the price of fame

How Much It Costs to Send a Celebrity Down the Red Carpet

Photo: Steve granitz/wireimage

The celebrity stylist wants to be seen as a mix of fashion consultant and best friend, but the job is really more hustler-broker, netting a red-carpet day rate of $1,500 to $10,000 for the ugly grunt work of wrangling, bullying, and pleading with designers to spare a gown or a clutch purse so that the client (or, more often, the film studio that’s paying) doesn’t have to buy it. Often the stylist has to donate, too. If a movie company won’t pay for the day rate, the celebrity probably won’t either, in which case she might ask a stylist to dress her in return for exposure. Stylist Phillip Bloch says that some of his top-tier clients never pay him. “Honestly, Salma [Hayek] never paid a dollar, I don’t think, in all the years I’ve worked for her,” says Bloch. “She and I were best friends.”

See a breakdown of Charlize Theron’s Golden Globes 2012 outfit:

Vintage Cartier bandeau from 1920
Worth: About $2.5 million
Who paid for it: No one. It was a loan.
Who keeps it: Cartier.

Makeup
Worth: $251 in products, at least $1,500 for Paish by Shane Paish
Who paid for it: Dior.

Hair by Enzo Angileri
Worth: $79 in products, at least $400 for Angileri
Who paid for it: Likely Paramount Pictures.

Cartier white-gold-and-diamond earrings
Worth: $76,525
Who paid for it: No one—a loan.
Who keeps it: Cartier.

Christian Dior couture gown
Worth: About $30,000
Who paid for it: No one. Dior lent the dress to Theron.
Who keeps it: Dior.

Vintage Cartier brooch from 1951
Worth: About $1.5 million
Who paid for it: No one—a loan.
Who keeps it: Cartier.

Cartier platinum and diamond ring
Worth: $3,950,000
Who paid for it: No one—a loan.
Who keeps it: Cartier.

One-of-a-kind Dior couture handbag
Worth: About $20,000
Who paid for it: No one—a loan.
Who keeps it: Dior, most likely.

Givenchy spring 2012 shoes
Worth: $1,150
Who paid for it: Likely a gift from Givenchy.
Who keeps it: Theron.

Total “cost” … … … $8,079,905
Cost to Theron … … … … . . $0

To read more about the oodles and oodles of money that go into being a celebrity, click here.

To see a complete breakdown of how much an A-list actor makes and spends, click here.

The Cost of Red Carpet Fashion