One of the most iconic pieces of clothing in cinema is still hanging up in Sharon Stone's closet, but she hasn't looked at it in 30 years.
Back in 1992, the actress was catapulted into superstardom after her portrayal of Catherine Tramell in "Basic Instinct." Of course, the single most memorable moment from that film came when Sharon's character donned a very revealing white dress during a police interrogation.
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In a chat with InStyle, the actress, 63, said she actually picked out the dress on her own — and, per her contract, she got to keep her entire wardrobe.
"The costume designer, Ellen Mirojnick, took me to Rodeo Drive and said, 'You can pick out any one thing that you want for your character,'" Sharon said. "At this point in my life, the idea that I could go into one of those high-end stores where a purse costs $20,000 and not feel like an impostor was beyond my comprehension."
Sharon, a newcomer to film at the time, felt it was important to be able to keep her wardrobe, largely based on the fact that co-star Michael Douglas was making $14 million for the movie. Sharon was making $500,000.
While diehard fans of the movie likely remember different outfits, the white dress is forever immortalized.
"We decided to go for all white because my character had a very Hitchcockian vibe," Sharon said. "But Ellen designed the dress so that I could sit like a man if he was being interrogated. It gave me the ability to move my arms and legs, take up space, and exercise control over a room full of men."
The scene "turned out to be a pretty big deal," Sharon laughed, citing the Halloween costumes that spawned from the dress.
"I still have almost all of the wardrobe too. I've given some pieces away to charity, but so far, I've kept the white dress and coat," she said. "It was zipped up in a garment bag on the set, and it has never been opened since. I broke the zipper, so it's hermetically sealed like a piece of art or a very cool time capsule."
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That single piece of clothing was not only instrumental in her career, but also her mindset.
"Over the years, I've gone through many phases of how I feel about what happened when I was wearing that dress, but it's all very resolved for me at this point. When I look at it now, I can't help but think about how much I learned in the process of making the film," she said. "I learned that I could withstand the pressure. Because it was a lot of pressure to be that person in that movie at that time. People thought I was just like Catherine and that there should be a shaming process for playing a character like that. I learned how frightening it can be not just for men but for society as a whole to see a woman access and own her power. I learned how to have a spine. I learned how to speak up for myself. And yes, I learned that I look pretty damn good in white."
