Anne Hathaway Apologizes For Not Wearing Valentino To The Oscars
Anne Hathaway in her Prada Oscars look and a dress from Valentino's s/s 2013 collection.
Photo: Getty
Who would have thought that NOT wearing a dress could cause such a stir?! Who would have thought that Anne Hathaway could be so controversial?! We never would have pegged the now-Academy-Award-winning actress as either the progenitor of a meme or as the spark for a firestorm, but that's exactly what went down at the Oscars on Sunday night. One of the preferred activities of fashion pundits is, of course, to speculate about what the biggest names on the carpet are going to wear, and Anne was thought to be a no-brainer. "She'll wear Valentino!" they all said, and moved on to the less predictable starlets. It was something of a shock, therefore, for Anne to take the red carpet not in her trusty Valentino, but in the pink Prada dress heard round the world Twittersphere. While Anne's "les nipperables" moment may have take center stage to the designer she had chosen to wear, once the meme-frenzy died down heads began to be scratched. Anne was quoted on the red carpet mentioning over and over that she had chosen her dress mere hours before hopping in her limo and heading to the ceremony, so there was definitely an air of something a little fishy going on. We, on the other hand, are extremely familiar with the last minute quick change, as we frequently get almost all the way out the door before deciding that we have on the wrong shoes, or necklace, or, well, whole outfit! So, what's the big deal anyway? We unpack the great dress debate after the jump!
With any big controversy, it's important to start at the beginning. Anne started her relationship with Valentino in 2011, when she wore one of his gowns to the Oscars that year. Their relationship deepened when Anne commissioned the designer to craft her wedding dress. As you can imagine, this is a HUGE thing to trust a designer with, so when Anne named Valentino as her man, their relationship seemed founded in stone. The 2013 Oscars were, we would venture to guess, perhaps the second biggest moment in Anne's life thus far (after her aforementioned wedding, which wins), and so it was fair to guess that she would trust her favorite designer to clothe her for it. This was the plan, according to the statement Anne made about the whole thing (via WWD), but like all things in life, the plan is not always how things shake out. We suspect (although the dress has not been confirmed) that Anne was planning to wear a high necked, taupe lace number (pictured above) for her big walk down the red carpet, but when she heard about the similar hue and similar silhouette of Les Mis co-star Amanda Seyfried's gown, she realized that she might quickly have to come up with a plan be. The pink Prada that she ended up in was that plan B. It's still not entirely clear why this last minute change had the fashion world so up in arms, but it does underscore just how important designer relationships are to actors, and how integral red carpet fashion is to the business of entertainment. While we doubt this means we'll never see Anne in another Valentino, we certainly can guarantee that all eyes will be on her the next time she steps out on a major red carpet.
What do you think of the Anne Hathaway/Valentino hullabaloo?
