14 DAY TRIAL // One of the first appearances on the red carpet at the Golden Globes 2014, held Sunday at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, was Hayden Panettiere, who was nominated for her role in “Nashville.” She was wearing Tom Ford and, as it turns out, she had paid for the dress out of her own pocket.
That might not seem like such an extraordinary thing for us mortals (after all, you’re supposed to pay for the things you use / wear, right?) but, for stars attending such a major industry event, it’s almost unheard of.
What usually happens behind the scenes of the red carpet ceremony is that designers send dresses to stars: the bigger the star, the more famous the designer; also, the bigger the star, the more offers from various big-name designers. At the same time, jewelers do the same so, after consulting with their stylists, celebrities can create their perfect outfit for the night.
Tom Ford has a “tradition” of sorts, in that he always dresses just one woman for every big red carpet. This year at the Globes, she was Naomi Watts, who looked divine in a gold dress with tiny sheer panels on the side and an oversized chain neckline.
Hayden was also thinking of wearing Ford but, since he had already chosen his star for the night and because she was so set on a certain dress, she went ahead and bought it off the rack, Too Fab reports. You can see it in the photo attached to this article.
“It's the first time I've ever worn him. I feel [gorgeous] in it, I feel comfortable in it, and I'm in Tom Ford. I would wear a plastic bag if it was designed by him,” the actress told reporters on the red carpet, explaining why she decided to fork up the cash for the dress.
As every other designer, Tom was probably watching the red carpet ceremony or read about it in the media so, when he found out what she did, he sent her flowers and a note reading, “Dear Hayden, you looked beautiful last night. Thank you for your kind words. Much love, Tom.”
Hayden posted a pic of the flowers and the note on her Twitter, with the message “Thank you.”
The fun fact about this is that, while both Hayden and Tom seemed to be pleased about how this turned out, she was actually included on many worst dressed lists because the dress was a bit ill-fitting. It was also deemed unsuitable for the occasion, and made to look even worse by the poor styling Hayden got.