Killer fashion! Sharon Stone had a fair share of “memorable” looks in Basic Instinct (read: that white dress) — and she made a point to keep each and every outfit after filming wrapped.
In a letter penned for InStyle, the 63-year-old actress revealed that she created a clause in her contract permitting her to take the clothes home from set.
“People thought I was crazy, but the truth is I wasn’t getting paid much compared to my male costar,” the actress, who starred alongside Michael Douglas, explained. “I made $500,000. Michael made $14 million. So keeping my costumes was a really smart thing to do.”
With thousands of dollars to go toward wardrobe, writing the closet into her contract was a no brainer. “The idea that I could go into one of those high-end stores [on Rodeo Drive] where a purse costs $20,000 and not feel like an imposter was beyond my comprehension,” she recalled. “It immediately helped me feel the power and the wealth that this character had.”
While a handful of the items came from fashion houses like Hermes, other looks were custom made — including the “iconic” white dress from the interrogation room scene. And get this: Stone designed the look on her own.
“I remember asking the director, Paul Verhoeven, what he wanted me to wear for it. He jokingly said, ‘I don’t care if you wear a turtleneck and your hair in a bun.’ So I said, ‘Good, because that’s what I was thinking,’” she explained. “We decided go for all white because my character had a very Hitchcockian vibe.”
With a mental image in mind, Stone worked with costume designer Ellen Mirojnick to execute the now famous ensemble. “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.”
There’s no question that she succeeded in commanding the room, but sitting like a man had some unexpected consequences. The actress revealed that she was asked to take off her underwear while filming the scene as it was “reflecting the light.”
Stone “didn’t see any issues” watching the scene back, but fast forward to the movie’s premiere and people could “see right up my skirt.” She considered fighting against it, but inevitably decided to let the scene stay.
“Looking back on it, I still think it was the right choice for the film, even if it took me a while to come to that conclusion.”