Melissa McCarthy dress claim disputed

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Melissa McCarthy dress claim disputed

Melissa McCarthy has stirred up a backlash against fashion designers after revealing in a new interview that several top labels turned the plus-sized actress down for the 2012 Academy Awards, but TheWrap has learned that at least one was eager to work with the comedy star.

By (Reuters)

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Published: Sun 8 Jun 2014, 11:31 AM

Last updated: Fri 3 Apr 2015, 5:45 PM

“Two Oscars ago, I couldn’t find anybody to do a dress for me. I asked five or six designers - very high-level ones who make lots of dresses for people-and they all said no,” McCarthy said in the July issue of Redbook.

McCarthy wound up wearing a rose pink draped gown by Marina Rinaldi. But according to e-mails obtained by TheWrap, another designer, Mark Zunino, offered to dress the actress.

Couture designer Zunino, who has experience dressing women of all shapes and sizes, including Halle Berry, Angelina Jolie and Shonda Rhimes, made at least two sketches of possible dress designs for McCarthy to wear to the Oscars. According to one e-mail, Zunino’s team said it would be happy to let McCarthy keep the dress after the big event - unlike most fashion houses, which only rent their gowns and accessories to starlets.

The first overtures from dOMAIN, the Los Angeles PR company that represented McCarthy at the time, began in mid-January 2012, which would have given Zunino just enough time to design and customise the gown to be ready for the February 26 Oscars ceremony. Zunino’s sketches were received with enthusiasm on January 23 by the dOMAIN intermediary: “These are all amazing! Thank you...”

But the communication appears to have ended there.

Of course, a woman is not obligated to choose a designer if she does not like the designs, but Zunino’s willingness to provide them and make the dress is far from saying “no” to McCarthy.

Representatives for McCarthy did not immediately return TheWrap’s request for comment.


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