Mar 2, 2011 19:41 GMT  ·  By
Joan Collins in the dress that brought on the “Victorian swoon” at the Oscars 2011 Vanity Fair party
   Joan Collins in the dress that brought on the “Victorian swoon” at the Oscars 2011 Vanity Fair party

Sometimes, being glamorous comes at (too high) a cost: screen icon Joan Collins learned this the hard way at the Vanity Fair post-Oscar party the other night, when she was carried out by an ambulance after fainting.

The 77-year-old actress, who hit the fancy VF party with her husband, started feeling dizzy and faint at some point during the evening, PageSix reports.

She tried the “usual” ways of seeking some alleviation and, when none of that worked, she agreed to be seen by a doctor. Her husband called the ambulance.

“The ‘Dynasty’ diva, who had joined Graydon Carter’s viewing party and dinner at Hollywood’s iconic Sunset Tower Hotel, started to feel faint at about 10 p.m. and rested on a sofa in the hotel’s Tower Bar before her husband, Percy Gibson, called an ambulance,” PageSix writes.

The reason why this didn’t get out in the press earlier is that she was “discreetly” escorted to the ambulance through the back door and no representative of the media got wind of it.

Luckily, the dizzy spell did not come with a serious health scare: the dress was to blame, Joan says for the e-zine in a statement.

“We had been there for seven hours, and I started feeling dizzy. I tried to get some air, but I felt really faint. I wanted to leave in our limo, but Percy decided to call an ambulance,” she says.

“We went to the hospital, and they did all the tests before the doctors told me I was absolutely fine and released me,” the star adds.

It’s good to see that the trip to the ER hasn’t damaged her unmistakable sense of humor. She refers to the whole thing as something worthy of a Victorian novel.

“The truth was, I made the wrong decision to wear a very tight dress, and had something rather like a Victorian swoon. The good news is, I am in good health and feel fine today,” Collins adds.