21 Times Stars Bravely Suffered in the Name of Fashion

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Julia Louis-Dreyfus' Dress Literally Took Her Breath Away

Dominik Bindl/WireImage

The star wore a stunning black Dolce & Gabbana dress to the N.Y.C premiere of her film Downhill in Feb. 2020. Her impeccable look almost made it seem worth the fact that she could barely take a breath in her skin-tight ensemble.

“I can’t breathe so I don’t know if that’s meaningful,” the actress told Page Six as she posed on red carpet.

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Act 1

Julia Louis-Dreyfus/Instagram

The actress documented her struggle on her Instagram Stories in three parts.

In the first act, she’s seen looking “super psyched” (not) as she got her corset pulled even tighter.

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Act 2

Julia Louis-Dreyfus/Instagram

In the second, she carefully lowers herself down in a chair to see if she can actually sit in her dress.

Continued on next slide.

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Act 3

Julia Louis-Dreyfus/Instagram

Success! “Hooray, I can!” she exclaimed.

(And if you’ve been keeping score, Julia Louis-Dreyfus: 1, her super tight Dolce & Gabbana dress: 0.)

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Kylie Jenner Prefers Fashion Over Function

Kylie Jenner/Instagram

The Kylie Cosmetics mogul sparkled in a blue strapless gown by European high fashion house Ralph & Russo at the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party, but the form-fitting ensemble was a little too tight for the star to fully relax on the car ride over.

“Couldn’t really sit in this,” she wrote of the dress on Instagram. But despite the lack of mobility, Jenner said wearing the gorgeous garment was “worth it.”

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So Does Big Sister Kim

Kim Kardashian/Instagram

Kylie learned to suffer for beauty from the best of them: Her older sister, Kim Kardashian West.

On her way to the same Vanity Fair afterparty, Kim (wearing archival Alexander McQueen gifted to her by husband Kanye West for Christmas) posted an Instagram story noting, “I literally have to lay down in the car, like I cannot sit up because my dress will rip or pop or something. But it’s worth it — I’m a queen.”

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Rachel Brosnahan's Corset-Related Injury

Nicole Rivelli/Amazon

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel star explained on The Late Late Show that she suffered a “corset-related injury” thanks to Midge Maisel’s period-accurate attire.

“We talk so fast on the show that to get all the words out, you can’t really take very many breaths,” she explained. “And I think I wasn’t breathing a lot and I was a bit constrained and apparently some of my ribs are sort of fused together.”

The resultt? “I can’t take super deep breaths anymore,” Brosnahan said, adding that she’s “fine,” and that it’s just “Champagne problems.”

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Kylie Jenner's Beading Causes Bleeding

Karwai Tang/WireImage; Snapchat

When you slay as hard as Jenner did at the 2016 Met Gala, you’re bound to come home with a few battle wounds.

The heavily beaded design of her Balmain gown left scratches on her legs that bled, and the shoes left her feet so bruised, they turned purple. She showed her fans the damage on Snapchat, which made everyone want to slide on some dad sneakers, STAT.

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Nicole Kidman's Fashion Fix

Invision/AP (2)

The actress looked gorgeous in a custom Armani Privé gown at the 2017 Oscars, but before she even made it to the ceremony, her beaded dress had left its mark: painful-looking red blotches were seen around Kidman’s neckline early on the red carpet.

In the surest sign that the dress was too tight, the criss-cross straps snapped when she went in for a hug. She made a quick fix at her seat, turning the gown into a halter instead.

Continued on next slide.

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Jennifer Lawrence's Oscars Fall

ROBYN BECK/Getty Images

In an extremely relatable J. Law moment, the actress ate it on her way to receive her Academy Award for Best Actress in 2013. But it wasn’t clumsiness that caused her fall — it was her outfit.

“I tried to walk upstairs in this dress. That’s what happened,” she told reporters backstage. “I think I stepped on the fabric, and they waxed the stairs.”

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Camila Cabello Finds Ariana Grande's High Pony Is Harder Than it Looks

Ian West/PA Images; Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

“I just did a high ponytail for the first time and it is literally pulling on my BRAIN ITS SO PAINFUL HOW DO YOU DO IT @ArianaGrande,” the “Havana” singer tweeted from the MTV Europe Music Awards in 2018.

