红毯的前世今生

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： 最高档次的； opulence： 富裕，奢华。

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

3. contemporary： 当代的；mainstay： 支柱；gala： 庆典，盛会；premiere： 首映式。

4. iconic： 标志性的；mortal： 凡人。

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

6. 在埃斯库罗斯的戏剧作品《阿伽门农》中，在古希腊时期，报复心极强的王后克吕泰涅斯特拉在国王从特洛伊凯旋归来时便为他铺设了一条深红色的织锦。tapestry： 织锦；Aeschylus： 埃斯库罗斯，古希腊悲剧作家，被誉为“悲剧之父”；vengeful： 心存报复的；triumphant： 胜利的；Trojan War： 特洛伊战争。

7. crimson： 深红色的。

8. trample： 踩踏；tinted： 着色的；splendour： 豪华，华丽。

9. Renaissance：（欧洲14至17世纪的）文艺复兴时期；rug： 小地毯；Oriental： 东方的；intricately： 复杂精细地； deity： 神明；saint： 圣人；royalty： 皇室，王族。

10. prestige： 声望，威望；aristocracy： 贵族；curator： 馆长；Victoria & Albert Museum： 维多利亚和阿尔伯特博物馆，是英国伦敦第二大国立博物馆。

11. scarlet： 猩红色，鲜红色；dye： 染料。

12. hued： 着有……色调的；James Monroe： 詹姆斯·门罗（1758—1831），美国第五任总统；ashore： 在岸上。

13. high-profile： 高调的；dignitary： 高官，显要人物。

14. derive from： 来自，源于；co-opt： 征用。

15. exclusive： 高档的，高级的；express： 特快的，快速的；passenger train： 客运列车。

16. synonymous： 同义的。

17. unfurl： 展开；Egyption Theatre： 埃及剧院，是好莱坞最有历史价值的建筑之一，位于美国洛杉矶；Robin Hood： 这里指1922年版电影《罗宾汉》，由美国著名影星道格拉斯·费尔班克斯主演；star： v. 主演。

18. ensue： 接着发生；charismatic： 有超凡魅力的。该句中提到的三位明星分别为美国著名好莱坞影星克拉克·盖博（Clark Gable）、詹姆斯·史都华（别名吉米·史都华，Jimmy Stewart）和格蕾丝·凯利（Grace Kelly）。

19. Academy Award： 奥斯卡金像奖；Santa Monica Civic Auditorium： 圣莫尼卡公民大礼堂，位于美国加州。

20. broadcaster： 电视台；film： v. 摄制； venue： 会场；limousine： 豪华轿车。

21. focal point： 焦点；showcase： 使展现。

22. 毕竟，好莱坞红毯的本质就是吸引公众眼球，而那些名留史册的红毯亮相一般都记载了特殊的时刻——明星们大胆而自信地展示和炫耀自己，昂首阔步地向前走着，浑身散发着自信、奢华、性感和独特的气息。showmanship： 善于表演的能力，吸引公众注意力的本领；essence： 精华，本质；go down in history： 载入史册；bold： 自信的，大胆的；peacockish： 炫耀的；swagger： 昂首阔步，大摇大摆地走路；flamboyant： 奢华的，炫耀的；provocative： 性感的，挑逗的；individualistic： 特别的，不寻常的。

23. Elizabeth Hurley： 伊丽莎白·赫莉，英国著名演员、制作人；spring into： 突然出现；overnight： 一夜之间；don： 穿上；Versace： 范思哲，世界著名服装品牌；Hugh Grant： 休·格兰特，英国人，著名好莱坞影星。

24. safety pin： 安全别针。

25. deliberately： 刻意地；edgy： 前卫的，时髦的；subsequently： 随后；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： 狂热。

27. scrutiny： 仔细检查；unforgiving： 无情的，不容许出错的；Glam Cam 360： 对演员们进行全方位、360度的拍摄和展现；Mani Cam： 一个小型立体模型，设有微型红毯、遮挡和新闻背景幕，女演员们将手置于红毯上来展示她们的指甲和首饰。

28. commonplace： 普通的，平常的；stylist： 设计师，造型师。

29. feminine： 有女性气质的；sure-fire： 万无一失的；flattering： 使人显得更漂亮的。

30. 如今，大量公主式礼服在红毯上亮相，红毯仿佛又回归其皇室身份，为当代那些童话公主般的女影星们铺路。symmetry： 相似； proliferation： 激增，剧增；gown： 礼服。

31. fashion-savvy： 精通时尚的，savvy意为“有见识的，懂实际知识的”；inimitable： 独特的，无法仿效的。

32. boundary： 界限，边界；soul： 人；swan： 天鹅； ostrich： 鸵鸟；hallowed： 神圣的。

33. Bj?rk： 比约克·古蒙兹多泰尔，又名碧玉，出生于冰岛的女歌手、音乐制作人；dreaded： 可怕的；MoMA： The Museum of Modern Art，纽约现代艺术博物馆；bonkers： 疯狂的；go down： 平息，平静下来。