Skip To Content

19 Times Designers Refused To Dress Celebrities, And The Celebrities Called Them Out

"I'm not my body. I'm a whole person." —Gabourey Sidibe

Like Cinderella's Fairy Godmother, teams of designers and stylists transform the celebrities who walk the red carpet into the most glamorous versions of themselves. Most of the time, the outfits they wear on the red carpet are loaned to them by the designers who created them.

But not every celeb is treated equally. Like the Wicked Stepmother, some designers refuse to dress certain celebs, and most often, it's because they don't fit "sample sizes." However, those celebs often call out those designers — and rightfully so!

Here are 19 times celebrities called out the designers who refused to dress them:

1. Earlier in her career, a design house told Sheryl Lee Ralph that she was "not the body that they wanted to dress, with its vulgar in and outs." To this day, she refuses to wear anything from the brand.

Sheryl Lee Ralph poses on the red carpet in a long, trenchcoat-esque gown with a full skirt and rope belt

She told the Hollywood Reporter, "I'm sure they've changed since then, but that's what they said...The positive is that now, we have body positivity, and people are more accepting of different shapes and bodies. I look at it this way — if my body is vulgar, so [is] Kim Kardashian's, so [is] Beyonce's, and so are many others who have curves and the ins and the outs."

2. When Beyoncé received the Fashion Icon Award at the 2016 CFDA Awards, she said that high-end labels refused to dress Destiny's Child at the beginning of their careers because they "didn’t really want to dress four Black, country, curvy girls."

the group wore gorgeous handmade sparkly matching outfits to their first Grammys

3. Gabourey Sidibe bought her own dress from Torrid for her first major red carpet event in Cannes because designers decided she was "too fat" for them to dress.

she wore a paisley dress over jeans at the Cannes Film Festival

4. In 2020, Jonah Hill pointed out that it was challenging for him to develop a personal sense of style because "clothes aren't made for people who are overweight to have style."

he wore a plaid suit to the "Mid 90s" premiere

5. Many designers refused to dress Bebe Rexha for the 2019 Grammy Awards because she didn't fit a runway size, so in an Instagram video, she said, "If a size 6/8 is 'too big'...then I don't wanna wear your fucking dresses."

she stunned in a bold, frilly ballgown

6. While gearing up for the premiere of Ghostbusters (2016), Leslie Jones tweeted, "It’s so funny how there are no designers wanting to help me...Hmm, that will change, and I remember everything.”

she looked gorgeous in a formfitting dress with a high leg slit

7. Even after she was voted the "Sexiest Woman Alive" by Esquire in 2012, "not one designer in town" would loan Christina Hendricks a dress. She said, "They only lend out a size 0 or 2."

she wore a sleeveless dress to the British Academy Film Awards

8. After multiple designer brands denied Rachel Bloom's request for a dress, she purchased her own Gucci gown off the rack and wore it to the 2017 Emmys.

she wore a long gown with a deep V neckline and lacy top

9. In a 2019 essay for the Guardian, Jane Seymour wrote that, after being a glamour icon and "unofficial muse" in the '80s and '90s, "nowadays not every designer will dress someone [her] age."

she wore a glamorous Great Gatsby-inspired gown with a sweeping train to the  American Cinematheque Award

10. Melissa McCarthy asked five or six high-profile designers to make her a dress for the 2012 Oscars but was consistently turned down, so two years later, she started her own line of plus-size clothing.

she ended up wearing a long-sleeved Greek goddess-inspired gown with a sparkly neckline and belt

11. In 2011, Jennifer Hudson called out the designers who only wanted to dress her after she lost weight and said that "so many more opportunities open up when you’re on the other side."

she wore a short, structured dress with thigh high boots to the VH1 Divas Celebrates Soul

12. On the 2012 Palm Springs International Film Festival red carpet, Octavia Spencer informed reporters that "no designers are coming to [her]" for the upcoming Golden Globes because she's "just a short, chubby girl."

she wore an ancient Rome-inspired gown with a long train to the Golden Globes

13. During a cover shoot following her weight loss in 2016, Khloé Kardashian pointed out that she "would never have options for clothing" at photo shoots previously.

the dress she wore to the Angel Ball looks like she's nude with squiggly sparkly branches covering her

14. Bryce Dallas Howard went to a department store and bought her own dress for the 2016 Golden Globes because she likes "having lots of options for a size 6 as opposed to maybe one option."

15. Ashley Graham made it known that she couldn't attend the 2016 Met Gala because she "couldn’t get a designer to dress [her]."

she wore an oversized Gucci jacket to the 2019 Met Gala

16. On Twitter, Amber Riley pointed out that, because of the limited options available, she risked seeing other plus-sized celebrities "in the same shit" on the red carpet.

she wore a long floral skirt and dark crop top to the the 47th NAACP Image Awards in 2016

17. Tom Ford refused to dress Hayden Panettiere for the 2014 Golden Globes because he was only dressing one actor for the event, so she purchased her own Tom Ford dress.

neutral color block dress with halter top and leg slit

18. After "Bodak Yellow" went big, requests from Cardi B's stylist were rejected "by both high-end designers and Instagram boutiques" because she was "not the It girl," but Cardi said she didn't take it personally.

she wore a white pantsuit and cape to the 2017 VMAs

19. And finally, before the 2019 Emmys, Aidy Bryant tweeted that having cool clothes as a plus-sized person "seems like a fairly basic request."

she wore a long-sleeved, knee-length dress embroidered with daisies