Do you remember the 67th Academy Awards in 1995 when Australian costume designer Lizzy Gardiner made a dazzling entrance on the red carpet? She turned heads with her floor-length gown made entirely from 254 American Express Gold cards. This iconic dress, complete with gold underwear and matching platforms, became a part of Oscars fashion history. And yes, those credit cards were real, but expired, Amex cards. Each one lacked a digit, rendering them invalid.
At the time, Gardiner was relatively unknown in Hollywood. She was nominated for Best Costume Design for her work on the movie “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.” Originally, she had envisioned a credit card dress for one of the film’s cross-dressing protagonists, but American Express and other banking companies declined the opportunity to have their cards featured. As a result, Gardiner improvised and created a dress made from flip flops instead.
Gardiner’s decision to wear a credit card dress to the Oscars was born out of necessity. “I’m broke, and I didn’t have anything to wear,” she told reporters on the red carpet. She wanted to find an American symbol to incorporate into her outfit, and she felt that a Coca-Cola bottle, Mickey Mouse, or the American flag would have been inappropriate. In the end, she settled on American Express cards.
When Gardiner and her fellow costume designer Tim Chappel went on stage to collect their award, host David Letterman jokingly remarked, “I’m tellin’ ya, American Express can’t buy publicity like that.” This time, American Express had given Gardiner permission to use their cards. The company, as one of the event’s sponsors, provided over 300 cards. Gardiner and Salvador Perez, a designer from Los Angeles, worked together to assemble the gown in just 12 hours.
Her dress was seen as a statement piece, a satirical commentary on the extravagance of Hollywood. According to Gardiner, the credit card dress symbolized wealth and social status. While some critics praised her bold fashion choice compared to the more traditional looks on the red carpet, others labeled the dress as tacky and questioned its practicality.
Despite the mixed reviews, Gardiner’s dress had a lasting impact on the fashion world. In 2017, American label Vaquera paid homage to her creation by featuring a reimagined version with Vaquera-branded dummy credit cards on the runway. Vogue remarked that the design addressed coming-of-age topics with an absurdist angle. Moreover, a replica of Gardiner’s iconic dress, created by the designer herself and American Express, was auctioned at Christie’s for $12,650.
The original dress now resides in the National Gallery of Victoria in Australia, where it is considered a significant piece of fashion history. It serves as a reminder to all aspiring artists that you don’t need to be a household name to make a splash on Hollywood’s grandest stage.
And as for American Express, the amount of publicity they received from the extravagant dress? That’s priceless.
