Total question mark. Gwyneth Paltrow isn’t sure why her walk at the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, September 22, went viral.
The Goop founder, 46, reacted to her stroll on stage becoming an internet sensation on the Thursday, September 26, episode of the Today show.
“I think I look pretty normal,” the Politician star told host Savannah Guthrie as she rewatched a clip of her at the Emmys. “I don’t totally get it.”
The Oscar winner went on to explain that there wasn’t a slit in the rear of her garment, which is why she had to take quick, short steps across the stage. Paltrow’s stiff walk became a meme after the awards show, with some fans referring to the jaunt as the “best performance of the night.”
“There was no slit in the back of the dress. It was from 1963, a couture Valentino gown,” she said. “I didn’t want to chop a slit in it.”
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter earlier this week, Paltrow’s stylist, Elizabeth Saltzman, explained that her black-and-white vintage Valentino gown didn’t have a slit in it because of the style in the 1960s. Saltzman also echoed Paltrow’s thoughts on not altering such an old design.
“That’s because in 1963 there were no back slits,” the stylist told THR. “It was not that she was having this fabulous walk, which she already has. In order to keep the dress authentic, I didn’t want to change Mr. Valentino’s design.”
Saltzman also shared that the look was a tribute to the fashion house’s founder, Valentino Garavani, who is a close friend of the Shakespeare in Love actress.
“It was a fun way to put our nod towards wearing your clothes more than once, to honor a very dear friend,” the stylist said. “And to look like a billion-dollar babe!”
The Emma star presented the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series at the Emmys, which went to Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer. In 2011, Paltrow won an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance on Glee.
