The red carpet is more than just a place for stars to pose for pictures. It’s also a great place for designers to show off their creations. Still, even some of the most iconic names in the industry have had to account for unexpected fashion challenges.
Winnie Forsyth
At the 2013 British Academy Film Awards, Winnie Forsyth sported this yellow gown and got some really stunning photos. What we don’t see as much of is the train. That’s because the star removed it for an easier but equally elegant evening after the wind picked up.
Hayden Panettiere
Hayden Panettiere is no stranger to red carpet shows. Still, even a professional can take the wrong step here and there. Hayden Panettiere was attending the 2014 Met Gala in a ballgown fit for a Disney movie.
The length was a bit of a struggle, though. While she mostly managed it flawlessly, the stairs on the red carpet got the better of her. Luckily, the actress took it in stride and managed to get a few great photos on those same stairs.
Jenny McCarthy
Jenny McCarthy looked stunning at the 1997 Oscars but said something seemed off. She told US Weekly that there was a reason her dress felt too tight.
She shared in the interview that she “walked down the red carpet, went to the Vanity Fair party, felt like a million dollars but I did wonder why it was so tight in the chest all night.” Her questions were answered when she ran into Valentino himself who informed her that she was wearing the dress backward.
Ashley Graham
Anyone who has ever put on a pair of stilettos can tell you that they aren’t easy to walk in. Still, some people manage to make it look effortless!
With that difficulty in mind, it’s no surprise that stars stumble sometimes. As a supermodel, Graham is no stranger to making difficult outfits look effortless. Yet, everyone still had a moment of concern when the star got a stiletto caught on her outfit. The good news is that she was fine and even recovered right away!
Sofia Vergara
Sofia Vergara is no newbie on the red carpet. That’s why you could have missed theModern Family star’s fashion crisis in 2012 at the Emmys.
Vergara was there to accept an award for Best Comedy Series along with the rest of the team involved in Modern Family. Yet, a backstage sneak peek showed us that sometimes in Hollywood, you have to make last-minute adjustments to glamourous looks to avoid problems like them splitting down the seams.
Cameron Diaz
When Charlie’s Angels premiered in 2003, Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu, and Cameron Diaz did a lot to promote the film. Of course, this included a few red carpet appearances. At the 2003 premiere of the movie, the actresses all showed up in coordinating white outfits.
Luckily, Barrymore and Liu were right there as Diaz lost a shoe crossing the street to meet a few fans. We suppose a broken shoe strap is the least that Charlie’s angels have had to deal with!
Nicki Minaj
Nicki Minaj has shown off quite a few eye-catching outfits over the years. She’s even managed to adapt those outfits on the fly when things go wrong. There are surely plenty of fashion crises that we never even noticed over the years.
When the rapper attended the MTV Music Video Awards back in 2014, her gown unexpectedly flew open! What would end in disaster for most people, though, the star simply caught her dress before it was too late and played the whole thing off like it was nothing.
Lili Reinhart
Speaking of fearful fashion moments that we didn’t see, you would have never have known that Lili Reinhart needed some last-minute alterations at the 2017 Teen Choice Awards.
All in all, the actress looked great for the event and it was only because she shared the blue carpet mishap on Twitter. She shared that she was thrilled to be there even after “the waist-band of my dress was held together by two strings and one of them completely ripped as I was being zipped up.”
Lady Gaga
If there’s one person who isn’t afraid to deal with an impractical outfit, it’s Lady Gaga. She wasn’t going to disappoint at the 2011 CFDA Fashion Awards. The singer was more than attending too — she was accepting a fashion icon award while she was there!
For all of the complicated parts of this outfit, Gaga nailed the train and impossibly high heels, only hitting a momentary drag when her top fell down. Still, the icon just pulled it up and kept going.
Zendaya
We’ve already briefly touched on the challenges of wearing staggeringly high heels to walk across the red carpet. They’re hard to keep your balance in when you aren’t posing for photos!
At the 2016 Radio Disney Music Awards, Zendaya rocked a pair of shockingly high yellow heels. Her stylist once shared with Footwear News, “Rumor has it that he said he did not design the shows to be worn outside. Literally eight minutes into the walk to the carpet, I was holding her up because her legs were buckling.”
Behati Prinsloo
There are certain jobs that would make you ready to handle fashion mishaps. We imagine a Victoria’s Secret Angel would have to know how to adapt to a fashion mishap. That’s what happened to Behati Prinsloo when she and her husband Adam Levine walked the carpet at the 2015 Vanity Fair Oscar Party.
Her dress seemed like a no-fail choice. Unfortunately, she noticed it slipping down throughout the night but didn’t miss a beat in avoiding disaster — thanks to her trusty hubby. As you can see, the two shrugged off the mishap with a couple of laughs.
