Lizzy Gardiner’s Iconic Credit Card Dress at the Oscar
Reflect on the 67th Academy Awards, where the Australian costume designer, Lizzy Gardiner, made a bold statement on the red carpet with a gown meticulously crafted from 254 American Express Gold cards. Her dazzling floor-length outfit, featuring spaghetti straps, gold underwear, and matching platforms, left an enduring impact on the history of Oscars fashion. To clarify, these were genuine American Express cards, albeit expired, with each card bearing Gardiner’s name but lacking a digit, making them invalid.
This memorable event took place in 1995 when Gardiner, then relatively unknown in Hollywood, was nominated for Best Costume Design for her work on “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.” Originally envisioning a credit card dress for one of the movie’s cross-dressing protagonists, Gardiner faced rejections from American Express and other banks. Consequently, she opted for a dress made from flip flops instead.
In recounting the genesis of her Oscars outfit, Gardiner humorously shared with red-carpet reporters, “I’m broke, and I didn’t have anything to wear, so I went through my list of past good ideas.” Seeking an American symbol, she explained, “A Coca-Cola bottle or a Mickey Mouse would have been ridiculous, doing anything with the American flag would have been insulting, and Cadillac hubcaps were just too uncomfortable.”
When Gardiner and fellow costume designer Tim Chappel took the stage to accept their award, host David Letterman quipped, “I’m tellin’ ya, American Express can’t buy publicity like that.” Interestingly, this time, American Express granted Gardiner permission to use their cards. As one of the event’s sponsors, the company provided over 300 cards, which Gardiner and designer Salvador Perez from Los Angeles assembled into a gown in approximately 12 hours.
