This Is Why Gwyneth Paltrow Walked the Way She Did at the Emmys
The fact that Gwyneth Paltrow presented the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama at this year's Emmy Awards will probably be forgotten in the next hour or so, but the way that she walked up to the mic to present the award will live on and on thanks to the internet's obsession with her quirky gait. And now, we now know exactly why her steps were more of a shuffle and why that vintage dress is to blame (or thank) for the memes.
Paltrow's stylist, Elizabeth Saltzman explained that the vintage Valentino was the root of the issue. Because the dress was made back in 1963, it didn't have some of the more modern conveniences found in modern-day gowns. Namely, it didn't have a slit up the back. Because of the dress's confining silhouette, Paltrow couldn't walk with full strides.
Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images
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"That's because in 1963 there were no back slits," Saltzman told The Hollywood Reporter. "It was not that she was having this fabulous walk, which she already has."
Congratulations to all the performances that won Emmy’s tonight but the best performance of the night is Gwyneth Paltrow’s walk to the stage pic.twitter.com/b2LLcmpU9c
— Jon (@prasejeebus) September 23, 2019
But why didn't Saltzman just tweak a few things to make the dress more comfortable and walkable? She said that she wanted to keep the dress as close to the original as possible, both to keep the look authentic and to honor the original vision from the designer, Paltrow's close friend Valentino Garavani.
"In order to keep the dress authentic, I didn't want to change Mr. Valentino's design," Saltzman said.
Paltrow herself defended the walk during a guest appearance on the Today show on Thursday morning, telling host Savannah Guthrie, "I think I look pretty normal."
.@GwynethPaltrow talks to @savannahguthrie about working with her husband Brad Falchuk on @the_Politician, and she says that @LauraDern predicted her career in business years ago. pic.twitter.com/dMBmpklfGg
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) September 26, 2019
"I don’t totally get it," she said about the internet reaction. "Although, there was no slit in the back of the dress because it was from 1963, a couture Valentino gown, so I didn’t want to chop a slit in it."
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There was another reason for the vintage dress, too. Saltzman noted that when a celebrity like Paltrow goes for something old, it reminds people everywhere that it's OK to wear your clothes over and over.
"It was a fun way to put our nod towards wearing your clothes more than once, to honor a very dear friend," Saltzman added. "And to look like a billion-dollar babe!"
