There’s a Really Sweet Story Behind the Jewelry Gwyneth Paltrow Wore to the Oscars in 1999
The story is a tearjerker, so get your tissues out.
Gwyneth Paltrow sat down with Vogue for the April 28th episode of the publication’s video series “Life in Looks” and talked about her most iconic fashion statements throughout her nearly three-decades-long career in Hollywood. And when she got to that outfit from the 1999 Academy Awards, Paltrow shared a heartwarming story about the jewels she paired with the bubblegum pink Ralph Lauren ball gown.
“Do we think this is the most famous dress? We do,” Paltrow said when she flipped to the ball gown page in the video. “So this is the Ralph Lauren bubblegum pink taffeta ball gown that I wore when I was nominated for an Oscar in 1999.”
She said that she had called Ralph Lauren’s fashion house ahead of the event and asked to borrow a bubblegum pink skirt she saw in the lookbook, but the house said they would prefer to make her something custom to wear to the show, “which was thrilling,” Paltrow told Vogue. “And so they made me this beautiful dress and I love it. And I kept it and I have it.”
Paltrow won the Oscar that year for Best Actress for her role in Shakespeare in Love.
Though the now-iconic dress has a fun story to go along with it, it’s the Harry Winston jewelry set that makes Paltrow tear up talking about it.
“I had borrowed this Harry Winston earrings and necklace [set] for the Oscars. And then after I won, my dad, as a present, surprised me with them,” Paltrow said, tearing up. “So, that was very sweet. And I wore the earrings and necklace when I got married to Brad [Falchuk, in 2018] in homage to my dad and as a way of keeping him there with us.”
Paltrow posted a still from her wedding to Instagram last year, in which her Iron Man costar Robert Downey Jr. is absolutely killing with his speech, and you can see that Paltrow is wearing the necklace and earrings. Now we’re the ones tearing up!
Paltrow’s father, Bruce, passed away in 2002, just a few years after he purchased the jewelry set for his daughter to congratulate her for her win. No doubt the Harry Winston necklace and earrings are now Paltrow family heirlooms that will continue to pick up sentimental meaning as the years go on.