We’ve all heard the saying “beauty is pain,” but some celebrities take this to a whole new level when they choose their red carpet looks. It’s one thing to want to stand out and look memorable, but sometimes the extremes they are willing to go to are really surprising. Sometimes these people are willing not only to forgo comfort for the sake of the look, but to withstand pain, and even consider breathing nonessential. Let’s take a look at some of these outfits!
Zendaya
Zendaya loves a good fashion moment, and she managed to really wow everyone at the Dune: Part Two premiere. She wore a high-concept suit of armour by Thierry Mugler. She definitely stood out and made a lasting impression, but that outfit did not look comfortable at all. Zendaya even later admitted that she felt lightheaded while wearing it because the metal elements heated up pretty fast, and the suit just trapped heat, so she was really burning up in there.
Rihanna
We all know Rihanna never disappoints with her fashion, but her look for the 2018 Met Gala was something else. The theme that year was “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination,” so obviously Rihanna decided to get inspired by the pope. Her heavily embellished mini dress, with a cape and a bishop’s hat, weighed a ton, and she said that every step felt like a squat. She also joked that her butt must’ve gained from that night. Wearing that look was a real workout.
Anne Hathaway
Anne wore a red corset-style leather dress to the Versace runway show. It fitted her like a glove, and she looked absolutely stunning in the red dress. But the problem was that she couldn’t really sit in it. She even posted a gallery on Instagram showing how she was basically half lying down on the couch because sitting in the dress was nearly impossible. And according to the caption on the Instagram post, breathing was a bit of a challenge as well. But despite all that, Anne Hathaway insisted she absolutely loved it and was very happy.
Kim Kardashian
Kim wore a custom Maison Margiela dress to the Met Gala in 2024 and looked stunning. The dress was definitely very fitted, but she also had a little grey cardigan that she wore on top. The cardigan might’ve fooled you into thinking that she was cosy and comfortable, but the reality was very different. Kim has shared that the dress was actually very tight and made her feel claustrophobic, like she couldn’t breathe. She said she had never been in this much pain in her life, but it was worth it.
Kylie Jenner
Kylie’s first-ever Met Gala was in 2016. It was a huge deal, and her outfit of choice was a silver Balmain gown: very shimmery, very tight. You can tell it was way too form-fitting to be comfortable. Add the heels she was wearing, and you know it had to be painful. But after the event, Kylie actually shared on Snapchat that the dress caused some mild injuries. In her Snapchat photo, you can clearly see that it cut her leg in a few places and that her feet were purple.
Taylor Swift
Taylor described her 2018 American Music Awards look as “a melted-down disco ball,” and she wasn’t wrong. She did look very sparkly. It was a long-sleeved mini dress by Balmain with matching boots. But the thing is, she could barely move in it. It was very restrictive, she couldn’t lift her arms, and breathing was kind of difficult.
Bella Hadid
Bella’s dress for the 2018 Met Gala featured a latex corset, which already sounds not exactly comfy, but what was actually painful was the veil she wore. It was heavily embellished, weighed around 25 lbs, and was actually sewn into Bella’s hair, so she couldn’t take it off. She basically couldn’t move her head because of it. But Bella still says it was one of her favourite looks and that she felt really sexy and beautiful.
Kendall Jenner
Kendall wore a black two-piece Prada look to the 2022 Met Gala, and according to her, the huge, heavy skirt gave her a panic attack. She was out of breath by the time she got out of the car and went straight onto the red carpet. The skirt was very heavy and difficult to move in, and while no one could tell because Kendall was posing for the photos, internally, she was panicking.
Elle Fanning
Elle’s look for the 2019 Cannes Film Festival didn’t exactly look painful. It was a sweet Prada ballgown with flower details. But Elle later shared in an interview with W Magazine that the dress was way too tight, and she ended up fainting at her table. She just fell back with her chair, and it was very dramatic.
Doja Cat
We all remember that time Doja Cat showed up to the Schiaparelli runway show head-to-toe in red body paint and crystals. It was extraordinary, but the process of achieving that look was long and overwhelming, and she also had a stomach bug at the time. So overall, she described it as one of the most painful experiences of her life.
Katy Perry
Katy Perry’s chandelier look was elaborate, to say the least, but it also contained a steel-boned corset and battery packs to keep the lights on. So one wrong move for her could’ve resulted in a lot of pain, either from the corset or from burning herself on the lights. And after all of that, she was named one of the worst-dressed people at that Met Gala, and her look resulted in countless memes.
Natalia Bryant
Usually, when you hear the phrase “structured dress,” you already know it’s not comfy. But Natalia Bryant’s 2021 Met Gala look was a Conner Ives dress, which was very fun and multicoloured, but she couldn’t sit in it. She had to arrive in a Sprinter van standing up. That must’ve been one hell of a night for her when she couldn’t even sit down and take a break.
Anne Hathaway Again in Versace
Anne Hathaway seems to have a complicated relationship with Versace. She keeps wearing their dresses, but they keep making ones that look great but are extremely uncomfortable. Her 2023 Met Gala look was no exception to that rule. The dress was made of white tweed, which doesn’t sound too bad, but it was strategically held together with big, sharp metal safety pins, which was quite dangerous. Despite this, Anne said it was one of her favourite looks.
Kim Kardashian Again in Mugler
The 2019 Met Gala saw Kim Kardashian wearing a Mugler dress that was as phenomenal-looking as it was painful. Kim looked like she had emerged from a body of water looking absolutely enchanting, with droplets of water — actually crystals — dripping off of her. But in order to fit into it, she had to take special corset breathing lessons, and she has admitted that wearing it was very painful and that the corset left marks all over her back.