Three decades after landing on “every worst-dressed list” for her particularly bold choice of Oscars outfit, Whoopi Goldberg’s got no regrets.
The EGOT winner graced the 1993 Academy Awards red carpet in a purple-and-green brocade jumpsuit embellished with crystals; she completed the outré outfit with a matching eggplant-hued bolero jacket and sweeping open-front skirt lined in lime-colored silk, along with heels and chandelier earrings in the same palette.
“Everyone hated” the look, Goldberg told Pvnew Style at Tuesday’s Fashion Group International Night of Stars gala, where she received the American Icon Award.
“It hurt my feelings, I’m not going to lie. It hurt my feelings,” she recalled of the backlash from red carpet fashion critics, who could be especially vicious at that time.
“It kept me from dressing up for a very long time. You have to remember, in those days, they would say things and you’d think, ‘Do I really look that ridiculous?'”
Goldberg said it was her longtime love of “I Love Lucy” and its leading lady, Lucille Ball, that actually inspired her to take a risk with the look.
“Lucy would always come out in these great ensembles. And I thought, I would like to wear that! And green is not a color I would normally wear; let me try it!” she recalled.
As for whether she still stands by the style choice? “Absolutely,” Goldberg said.
These days, the “Sister Act” star’s distinctive personal style has made her an unlikely fashion icon; she’s a front-row fixture at New York Fashion Week and even launched her own line, Dubgee, in 2019.
And as Goldberg’s million-plus Instagram followers know, she’s particularly famous for her quirky shoe closet, which includes everything from Santa Claus stilettos to Balenciaga Crocs to — her personal favorite — clear platforms filled with “decapitated Barbies.”
“Someone sent them to me and I thought, what are these?! It was about three years before ‘Barbie,'” she said of the “crazy” heels, which she wore on “The View” in July to celebrate the opening of Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster Mattel movie.
“I did Barbiecore first!”
