Shakira and Pink Once Laughed Off a Red Carpet Fashion Faux Pas
Sometimes, two celebrities embarrassingly wear the same ensemble to the same event. In 2009, pop superstars — Pink and Shakira — showed up at the MTV Video Music Awards wearing the same outfit: a strapless leather-and-metal Balmain minidress. Fortunately, the two music artists were good sports about the incident.
What was the reaction to the moment? Who else has faced the same fashion faux pas?
Shakira and Pink’s infamous 2009 VMA dress
Having two of the world’s biggest music stars show up in the same outfit at the same event is enough to jangle anyone’s nerves. But that’s exactly what happened at the 2009 MTV VMAs. Pink and Shakira arrived to walk the red carpet, within minutes of each other no less, wearing the same stunning dress.
After the incident, the crew at MTV News asked 2009 New York Fashion Week attendees their thoughts on the matter. One expert, Kendall, said both pop stars “looked great.” They preferred Shakira’s take on the look and thought the “Hips Don’t Lie” singer looked “cool.” They also thought Shakira accessorized better by pairing the dress with boots and liked that she wore her hair down.
Asked for his take, Corey Moran declared Pink the winner with the best look. He liked the “Just Give Me a Reason” singer’s wild hair and all the “stuff” she brought with it. He thought Pink tied the look together.
DeAndre, another Fashion Week attendee, had a hard time deciding who wore it better. Ultimately, he went with Shakira, though he thought Pink also looked “hot.” He thought Shakira brought a sexiness to the outfit and embodied “what a sexy woman is.”
But a fan named Brad gave Pink a persona vote too. He found her personality “matched the dress — a little hard-core, heavy rocker.” He adored the Latina vibe that Shakira brought but found the dress better matched Pink’s vibe.
What did Pink say about the fashion faux pas?
Pink handled the potentially embarrassing moment with grace. She gave the top fashion honors to Shakira and told Us Magazine on the red carpet that her fellow singer was “hot.”
The “So What” artist, who attended the 2009 VMAs with her husband Carey Hart, added that she thought the fashion faux pas was “hilarious.”
Other celebrity double visions
Celebrities showing up to important events in the same outfits has happened several times in the recent past. According to Harper’s Bazaar, most of them displayed impressive solidarity under the circumstances. And a couple of times, the stars intentionally wore matching outfits.
Academy Award-winning actor Julia Roberts once arrived in the same lilac Givenchy suit as her stylist Elizabeth Stewart. The pair showed up at the InStyle Awards and caught everyone’s attention. Roberts explained that the move was deliberate and that it wasn’t often the two got to “go to something together.”
Actors Elizabeth Olsen and Aubrey Plaza did the same thing for their Ingrid Goes West premiere. They wore matching Marc Jacobs dresses to pay homage to their indie-flick characters.
At a 2015 Sports Illustrated and Kings of Leon event in Tennessee, models Emily Ratajkowski and Sara Sampaio arrived in matching tangerine Cushnie et Ochs dresses and posed together for photos.
And at the 2015 BET Awards, Gabrielle Union and Orange Is the New Black‘s Laverne Cox arrived in the same gown. Not only that, but they also ended up on stage together to present an award. Both were good sports about the situation.
