress Jennifer Lopez wore in 2000 has become iconic. But it was the version she donned in 2019 that felt empowering, she said.
The famous gown she wore to the Grammy Awards in 2000 had a green leaf print and a neckline that plunged to her navel. It became so iconic that the dress helped inspire the launch of Google Images.
Lopez then wore another version of the dress to close a 2019 Versace fashion show.
"The second time I wore it and walked out there, it was such an empowering thing," Lopez told Vanity Fair.
"Twenty years had gone by, and I think for women, knowing you can put on a dress 20 years later — it resonated," she said. "It was like, 'Yes, you know, life is not over at 20!'"
Cardi B was dripping in gold and diamonds at the 2022 Met Gala, and she said the bold look made her feel like a woman.
Versace designed her dress, which was sleeveless and crafted from rows of metal chains and crystals. The rapper also wore matching gloves and thick, layered necklaces.
"This is what I wanted to give: I wanted to give woman," Cardi B told Vogue on the red carpet. "And Donatella brings that woman."
"No lipo-surgery can bring this body that my son gave me," she then joked, referencing her recent pregnancy.
Emily Ratajkowski described the plunging black gown she wore in 2016 as the "most controversial" outfit she's ever worn.
"I had no idea what a scene this would cause," she said of the dress while speaking to Harper's Bazaar. "Somebody called it extremely vulgar, and it became this huge controversy on the internet."
"Some of my agents were mad at me because they thought it was too sexy," she continued. "I know this sounds whatever, but I was in my 20s and I just hadn't registered that it was so sexy because there is a panel in the middle, but it looks like there isn't."
Her dress, designed by Julien Macdonald, was sleeveless with a deep-V neckline that reached her stomach. It also had wide cutouts at her sides.
Ratajkowski said she still "stands behind" the dress and thinks she looked "great" while wearing it.
"I was basically called out for wanting attention, which I think is interesting because you go to red carpets for attention basically — essentially it's part of your job as a celebrity," she said.
Megan Fox said she wasn't "afraid to be sexy" while wearing a "Dracula"-inspired gown at the 2021 Met Gala.
Her Dundas gown had long sleeves, a plunging neckline with crisscross straps, and matching cutouts at her sides. It was also covered in crystals from top to bottom.
Though it was daring, Fox told Vogue that she was more inspired by its similarities to one she'd seen in Bram Stoker's "Dracula."
"I'm very into gothic things and vampires and such," she said on the red carpet.
Fox also argued that, though Peter Dundas is a Norwegian fashion designer, the look still matched the night's "In America: A Lexicon of Fashion" theme because she's "an American girl."
"I'm not afraid to be sexy," Fox said. "A woman who is intelligent and also knows how to weaponize her beauty, there's nothing more dangerous than that. There's nothing more powerful than that."
"Instead of rejecting it, I'm happy to embrace it and go for the sexy," she added.
Christina Aguilera told Vogue that one of her boldest looks from the early 2000s is a favorite of hers.
At the Blockbuster Entertainment Awards that year, Aguilera wore a pink velvet gown that was covered in rips. It had shredded sleeves, a matching skirt, and thin slits across her stomach, waist, and chest.
"She was so bold for this one," Aguilera said of her younger self while speaking with Vogue. "It's one of my favorites just because it was so rebellious at the time."
The look, which also included heavy makeup and gold jewelry, would have been perfect for an early-2000s magazine, as Aguilera noted — but it wasn't acceptable on the red carpet at the time.
"I really wanted to start expressing myself, and it was almost my way of visually telling people to back off and I'm gonna do my thing now," she said.
Elizabeth Hurley said she didn't realize how daring her 1994 Versace dress was until she saw photos in newspapers.
While appearing on "The Johnathan Ross" show in 2015, Hurley said it's "ridiculous" that the dress she wore to the "Four Weddings and a Funeral" premiere still gets attention years later.
"The funny thing is I hadn't really seen that dress full-length because at the time I was living with my ex-boyfriend Hugh in a very small, humble flat. We actually didn't have a full-length mirror," she said.
"So I hadn't seen it at all until I saw it in the newspapers," Hurley added.
Paramore musician Hayley Williams told Insider that she'd "throw away" the daring, designer dress she wore to the 2011 Grammys.
For the event, Williams wore a sparkling Moschino minidress. It had a sheer top partially covered with sequins, a mesh panel across her stomach, and pink fuzz lining at its hem.
In an interview with Insider about her boldest fashion, Williams noted that she loves Jeremy Scott's designs for the fashion house and thinks they're "iconic." She just doesn't believe she "particularly wore this well."
"As soon as I got the dress on and got out the door, I probably didn't think twice about it," she said. "I don't even know what goes on in a person's mind when they're walking those carpets. I feel like you just black out. So I was living my best life."
After the 2021 Golden Globes, Jamie Lee Curtis joked about her vibrant, flowing gown with a plunging neckline.
She said on "Today" that she had been "wearing black leggings" for a year because of the pandemic, so she wanted to "suit up and show up" for the awards ceremony.
She did so via a long-sleeved, Alex Perry gown — making for an iconic fashion moment at the annual awards show.
"You know, once in a while, everybody needs to come out, get a little sunshine," she joked about her chest. "They are now well-fed. They are back in the stable. They don't need to come out for another five years."
"But there is something about wearing sunshine during this moment where we have all been denied the freedom of that sunshine and the joy of sunshine and happiness, and a little glitz and glamour," she added.
Florence Pugh has defended the see-through, hot-pink gown she wore at a 2022 Valentino fashion show on numerous occasions.
Immediately following the event, Pugh wrote in an Instagram post that she was "excited" to wear the dress and knew there was "no way there wouldn't be a commentary on it," either positive or negative.
Still, she called out those who shared especially harsh comments aimed at her outfit.
"I'm happy with all of the 'flaws' that I couldn't bear to look at when I was 14," she wrote. "So many of you wanted to aggressively let me know how disappointed you were by my 'tiny tits', or how I should be embarrassed by being so 'flat chested'. I've lived in my body for a long time. I'm fully aware of my breast size and am not scared of it."
She talked about the reaction to the gown again during an interview with Elle published on Tuesday.
"Unfortunately, we've become so terrified of the human body that we can't even look at my two little cute nipples behind fabric in a way that isn't sexual," she said. "We need to keep reminding everybody that there is more than one reason for women's bodies [to exist]."
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