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Betsey Johnson says she took her pants off in front of a judge to get married because women weren't allowed to wear them in 1968

Jul 19, 2023, 23:12 IST
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Betsey Johnson does her famous split at a Macy's event during New York Fashion week on September 7, 2016.Mike Pont/Getty Images
  • Betsey Johnson reflected on what she wore to her first wedding in a TikTok video posted on Monday.
  • She said she arrived at City Hall in bell-bottom pants but was asked by the judge to change.
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Betsey Johnson has always been unconventional — even on her first wedding day in the '60s.

In a video posted to her official TikTok page on Monday, the 80-year-old fashion designer looked back on marrying John Cale, a co-founder of The Velvet Underground, in 1968.

At the time, according to Johnson, she wasn't allowed to wear pants during the ceremony and had to change on the spot.

"We went to City Hall to go get married," she said in her video. "All of a sudden, they're saying, 'We can't marry you in pants.' Can you believe that?"

The video has been viewed more than 255,000 times as of Wednesday.

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Johnson said she had been wearing "a beautiful, burgundy, crushed-velvet tunic top" with bell-bottom pants, while Cale was clad in a canvas suit she'd made for him.

While she noted that women "couldn't do anything" in pants at the time, she didn't want the style standard to interfere with her nuptials.

"I was wearing a crotch-length, little tunic top," she said. "So right in front of the judge, I said, 'I'm not gonna go home to change. I'll just take my pants off.'"

Despite her original outfit, Johnson still seems to appreciate classic wedding gowns.

After divorcing Cale in 1971, the designer married Jeffrey Oliviere in 1981.

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Little is known about their relationship, but photos reveal that they married in a church while Johnson wore a white gown with balloon sleeves.

Jeffrey Oliviere and Betsy Johnson leave their wedding ceremony on February 7, 1981.Allan Tannenbaum/Getty Images

The designer has also featured multiple wedding dresses — each with quirky, colorful touches — in her runway shows over the years.

A model walks the Betsey Johnson Fall/Winter runway on February 10, 2003.Matthew Peyton/Stringer/Getty Images
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