By Lindsay Baker

Where Does the Red Carpet Come from？

It denotes stratospheric status， style and opulence.1 It conjures up glitz and glamour.2 It is the focus of the contemporary Oscars experience and the mainstay of todays awards ceremonies， gala events and premieres around the world.3 The iconic red carpet sets the movie stars who step on it apart from us mere mortals.4

It was ever thus. In its earliest known incarnation the red carpet was not intended for ordinary folk.5 A path of dark red tapestries was rolled out in ancient Greece， in the Aeschylus play Agamemnon， when the Kings vengeful wife Clytemnestra prepares for the triumphant welcome home of her husband from the Trojan War.6 Even the King hesitates to walk on the “crimson7 path” laid before him， because he is “a mortal， a man” and not a god. “I cannot trample upon these tinted splendours without fear thrown in my path，”8 he says—and indeed he comes to a sorry end soon after setting foot on it.

In Renaissance art， red carpets and rugs appeared frequently， usually Oriental and intricately patterned in style， and were seen in paintings of deities， saints and royalty.9 Why was that？ “Red as a colour has long been associated with prestige， royalty and aristocracy，” says Sonnet Stanfill， senior curator at the Victoria & Albert Museum.10 “Scarlet was among the most prized dyes as it was the most difficult to make and the most expensive.”11 A scarlet-hued carpet continued to denote high status， and in Georgetown， South Carolina， in 1821， the arrival of US president James Monroe was marked by the laying out of a red carpet to welcome him ashore from a riverboat.12 The red carpet has since become a standard addition to high-profile events involving political dignitaries.13 The origin of the phrase “red carpet treatment”， meanwhile， is thought to derive from the start of the 20th century， when the red carpet was co-opted by the railroads.14 An exclusive， express passenger train run by the New York Central Railroad from 1902 welcomed its passengers aboard with a red carpet，15 which also helped guide them onto the train.

Smile for the camera

It wasnt until the 1920s that the red carpet and Hollywood became truly synonymous16. In 1922 a long， crimson-hued carpet was unfurled in front of the Egyptian Theatre for the Hollywood premiere of Robin Hood， starring Douglas Fairbanks.17 And in the decades that ensued， the red carpet was one of the few places where the public could catch a glimpse of charismatic stars like Clark Gable， Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly.18

Then， in 1961 the red carpet was introduced at the Academy Awards at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.19 A few years later， the broadcasters of the ceremony opted to film outside the venue， showing the arrival of guests as they stepped out of their limousines.20 From this point in 1964 the red carpet became a globally acknowledged focal point for actors and actresses to make a grand entrance and showcase themselves at the Oscars.21

Showmanship， after all， is the essence of the Hollywood red carpet， and the red carpet appearances that have gone down in history tend to be the unique moments of bold， peacockish display and swagger—confident， flamboyant， provocative and individualistic.22 The red carpet can be career defining， too—in Britain， actress Elizabeth Hurley sprang into the public consciousness overnight by donning a dramatic Versace dress to a premiere that she attended with Hugh Grant.23 The dress， which appeared to be held together by giant safety pins24， came to be known as “That dress”. It was a deliberately sexy， edgy choice of dress， and was subsequently featured in the V&As Versace exhibition.25

Who are you wearing？

Today， the Oscar red carpet is a massive 16，500 sq ft， takes two days to install， and is the focus of an ever more fearsome media frenzy each year.26 There is a new intensity of scrutiny and criticism—thanks in part to the unforgiving Glam Cam 360 and Mani Cam.27 Most of the big designers are now creating special red-carpet lines. “Pay-to-wear” deals with designers are commonplace， as are powerful red-carpet stylists.28 Perhaps for these reasons， actresses are increasingly playing safe with feminine， sure-fire flattering options.29 And there is a certain symmetry in the recent proliferation of the princessy gown on the crimson carpet—as if the red carpet is going back to its royal roots， laying a path for contemporary fairytale princesses.30

Still， fashion-savvy stars know how to break the rules in inimitable style.31 It would be nice to think that there is still space on the red carpet for real boundary breaking， and that some brave soul might take a risk， take it that one step further—wear a swan around their neck， say， and lay some giant ostrich eggs on the hallowed red carpet.32 After all， at the time it happened Bj?rk may have topped the dreaded worst-dressed lists， but 15 years on， the wild-and-wonderful swan dress was exhibited at MoMA， and Bj?rks bonkers， egg-laying moment has gone down in Oscars red-carpet history.33

1. denote： 表示，表明；stratospheric： 最高檔次的； opulence： 富裕，奢華。

2. conjure up： 使想起；glitz： 耀眼，浮華；glamour： 魅力，吸引力。

3. contemporary： 當(dāng)代的；mainstay： 支柱；gala： 慶典，盛會；premiere： 首映式。

4. iconic： 標(biāo)志性的；mortal： 凡人。

5. incarnation： 化身；be intended for： 打算為……所用。

6. 在埃斯庫羅斯的戲劇作品《阿伽門農(nóng)》中，在古希臘時期，報(bào)復(fù)心極強(qiáng)的王后克呂泰涅斯特拉在國王從特洛伊凱旋歸來時便為他鋪設(shè)了一條深紅色的織錦。tapestry： 織錦；Aeschylus： 埃斯庫羅斯，古希臘悲劇作家，被譽(yù)為“悲劇之父”；vengeful： 心存報(bào)復(fù)的；triumphant： 勝利的；Trojan War： 特洛伊戰(zhàn)爭。

