Gwyneth Paltrow stripped down to her skimmies to wish stylist Elizabeth Saltzman a happy birthday.
The Shakespeare in Love star, 50, took to social media on Friday, June 16, to celebrate Saltzman — who has been her right-hand fashion guru for more than 20 years — turning another year older. “Happy birthday to this legend, crazy pants genius @elizabethsaltzman. I can’t step on a carpet without you,” she wrote via her Instagram Stories alongside photos of herself in various looks over the years.
In one selfie, the Goop founder showed off her toned physique by wearing nothing but black shapewear including a sultry black bra and high-waisted shaping briefs. She completed the look by styling her signature blonde tresses in tousled waves and sporting a smoky eye for glam.
In separate snaps, the Shallow Hal star showed off one of her most famous fashion moments — her 2012 Oscars white Tom Ford gown, which was styled by Saltzman — and a pair of selfies of the duo from years past.
Saltzman is behind some of the Oscar winners’ most iconic looks throughout her career. In November 2022, the stylist — who also works with Saoirse Ronan and Sandra Oh — opened up about how undergarments can make or break an ensemble.
“Commando does an excellent bodysuit and I love their thongs,” she shared with Grazia of her favorite shaper brands at the time. “We use Wolford for tights and then there are times when you need Spanx.”
One look of Paltrow’s that Saltzman can’t take credit for is the Emma star’s controversial Alexander McQueen gown from the 2002 Oscars. Despite the rampant criticism she’s received in the past for her desire to wear a sheer bodice to the awards ceremony, the Glee alum has always stood by the look.
“Everybody really hated this [dress], but I think it’s kind of dope. I’m into it,” Paltrow recalled to Vogue in an April 2021 interview for their “Life in Looks” series. “I had a weird hangover about it for a while because people were really critical. “I think at the time it was too goth, I think people thought it was too hard, so I think it sort of shocked people. But I like it.”
That doesn’t mean the Sliding Doors actress wouldn’t do a few things differently today. “There were a few issues; I still love the dress itself but I should have worn a bra and I should have just had simple beachy hair and less makeup,” Paltrow previously confessed during a March 2012 Q&A on her Goop blog. “Then, it would have worked as I wanted it to — a little bit of punk at the Oscars.”
Despite the polarizing opinions about the garb, the California native has kept the dress in her closet for more than two decades. When she was asked during a Thursday, June 15, Instagram Story Q&A if she ever let her 19-year-old daughter, Apple, try on any of her archival fashion pieces, Paltrow simply replied by uploading a photo of teen — whom she shares with ex-husband Chris Martin along with son Moses, 17 — wearing the now-iconic gown.
Paltrow’s daughter has since become a fashionista in her own right, even making her Paris Fashion Week debut at the Chanel spring/summer 2023 runway show in January. Apple stunned in a black-and-white tweed set from the fashion house as she watched the show from the front row.
