Oprah Winfrey’s 1986 Oscars gown weighed 12 pounds and left a scar on her neck



Oprah Winfrey wore a beaded gown to the 1986 Oscars with a collar that weighed 12 pounds. Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images

Oprah Winfrey learned an important fashion lesson at the 1986 Oscars.

“No matter what you’re doing, you want to be comfortable,” she told Stephen Colbert on “The Late Show” on Wednesday night.

Recalling a story of her first-ever Oscars experience, she described the long-sleeve white satin dress she wore for the major awards show.

She explained that she didn’t know she needed a fitting for the gown before slipping it on, and it wound up being so heavy that it left a scar on her neck. CBS via Getty Images
“I heard the voice of God say to me, ‘You’re not gonna win because you can’t get out of the chair.’ I wouldn’t have been able to get out of the chair,” she joked. CBS via Getty Images

The look boasted an ornately-beaded cape-like collar that she said weighed close to 12 pounds.  

“I didn’t know that you’re supposed to get it fitted before you actually go to try to put it on,” she explained. “When I went to sit back in the chair, it choked me,” she went on, adding, “I ended the night with a scar on my neck … I’m not kidding.”

Winfrey then went on to act out how she sat in the chair all evening with her hand at her collarbone, trying to pull the heavy collar away from her neck so as not to choke.

Winfrey chose an all-denim look from Chloé for her appearance on the show. GC Images
“I don’t do anything that’s not comfortable now,” Winfrey told Colbert. Jed Cullen/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Stella McCartney

That evening, Winfrey was nominated for “The Color Purple,” and she joked with Colbert, “I heard the voice of God say to me, ‘You’re not gonna win because you can’t get out of the chair.’ I wouldn’t have been able to get out of the chair.”

“I don’t do anything that’s not comfortable now,” she said as she sat back in Colbert’s plush chair wearing a denim jacket ($2,250) and jeans ($1,250) from Chloé.

It is a story she told Jimmy Kimmel almost 15 years ago as well, calling it “one of most horrible nights of life.”

“I had used Dolly [Parton]’s dressmaker. If you’re going to have a gown made, it’s a big to-do. He came to do a fitting, brought it back, when I went to put it on half an hour, I couldn’t get it on. So, my hairdresser had to lay me on floor and push my butt down. I was planked in the back of a limo,” she explained, adding, “[By the time I arrived] everyone was inside, and there was no more red carpet.”

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