7. crimson： 深紅色的。

8. trample： 踩踏；tinted： 著色的；splendour： 豪華，華麗。

9. Renaissance：（歐洲14至17世紀(jì)的）文藝復(fù)興時期；rug： 小地毯；Oriental： 東方的；intricately： 復(fù)雜精細(xì)地； deity： 神明；saint： 圣人；royalty： 皇室，王族。

10. prestige： 聲望，威望；aristocracy： 貴族；curator： 館長；Victoria & Albert Museum： 維多利亞和阿爾伯特博物館，是英國倫敦第二大國立博物館。

11. scarlet： 猩紅色，鮮紅色；dye： 染料。

12. hued： 著有……色調(diào)的；James Monroe： 詹姆斯·門羅（1758—1831），美國第五任總統(tǒng)；ashore： 在岸上。

13. high-profile： 高調(diào)的；dignitary： 高官，顯要人物。

14. derive from： 來自，源于；co-opt： 征用。

15. exclusive： 高檔的，高級的；express： 特快的，快速的；passenger train： 客運(yùn)列車。

16. synonymous： 同義的。

17. unfurl： 展開；Egyption Theatre： 埃及劇院，是好萊塢最有歷史價(jià)值的建筑之一，位于美國洛杉磯；Robin Hood： 這里指1922年版電影《羅賓漢》，由美國著名影星道格拉斯·費(fèi)爾班克斯主演；star： v. 主演。

18. ensue： 接著發(fā)生；charismatic： 有超凡魅力的。該句中提到的三位明星分別為美國著名好萊塢影星克拉克·蓋博（Clark Gable）、詹姆斯·史都華（別名吉米·史都華，Jimmy Stewart）和格蕾絲·凱利（Grace Kelly）。

19. Academy Award： 奧斯卡金像獎；Santa Monica Civic Auditorium： 圣莫尼卡公民大禮堂，位于美國加州。

20. broadcaster： 電視臺；film： v. 攝制； venue： 會場；limousine： 豪華轎車。

21. focal point： 焦點(diǎn)；showcase： 使展現(xiàn)。

22. 畢竟，好萊塢紅毯的本質(zhì)就是吸引公眾眼球，而那些名留史冊的紅毯亮相一般都記載了特殊的時刻——明星們大膽而自信地展示和炫耀自己，昂首闊步地向前走著，渾身散發(fā)著自信、奢華、性感和獨(dú)特的氣息。showmanship： 善于表演的能力，吸引公眾注意力的本領(lǐng)；essence： 精華，本質(zhì)；go down in history： 載入史冊；bold： 自信的，大膽的；peacockish： 炫耀的；swagger： 昂首闊步，大搖大擺地走路；flamboyant： 奢華的，炫耀的；provocative： 性感的，挑逗的；individualistic： 特別的，不尋常的。

23. Elizabeth Hurley： 伊麗莎白·赫莉，英國著名演員、制作人；spring into： 突然出現(xiàn)；overnight： 一夜之間；don： 穿上；Versace： 范思哲，世界著名服裝品牌；Hugh Grant： 休·格蘭特，英國人，著名好萊塢影星。

24. safety pin： 安全別針。

25. deliberately： 刻意地；edgy： 前衛(wèi)的，時髦的；subsequently： 隨后；V&A： 即上文的Victoria & Albert Museum。

26. massive： 巨大的；sq ft： square foot，平方英尺；fearsome： 可怕的；frenzy： 狂熱。

27. scrutiny： 仔細(xì)檢查；unforgiving： 無情的，不容許出錯的；Glam Cam 360： 對演員們進(jìn)行全方位、360度的拍攝和展現(xiàn)；Mani Cam： 一個小型立體模型，設(shè)有微型紅毯、遮擋和新聞背景幕，女演員們將手置于紅毯上來展示她們的指甲和首飾。

28. commonplace： 普通的，平常的；stylist： 設(shè)計(jì)師，造型師。

29. feminine： 有女性氣質(zhì)的；sure-fire： 萬無一失的；flattering： 使人顯得更漂亮的。

30. 如今，大量公主式禮服在紅毯上亮相，紅毯仿佛又回歸其皇室身份，為當(dāng)代那些童話公主般的女影星們鋪路。symmetry： 相似； proliferation： 激增，劇增；gown： 禮服。

31. fashion-savvy： 精通時尚的，savvy意為“有見識的，懂實(shí)際知識的”；inimitable： 獨(dú)特的，無法仿效的。

32. boundary： 界限，邊界；soul： 人；swan： 天鵝； ostrich： 鴕鳥；hallowed： 神圣的。

33. Bj?rk： 比約克·古蒙茲多泰爾，又名碧玉，出生于冰島的女歌手、音樂制作人；dreaded： 可怕的；MoMA： The Museum of Modern Art，紐約現(xiàn)代藝術(shù)博物館；bonkers： 瘋狂的；go down： 平息，平靜下來。