“i’m in constant pain always and don’t care at all,” Grande wrote back.

Eventually, a frustrated Cabello said “thank you, next” to the ponytail and let her hair down.

“Awwww so happy for you, you still feel things,” Grande said about the hair change, joking “MUST BE NICE *crying and smiling*.”

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Kylie Jenner Says Suffocation Is the Goal

David Fisher/REX/Shutterstock

The mom of one is all about achieving knockout looks that leave her (literally) breathless.

In Life of Kylie, the reality star tried on gowns for the 2017 Met Gala, giving memorable notes on the Versace gown she ended up picking for the event.

“This is really loose,” she tells her team, motioning to her waist. “It needs to be like this — like, where my body looks crazy. Like, I need to kind of suffocate.”

Continued on next slide.

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Bella Hadid's Bathroom-Barring Bodysuit

John Shearer/Getty

Clearly, the supermodel is willing to do anything to make a splash at the Met Gala. Her Alexander Wang bodysuit certainly turned heads at the 2017 bash, but the killer look required Hadid to make a very unfortunate sacrifice.

“It was nerve-racking. I couldn’t pee because I was sewn in from the top,” she told Harpers Bazaar of her bold catsuit. “I put my foot in the wrong part of the leotard at one point, so I had to take it off and put it back on again. It was a hassle, but worth it.”

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Julianne Hough's Overcrowded Stall

Julianne Hough/Instagram

While Hadid gave up on the idea of using the restroom all together, Hough contended with the challenges of relieving oneself while wearing a giant ball gown. As anyone who decided to “go big or go home” for prom or a wedding knows, doing so can become quite an ordeal.

The pro shared a photo of her struggle during the 2016 finale of Dancing with the Stars. And in typical Hough fashion, she endured the hardship with a smile.

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Lily Collins' Intense Posture and Defense Strategy

Jim Smeal/BEI/Shutterstock

One hazard of the sheer trend (as seen on the actress at the 2017 Golden Globes)? There’s no room for error: “Everything is very strategically placed up here, so one must hold their back up very straight and not slouch,” she told PEOPLE of her Zuhair Murad Couture gown.

That also means one must protect the gown’s skirt at all costs, lest a wayward shoe yank things out of place. “Everyone’s been stepping on my train! My mom is running up behind me, like, trying to kick people out of the way,” she said.

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Kim Kardashian's Cleavage Tape

The mom of four continued to put fashion first when she revealed the secret behind her gravity-defying cleavage.

“I’ve used everything from duct tape to packing tape to masking tape, and I think that the best I found is gaffer tape,” she wrote on her website. “It sticks the best!”

We can’t even imagine the pain she felt while taking the tape off. Good thing she’s learned from her past and now has her own SKIMS body tape to save herself from the pain.

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That Time Beyoncé Couldn't Walk in Her Dress

Marion Curtis/StarPix/REX/Shutterstock

Beyoncé’s commitment to killing it at the Met Gala is admirable – and occasionally, immoblizing.

After posing for photos, Bey needed several full-body escorts to propel her up the Met Gala’s famous steps into the party. But honestly, who really needs to walk when people will come to you?

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Victoria Beckham's Poor, Poor Feet

AKM-GSI

Though she’d been associated with sky-high stilettos ever since her Posh Spice days, the fashion designer finally had to give in to the joys of flat footwear after years of teetering around took its tool.

“I just can’t do heels any more. At least not when I’m working,” she announced in 2016. “I travel a lot. Clothes have to be simple and comfortable.”

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Jennifer Garner's Panic Attack-Inducing Oscars Dress

Steve Granitz/WireImage

The actress’s serene smile had us totally fooled at the 2016 Academy Awards. Apparently, her Atelier Versace gown was super uncomfortable, she confessed on the Tonight Show.

The dress, which was custom-made for her, had interior boning made out of metal to accentuate an hourglass shape, and, well, we’ll let her tell it.

“What they do is they move your organs around,” she told host Jimmy Fallon. “Basically, there are two men who come in with screw guns, and they screwed me into a metal corset … and the next thing you know, my ribs were compressed!”

