Even before Naomie Harris steps onto the red carpet, we pretty much assume she'll make it onto any and every best dressed roundup that follows. She consistently serves up daring, unexpected, and incredibly chic looks from all sorts of labels. (Harris wears go-to luxury houses like Gucci and Caroline Herrera, as well as up-and-coming contemporary darlings like Monse and Gabriela Hearst.) The Golden Globe nominee didn't disappoint when she showed up to the awards show in a custom bedazzled Armani Privé number. But, long after the night's fashion was rounded up and ranked, Harris revealed that the process of getting dressed that evening was a little more involved that it probably appeared in photos.
On Monday, the actress shared a collage of behind-the-scenes shots of her Golden Globe preparations on Instagram. There was the expected lipstick-retouching and last-minute hairspray-spritzing... along with an image of Harris laying flat in the passenger seat of the car, with the chair pulled all the way back. When Harris stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live, the show's host had some questions about that last shot. Kimmel politely but inquisitively asked, "What's going on in this photograph?"
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"The thing is, with these dresses, there's so many hours of work that goes into them," Harris explained. "My dress has little crystals on it, and they're sewn in by hand. They were sewn by this lovely guy called Leonardo from Armani." Wait, how does Harris know the name of the guy who beaded her gown? Well, because Leonardo came all the way from Milan to L.A. to fit her into the dress personally, she said, despite the fact that he spoke very little English. They may not have been able to communicate, but one thing became clear to Harris: "He just had so much love and care for this dress, like it was a baby or something, that I just felt awful about the idea of wrinkling it."
The conundrum: how to transport Harris and her gown to the Golden Globes while minimizing the possibility of wrinkles — and taking into account the fact that she might be sitting idly in a car for a bit. The solution they came up with is exactly what you see on Instagram, she revealed. "I got [Leonardo] to carry me, like a child, to the car and then lay me flat. I spent the whole journey like this, for like an hour, on my way [to the Golden Globes], because I just didn't want to wrinkle the dress for him."
That's serious dedication, Naomie, and certainly a commendable amount of respect for the craftsmanship that goes into making couture gown. Still, Kimmel wondered, why wouldn't she lay across the backseat, to at least try to get a little more comfortable? "My mom was in the backseat," Harris noted. Fair enough.
Watch the full interview, below.