Celebrity Style
Selena Gomez Wore An LBD With A (Literal) Keyhole Cutout
A fashion insider joke.
Little black dresses can often be regarded as a formal or serious piece of clothing; after all, the muted wardrobe staple is frequently worn to church and somber events. But, in the right silhouettes and fabrications, it can easily go from classic and tasteful to all sorts of aesthetics. And no one can harness the range of an LBD better than Selena Gomez.
The Only Murders in the Building star has taken to the inky clothing item, almost exclusively wearing LBDs on red carpets, especially during her recent Emilia Pérez press tour. While she’s already slipped in and out of certain aesthetics (see: corpcore and coquette), her recent look in London is her most whimsical, tongue-in-cheek LBD yet.
Selena’s Little Black Dress
Gomez attended the 68th BFI London Film Festival on Thursday, Oct. 10, in a gown that was relatively simple — even by the classic’s standards. Styled by Erin Walsh, the piece was sleeveless, body-hugging, and floor-grazing.
A minimalist piece to the core, even the neckline was pretty high, covering her décolletage. The one head-scratching detail it had was a small keyhole cutout in gold hardware.
The Fashion Joke
If the peculiar keyhole detail in gold hardware didn’t give it away, the LBD is from Schiaparelli, the famously fantastical Paris-based label. As Schiaparelli is wont to do, the cutout was clearly an inside joke.
Small decorative holes in the chest area are often referred to as the “keyhole” cutout. Schiaparelli took the actual moniker and interpreted it literally — in a hard-shell, keyhole-shape hole resembling door hardware.
Others Are In On The Joke
She’s not the first celeb to take to the cheeky literal keyhole cutout. Around this time last year, Kylie Jenner attended Schiaparelli’s Paris Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2024 show in a number from the brand. Like Gomez’s, her dress — a plunging Marilyn Monroe-coded sparkler — featured a similarly shaped cutout, albeit sans hardware.
She paired the high-glam number with avant garde footwear sculpted with toes.