Host Jimmy Fallon tried to compare it to Spanx, but Garner wasn’t having it: “No, dude, it’s so intense. There’s metal inside it, and these people just move your ribs and they move your liver to the side.”

Four hours into the Oscars telecast, she continued, “I had a panic attack in my ribs, I was having a muscle spasm.” Naturally, her first instinct was to stand, but her best friend and date for the evening warned her people would think she was pulling a Kanye and protesting the ceremony.

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Zooey Deschanel's Cold Shoulders

Alberto Rodriguez/Getty Images

No one expected the 2013 Golden Globes to be so chilly, so of course, everyone still wore their L.A.-weather best.

When PEOPLE asked Zooey Deschanel on the red carpet about how she’s suffered for fashion’s sake, she replied, “I am suffering [now] … it’s really actually a comfortable dress, it’s just colder than I thought it would be.”

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When Everyone Got Sweaty at the Emmys

Twitter

On the other hand, the 2015 Emmys were way hotter than expected. No one was safe from the sweating — especially the men, who typically wear long sleeves and suits!

Mario Lopez was happy to share his suffering with a photo on Twitter (but luckily, he was able to keep changing into new white shirts).

Continued on next slide.

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Cardi B's Wedgie Woes

cardi b/instagram

The Money rapper absolutely slayed in an all-denim, three-piece outfit by Dolce & Gabbana and Namilia. The only problem? “These pants is too m— f— tight,” she lamented while in a seriously candid Instagram video. “S— was giving my p— a wedgie,” said the rapper, before explaining the pants-down-in-the-car strategy that lets her *ahem* breathe.

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Kim Kardashian's Faux Foot Tattoo

Kim Kardashian/Instagram

Walking in heels is hard enough, but Kim took it a step further by walking in them while pregnant with daughter North in 2013. Her feet weren’t too pleased. She shared a photo of visible marks left from the constricting straps on Instagram, writing, “Swollen feet or a new Givenchy tattoo??”

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Bella Hadid

Jackson Lee/Getty Images

The model didn’t mess around at the Met Gala in 2018. Hair stylist Jen Atkin sewed a 10-pound veil into her hair, she explained on Instagram.

“If I start [leaning back] it’s not because I’m trying to leave, it’s because I actually am getting pulled,” the model told Vogue on the red carpet. That’s one way to make an entrance (or exit).

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21 Times Stars Bravely Suffered in the Name of Fashion

1 of 24

Julia Louis-Dreyfus' Dress Literally Took Her Breath Away

1 of 24

2 of 24

Act 1

2 of 24

3 of 24

Act 2

3 of 24

4 of 24

Act 3

4 of 24

5 of 24

Kylie Jenner Prefers Fashion Over Function

5 of 24

6 of 24

So Does Big Sister Kim

6 of 24

7 of 24

Rachel Brosnahan's Corset-Related Injury

7 of 24

8 of 24

Kylie Jenner's Beading Causes Bleeding

8 of 24

9 of 24

Nicole Kidman's Fashion Fix

9 of 24

10 of 24

Jennifer Lawrence's Oscars Fall

10 of 24

11 of 24

Camila Cabello Finds Ariana Grande's High Pony Is Harder Than it Looks

11 of 24

12 of 24

Kylie Jenner Says Suffocation Is the Goal

12 of 24

13 of 24

Bella Hadid's Bathroom-Barring Bodysuit

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14 of 24

Julianne Hough's Overcrowded Stall

14 of 24

15 of 24

Lily Collins' Intense Posture and Defense Strategy

15 of 24

16 of 24

Kim Kardashian's Cleavage Tape

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17 of 24

That Time Beyoncé Couldn't Walk in Her Dress

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Victoria Beckham's Poor, Poor Feet

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19 of 24

Jennifer Garner's Panic Attack-Inducing Oscars Dress

19 of 24

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Zooey Deschanel's Cold Shoulders

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21 of 24

When Everyone Got Sweaty at the Emmys

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22 of 24

Cardi B's Wedgie Woes

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Kim Kardashian's Faux Foot Tattoo

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Bella Hadid

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