Ben Affleck
Women’s fashion is highly critiqued on the red carpet but that doesn’t mean that they’re the only ones who make a fashion mistake here and there.
Ben Affleck experienced a red carpet disaster of his own, although it could have been much worse. While his outfit for the Suicide Squad premiere in 2016, his slate suit was a safe choice. He just might have wanted to take a few more minutes on the buttons before stepping out.
Micaela Schäefer
Fashion is an art form and it seems that it knows no bounds. You might even notice that some designers try to add new looks using traditional textiles.
Micaela Schäefer made waves with a unique look at the Men in Black 3 premiere in Germany. The bottom half of the gown was made up entirely of the film from VHS tapes. As a result, the wind frequently swept the skirt away but Schäefer seemed to accept the wind as part of the look and went with it.
Katherine Heigl
Katherine Heigl had a big night at the ShoWest Awards in 2010. She was there to accept the Female Star of the Year Award, after all!
She even had the perfect gown for the event — until the shoulder strap broke, that is. Luckily, the star managed to catch the issue with help from presenter Billy Bush. This allowed her to continue her speech and accept the award without letting the surprise trouble interrupt her for too long.
Mario Lopez
If you find yourself in an embarrassing situation, sometimes you might find laughing at the situation helps. Mario Lopez did, at least.
On the way to one red carpet event, he ran into some last-minute issues with his suit. They were pretty hard to ignore too! So, the actor decided to own the situation, sharing the debacle on Twitter even adding the tags #PantsTooTight and #Undies to poke fun at the unfortunate situation.
Rihanna
Rihanna was there to stun everyone at the Ocean’s 8 premiere. For the event, the musician and actress donned a Poiret dress accented with eye-catching metallic gold that draped down one shoulder.
Unfortunately, it was this sliding sleeve that caused the star so much trouble. Nothing disastrous happened but the sleeve keep trying to continue its descent, leaving her pulling it back up between photos. The good news is that she successfully avoided disaster and got a few good snapshots too!
Katy Perry
There are times that you just have to go with what happens to an outfit because there’s nothing you can do. That’s where Katy Perry found herself at the 2017 Academy Awards.
The dress she wore, designed by Jean Paul Gaultier, took some vintage inspiration. It made it through the red carpet but at the Vanity Fair afterparty, the gown tore at the seam on the drop-waist. Perry managed to stay covered but the designer dress was done for.
Dakota Johnson
To her credit, Dakota Johnson did safely make it through the red carpet at the People’s Choice Awards in 2016. The wardrobe malfunction in question happened on stage.
Ironically, the actress was accepting an award as Favorite Dramatic Movie Actress for her role in 50 Shades of Grey when her top started to come undone. Luckily, actress Leslie Mann snagged it just in time. Johnson quickly cracked a joke about what happened, saying that if the top had come off, it wasn’t anything anybody hadn’t seen before.
Bella Hadid
Bella and Gigi Hadid are a pair of supermodel sisters who have reached quite a bit of fame over the years. So, neither is a stranger to handling a little fashion mishap.
For Bella Hadid, the 2016 Cannes Film Festival came with some challenges. She went for a strikingly classic look with a high-slit red gown and a pair of heels. While the supermodel pulled it off, the train was deceptively difficult to handle.
Lily-Rose Depp
Lily-Rose Depp is a talented actress in her own right. At the event we’re talking about here, she was celebrating the premiere of the movie The King.
While at the premiere, the actress opted for a gown from Chanel’s 2020 collection. It featured a halter top complete with a ruffled texture. One particularly strong gust of wind tried to blow her top out of place but the actress just caught it with a laugh and readjusted it for the next picture.
Cardi B
Cardi B has gotten a lot of attention for her fashion sense over the years. In 2018, she attended a performance in Calibash where she performed “La Modelo”.
The dress was gorgeous and classic design but it came with a major drawback. Once the rapper was on the red carpet and under the stage lights, it became clear that the dress was transparent. She later wrote on Instagram, “Last night was LIT!!! Even tho I realize my dress was see-through and I realized at the last minute.”
Kim Kardashian
Kim Kardashian is well-known for her fashion sense, so it’s no surprise she didn’t pull any punches at the opening for The Cher Show in a vintage Versace gown.
The gown featured a halter top to keep the back open. The only problem was the star made a bit of a mistake during the red carpet when she over-adjusted her dress to expose part of her chest. Kardashian didn’t hesitate to laugh it off, even sharing it on Instagram censored with a GIF of Cher.
Emily Ratajkowski
A train on a gown can add a lot to the design. Yet, the longer your dress is, the harder it likely is to make sure you’re aware of it all night long.
Emily Ratajkowski is no stranger to difficult outfits as a supermodel. So, she probably handled the challenge of her gold gown at the 2017 Golden Globes more than most people would. Still, it was clear that the train was getting in the way in some of the photos.