There’s a famous saying that beauty is pain, and no one knows that better than female celebrities at red carpet events who are willing to do anything to pull off an outfit—including disrupting their breathing pattern. Although these outfits are absolutely gorgeous, they also look pretty constricting.
1. Kim Kardashian at the 2019 Met Gala
Kim has worn plenty of expensive outfits over the years, including a $500,000 custom Givenchy wedding gown and a dress worn by Marilyn Monroe, which required her to go on a crash diet to fit into; however, one of her most iconic looks was at the 2019 Met Gala, where she wore a custom latex Thierry Mugler outfit complete with water droplet effects, a ruched bottom, and a painfully small waistline. She revealed that she had to undergo corset-breathing lessons and wouldn’t be able to use the bathroom while wearing the dress.
2. Heidi Klum at the 2026 Grammys
Former supermodel and “Project Runway” host, Heidi Klum, isn’t afraid of rocking an outrageous look, and she’s known for her shocking Halloween getups. For the 2026 Grammys, she wore a custom nude-colored dress by designer Marina Hoermanseder that made her look like a human mannequin, sharing on Instagram that the outfit was “a leather mold handcrafted of my body and then lacquered to match my skin.” Footage of her taking stiff baby steps made it clear that she found it impossible to walk, breathe, or extend her arms fully.
3. Kendall Jenner at the 2022 Met Gala
At this Met Gala, she wore a dramatic Prada outfit to fit the theme of “In America: An Anthology of Fashion.” It consisted of a black mesh, semi-sheer top with a ruffled skirt, and on her way to the event (as seen on “The Kardashians”), Kendall said she had a panic attack due to how tight and heavy the skirt was, saying, “My skirt was so big and so heavy, there was so much stuff under it that I was literally out of breath.”
4. Elle Fanning at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival
This underrated actor and style icon is known for wearing long, feminine goals, so she didn’t surprise many when she wore a pretty-in-pink Prada gown with tiny, delicate flowers and a strapless bodice. However, it wasn’t that fun to wear, according to Elle, who told W Magazine that she fainted at the event as the dress constricted her rib cage. She said, “My dress was too tight. “My sister [Dakota Fanning] was sitting at another table, and she saw my chair just completely fall back. … It was the talk of the festival.”
5. Zendaya at the 2024 Dune: Part Two Premiere
Once an innocent Disney starlet, stylist Law Roach transformed Zendaya into the boundary-pushing fashion baddie she is today. In a People magazine interview, Roach stated that there’s “nothing she won’t try,” and the duo proved this in 2024 when Zendaya arrived wearing a Thierry Mugler cyborg suit from his fall/winter 1995-1996 couture collection to promote “Dune: Part Two.” She told Vogue, “As the days were coming up, I was like, ‘This is a bad idea.’ Like, why did I do this?’ But I put it on, I went out there, and I did it.”
6. Julia Louis-Dreyfus at the 2020 “Downhill” premiere
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, known for her more understated looks in “Seinfeld,” made a bold statement at the premiere of her film “Downhill,” donning a tight black Dolce & Gabbana dress that was particularly constraining in the waist and hips. When she spoke to Page Six, she said: “I can’t breathe.”
7. Kylie Jenner at the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party
At this event, Kylie posed in two outfits, but it was the strapless Ralph & Russo gown that became one of her most legendary red-carpet moments, dazzling in sequins with an hourglass shape so dramatic that barely any accessories were needed. There were zero gaps or wrinkles in the dress, and in a now-deleted IG post of her failing to sit properly in a car, she wrote, “Couldn’t really sit in this, but it was worth it.”
8. Kylie Jenner at the 2017 Met Gala
It’s no wonder that the Kardashians and Jenners have popped up multiple times on this list. At the 2017 Met Gala, she wore a romantic, ultra-tight ensemble that was bedazzled and adorned with jewels, flowers, and arm tassels, giving a waterfall effect. In her reality show “Life of Kylie,” she pondered, “Do you think we should suffocate? Should it be like this?” The look was complemented by a short platinum blonde bob that matched the outfit perfectly.
9. Jennifer Garner at the 2016 Oscars
Despite this gown looking like it flowed, Jennifer Garner’s look at the 2016 Oscars proved that looks can be deceiving. When she appeared on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” she said, “What [the dressmakers] do is they move your organs around. … The next thing you know, my ribs were compressed. … There’s metal inside, and these people just kind of move your ribs, and they move your liver out of the side, and they pop you in.”
10. Priyanka Chopra at the 2018 Met Gala
The elegant ensemble that paid homage to her culture included a strapless maroon Ralph Lauren gown and a dramatic gold headpiece with Swarovski crystals that took around 250 hours to make. While onlookers had no idea she was struggling, she later told People in 2018, “The corset under that thing, I couldn’t breathe. I felt like it reshaped my ribs. So hard to sit during dinner.”
11. Hailey Bieber at the 2025 Academy Museum Gala
Corsets are not for the weak of heart. Just ask Hailey Bieber, who wore a brown Schiaparelli design from the spring/summer 2025 collection. The haute couture look had a high leg slit, a nude corset, and a bustier that didn’t allow her to bend at all, as one photograph of her at the event showed in a post of her trying to sit down but being unable to since the corset wouldn’t bend. Sounds painful to us!