WEBVTT - What Happens to Red Carpet Dresses?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogel bomb here. The popularity of award show fashion

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<v Speaker 1>has practically eclipsed the award shows themselves. For example, the

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<v Speaker 1>E Network now devotes an entire broadcast day to the

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<v Speaker 1>Oscars Red Carpet, starting with a morning pre pre show

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<v Speaker 1>followed by hours long live coverage. For designers, the Red

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<v Speaker 1>Carpet is one of the most visible and buzzed about

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<v Speaker 1>ways to promote their brands. Some top designers will pay

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<v Speaker 1>a list, actresses and musicians big bucks to wear their

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<v Speaker 1>dresses or jewelry between one hundred thousand and two hundred

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<v Speaker 1>and fifty thousand dollars, depending on the star power of

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<v Speaker 1>the given celebrity. Other celebrities are allowed to borrow a

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<v Speaker 1>designer dress, handbag, or jewel studded necklace for the night

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<v Speaker 1>for free, of course, in order to get the designer's

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<v Speaker 1>name into the highly clickable Red carpet photo slide shows.

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<v Speaker 1>But what happens to that very expensive dress when the

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<v Speaker 1>red carpet is rolled up and the TV camera us

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<v Speaker 1>move on to the next event. Is the gown stuffed

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<v Speaker 1>into a closet never to be worn again? Or does

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<v Speaker 1>the designer take it down to the dry cleaner and

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<v Speaker 1>try to sell it on Craigslist. We reached out to

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<v Speaker 1>Ariana Wisener, a Hollywood stylist, for some answers. Wisener, who

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<v Speaker 1>dresses celebrities for award shows, press tours, and magazine spreads,

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<v Speaker 1>says that one of the dresses loaned out for awards

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<v Speaker 1>shows go right back to the designer or okay, like nine.

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<v Speaker 1>Weisner said, on rare occasions, the designer will gift the

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<v Speaker 1>celebrity the gown. One famous example the ethereal and deeply

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<v Speaker 1>plunging green Versaci dress that Jennifer Lopez wore to the

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<v Speaker 1>Grammys in the year two thousand. Wisner said Versaci gifted

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<v Speaker 1>her the dress because it was such an iconic moment,

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<v Speaker 1>and indeed it was. According to a blog post by

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<v Speaker 1>Google CEO Eric Schmidt, the dress was the direct inspiration

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<v Speaker 1>for creating Google image search. The really big design houses

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<v Speaker 1>like Dior, Louis Vuitton, and Chanel will take back a

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<v Speaker 1>red carpet dress and keep it in their archives, says Wisener.

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<v Speaker 1>You won't see a statement gown from the Oscars resold

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<v Speaker 1>to the public, dry cleaned or not, but that's not

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<v Speaker 1>the case for lower tier designers. Wisener sites the rise

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<v Speaker 1>of fashion rental companies in Los Angeles and New York

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<v Speaker 1>for this trend. Less conspicuous red carpet dresses from whatever

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<v Speaker 1>designers Wisener's term could very well end up on the

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<v Speaker 1>racks of shops like Our Miriam or rent the runway

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<v Speaker 1>a few years after a big event. Sample sales are

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<v Speaker 1>another place where you might stumble upon address that a

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<v Speaker 1>celebrity war for one big night. When a designer's warehouse

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<v Speaker 1>becomes overstuffed with leftovers from events, last year's line and

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<v Speaker 1>sample sized dresses that were tried on repeatedly in the store,

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<v Speaker 1>they hold a sample sale, frequently involving deep discounts. Even

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<v Speaker 1>if you can't get the very same dress that a

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<v Speaker 1>celeb war on the red carpet, you might be able

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<v Speaker 1>to buy an exact replica. Every once in a while,

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<v Speaker 1>says Wisener, a dress that really pops at an award

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<v Speaker 1>show is picked up for mass production, one recent example

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<v Speaker 1>being a pleaded silver gown that Kate Hudson war to

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<v Speaker 1>the Vanity Fair Oscars post party. The designer sells the

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<v Speaker 1>same dress online for only three thousand three hundred and

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<v Speaker 1>twenty five dollars. Really luxurious dresses not only grabbed the

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<v Speaker 1>attention of fashion fans but also thieves. At the Oscars,

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<v Speaker 1>actress Lupid and Youngo wore a white gown by Calvin

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<v Speaker 1>Klein studded with six thousand pearls worth an estimated hundred

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<v Speaker 1>and fifty thousand dollars. The gown was reported stolen from

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<v Speaker 1>Yongo's Los Angeles hotel the day after the Oscars, but

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<v Speaker 1>was then mysteriously returned by the thief. According to TMZ,

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<v Speaker 1>after the dress burglar snatched the gown, they removed two

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<v Speaker 1>pearls and took them down to the garment district. There

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<v Speaker 1>were fakes. The thief dumped the worthless dress in a

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<v Speaker 1>bathroom back at Nyongo's hotel and tipped off TMZ to

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<v Speaker 1>its location. Today's episode was written by Dave Ruse and

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<v Speaker 1>produced by Tyler Klang. If you're interested in fashion, check

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<v Speaker 1>out our new compatriot podcast called Dressed. It's all about

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<v Speaker 1>the stunning his story of how we humans clothe ourselves,

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<v Speaker 1>and of course, for more on this and lots of

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<v Speaker 1>other topics that make a statement, visit our home planet,

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<v Speaker 1>how Stuff Works dot com.