How Keira Knightley Destroyed Her Chanel Wedding Dress...

The actress explains why she wanted to get married in a dress she already owned - and why she'll probably never wear it again

Keira Knightley Chanel wedding dress
Keira Knightley Chanel wedding dress
(Image credit: Rex)

The actress explains why she wanted to get married in a dress she already owned - and why she'll probably never wear it again

Keira Knightley is in need of a very good dry cleaner.

When the actress married rocker James Righton last year, she caused quite a stir with the Chanel wedding dress she chose. But it wasn't the fact that the dress was stunningly beautiful that got people talking. (Though it certainly was).

No, it was more the fact that it was a dress she already owned - and had already been (gasp!) photographed in.

'Karl [Lagerfeld] very kindly designed me a jacket to go with it,' Keira told the Telegraph. 'I'd worn the dress lots. It was my something old. And I liked not making a big deal about it. I just wanted to be in something I had had a great time in, something I would have a great time in again.'

After the wedding, Keira famously rewore the lovely tulle dress again during a December outing with her handsome husband.

But, sadly, it seems the dress is now being shuffled into early retirement.

'It's now got red wine spilled down the front because the last time I wore it my friend went like this [she juts out her elbows], and now it's everywhere. I didn't quite realise the extent of it until I got home. It's quite impressively splattered,' she said. 

Keira Knightley Chanel wedding dress

Keira Knightley Chanel wedding dress
(Image credit: Rex)

'But, hey, a good night is a good night and when a dress has had its time, maybe it's had its time. I'm pretty sure I can get it out but, if I can't, I'm happy with the memory of a good night and the story of how the dress got destroyed.'

We can imagine we'd be a little more disappointed (read: hysterically crying) if our own wedding dress was ruined. But it's nice to see Keira has such a good attitude about the whole thing.

Then again, Keira has no plans to pass down her dress to future generations.

When asked if she would have wanted to give it to her daughter someday, the actress brushed off the tradition.

'I'm not sure I'm into that. Can you imagine, say, your daughter is a different shape or she doesn't like it, and all of a sudden you're giving her pressure of wearing your dress?'

At least if Keira and James do have a daughter, she'll have plenty of her mum's glamorous red carpet gowns to dress up in.

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Ali Gray is an award-winning content director and digital strategist. Most recently she was the Director of Branded Content at Hearst, and helped to bridge the gap between the editorial and commercial worlds working across all Hearst brands, including ELLE, Cosmopolitan, Esquire and Harper's Bazaar. Prior to that she worked as an editor contributing to several brands such as The Telegraph, iVillage UK.