Many celebrities, when asked whether they enjoy dressing for the red carpet, will feign shyness.
asserted
they → ask → shyness
They’ll tell you that the flashbulb parades are just a part of the job that has to be done, and that being all dolled up for a premiere is something one must tolerate while playing the part of a “serious actor”.
asserted
one → tell → actor
She embraces the showmanship wholeheartedly.
asserted
She → embrace → showmanship
She does the glitter and the bodycon, the plunge neckline and the thigh-high split, whether she’s at Elton John’s peak-Hollywood Oscars party (she’s a patron of the Elton John Aids Foundation) or graciously accepting an unexpected award in a German spa town.
asserted
she → do → town
“I’ve always found it much easier to dress for the red carpet than for everyday life,” she admits.
asserted
she → find → life
“I find black-tie events easy-peasy, but smart-casual surprisingly tricky.”
asserted
events → find → ?
Now 61, Hurley’s approach to glamorous dressing has, on paper, hardly changed since she arrived in showbusiness in the 1990s, starring in films such as Austin Powers and Mad Dogs and Englishmen, and upstaging her then-partner Hugh Grant when she wore a sliver of a Versace gown held together by gold safety pins at the Four Weddings and a Funeral premiere.
asserted
she → change → premiere
“I engage in the art of eliminating what I don’t like and highlighting what I do,” she says of her approach to finding the right gown for her figure.
asserted
she → engage → figure
“Fit always comes first.
asserted
Fit → come → ?
You can wear the most beautiful dress in the world, but if it doesn’t fit properly, you’ll never feel your best.
asserted
you → wear → world
I’m not bad at altering things myself, but I also have a good alterationist and I’m forever having clothes nipped and tucked.”
asserted
clothes → ’m → alterationist
“I certainly wasn’t thinking about creating a fashion moment; I just wore what I could get my hands on.
uncertain
I → think → hands
Her safety-pin dress of 1994 is still regarded as seminal, effectively unclasping a trend for “naked dressing” that has since been reworked time and again by stars such as Kim Kardashian and Beyoncé.
asserted
that → regard → Kardashian
Hurley is their pin-up; she’s still cited as a reference on designer mood boards some 30 years later.
asserted
she → cite → boards
“It’s very flattering because, at the time, I certainly wasn’t thinking about creating a fashion moment; I just wore what I could get my hands on,” she insists.
uncertain
she → ’ → hands
The dress was a last-minute borrow, handed over by a publicist in a white plastic bag.
asserted
dress → hand → bag
And it wasn’t the only outfit she wore in the 1990s to have a major impact, resulting in her being featured on front pages around the world.
asserted
her → wear → world
“I remember in the ’90s wearing a lace Emanuel Ungaro dress that was completely see-through, with large knickers underneath,” she says.
asserted
she → remember → knickers
“It was about 30 years ahead of its time and I think it was viewed back then as eye-poppingly risqué.
asserted
it → think → time
Ditto my Versace safety-pin dress; it was considered extremely shocking and special 30 years ago; I doubt anyone would turn a hair if it were debuted today.”
asserted
it → ditto → hair
Hurley didn’t use the services of a professional stylist back then, but has collaborated with several in the years since.
asserted
Hurley → use → years
“Through the ’90s and 2000s, I was sent all my red-carpet looks directly from brands such as Versace, Gucci and Fendi, with whom I still have wonderful relationships,” she explains.
asserted
she → send → relationships
Freddie Leiba sourced some of her favourite looks for films, while another New York-based stylist, Ann Caruso, still puts together the “vast pink wardrobes” she wears for all of her breast cancer fundraising activities.
asserted
she → source → activities
She adds, “Mike Adler, who I work with in the UK, also pulls great looks for me, including the magnificent Celia Kritharioti dress I wore to the Vanity Fair Oscars party last year.”
asserted
I → add → party
Her village is well versed in what she likes to wear at those events.
asserted
she → verse → events
“Valentino, who sadly passed away earlier this year, used to always tell me that everything had to look ‘easy’,” she says.
asserted
she → pass → me
“Never looking like you tried too hard.
asserted
you → look → ?
The object was to not look like a ‘lady who lunched’.”
Her friend Joan Collins, 93, is another glamorous guiding influence.
asserted
friend → look → lady
“I call her ‘mommy dearest’,” says Hurley.
asserted
Hurley → call → her
These teachings have led Hurley to shop in a mix of places, including dresses from Versace, Zhivago and Roberto Cavalli and resort wear from Charo Ruiz Ibiza and her own brand, Elizabeth Hurley Beach.
asserted
teachings → lead → Ibiza
Two recent advertising campaigns for Canadian label Joseph Ribkoff have helped her address a self-acknowledged missing link: polished daywear.
asserted
her → help → link
“The clothes are elegant, flattering and incredibly easy to wear,” she says.
asserted
she → wear → ?
“They make you feel put together without looking as though you’ve tried too hard.
asserted
you → make → ?
I can’t abide anything that digs in anywhere.”
asserted
that → abide → anything
This is another new diktat from a woman who has previously admitted to tolerating boning so sharp it made her bleed.
asserted
her → admit → boning
Hurley’s wardrobe at her home, a Georgian mansion in Herefordshire, UK, is “messy”, she admits, “[but] I know where everything is”.
asserted
everything → admit → Herefordshire
Splitting her time between there and Nashville, the home of her partner of two years, country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, might lead to the illusion that she’s living out of a suitcase.
uncertain
she → split → suitcase
“Most people think my closet looks like I’ve been burgled,” she jokes.
asserted
she → think → ?
“I’m a perfect candidate for a hoarding show as I loathe throwing anything out.
asserted
I → ’m → anything
I’ve kept pretty much everything I’ve ever worn, except my Versace safety-pin dress, which is in the Metropolitan Museum [of Art, in New York].
asserted
which → keep → York
…and 22 more, not listed.
The Aporia
