“A dress always appears. It becomes the dress you’re supposed to wear,” she told Vanity Fair of trying on hundreds of gowns in preparation for the Oscars red carpet. She ultimately opted for a white Zuhair Murad gown with a plunging neckline to the navel embellished with hundreds of beads and sequins that created a very Art Deco effect. She accessorized the shimmering look with a simple pair of diamond stud earrings and skinny scarf tossed around her neck. In terms of the inspiration behind the outfit, Longoria said candidly, “comfort,” before revealing with a laugh that there’s no big story behind the look, she just “knew it was going to be the dress.”
The Flamin’ Hot director knew that the Zuhair Murad gown was the one because it felt like “a nod to Old Hollywood, but not in a costume-y way. It’s more modern. It almost feels to me like Miami modern, that style of architecture. It felt so beautiful.”
It helps that Longoria also has a fashion designer friend on speed dial to consult with whenever she has any doubts. She confirmed that her good friend Victoria Beckham “always” has to chime in on her look for big events like this. “I definitely had to show her the Oscar dress, she had to weigh in for sure,” she said. And the former Spice Girl’s advice? “Simple,” the actor revealed. “She really taught me about simple jewelry. I used to be like a Christmas tree with the earrings and the necklace and the bracelet. I was like, more jewelry! She was the one that really taught me, no. Like, no earrings, no necklace, just do a bracelet. And I’m like, ‘What?! Are you sure?’ I want to look like a Christmas tree, I want to wear it all.”
And while she went for simplicity and comfort in her attire this year, Longoria revealed that the process of getting her hair and makeup ready for the ceremony “is way more intricate than the gown.” In addition to all the skin prep that has to happen before makeup can even be applied, she explained that she also has “a full head of gray hair, so it’s all about the timing of coloring my grays. I always use my L’Oreal Excellence Creme hair color because it covers 100% of my grays…It’s strong in its coverage, but it also makes your hair super gorgeous and there’s pro-keratin complex that makes it shiny.” Before she heads out the door, Longoria also likes to complete her outfit by adding the finishing touch of perfume. “It’s the last thing I like to put on,” she explained. “I put it in my hair, I put it everywhere.”
While you might think that these types of glamorous award shows are all old hat for Longoria at this point in her career, the actor—who just made her directorial debut with her film Flamin’ Hot at SXSW—confessed that these types of things never get any easier. “I get anxiety every time I have to go on a red carpet,” she confessed, worrying about everything from saying the wrong thing to tripping over her own feet. However, she added, “The fun part is you get to see all your colleagues. So, you have to approach it in that way, that it’s like a Sunday barbecue. Just on a red carpet with gowns. It’s a fancy office party.”
