5 Celebs Who Contributed To Their Characters' On-Screen Fashion

Big-budget film and TV productions generally have a wardrobe department, but that doesn't mean stars can't bring some of their own pieces to the set. On the contrary, a number of actors have brought their own clothing and accessories to work, and sometimes, that's what really sold their character. 

Kicking things off with Hollywood royalty, we have Grace Kelly. After her marriage to Prince Rainier of Monaco, Kelly retired from the screen, but she churned out one last film before she walked down the aisle. That was the 1956 "High Society," which was already fitting given her own upper class upbringing, but even more relevant given that she was about to become a real-life princess. However, her own high society lore wasn't the only thing Kelly brought to her character. Another notable detail was her character Tracy Lord's engagement ring, which happened to be gifted to her by her hubby-to-be. 

We say "gifted," because while some have said Lord's engagement ring was Kelly's own, she'd originally been given a different band when the prince proposed. As for "High Society," Kelly was set to wear a costume jewelry ring for the part, per Brides. That simply wouldn't do for Her Serene Highness, though, and Rainier told his bride he'd buy her another (read: real) ring, specifically for the role but for her to alternate with the original band. As anyone who has seen "High Society" will know, Kelly took him up on the offer, and the rest is history.

Sticking with the stars who have sported their own jewels in a film, next up is Michelle Yeoh. "Crazy Rich Asians" fans will no doubt remember Eleanor Young's spectacular emerald ring, which (spoiler alert) she passes on to Rachel Chu when she finally accepts her as a member of the Young family. It may come as a surprise to some, though, that the ring that made it into the film wasn't the original prop. 

Speaking to Vulture in 2018, the film's director, Jon M. Chu, revealed, "We had a ring designed already, and our mock-up looked so sh***y that Michelle was like, 'That cannot be the ring I wear.' ... I'm like, 'I know, I know. I'm so embarrassed by it, but we don't have the money.'" Cue Yeoh's suggestion: "I have a better ring than that." No kidding, there! The film's costume designer told The Knot of the piece, "Emeralds can have a lot of cracks in them, a lot of flaws, but this one was really a flawless emerald, which is hard to find. It's very classic. It looks like something Cartier could have designed in the 20s."

Yeoh also spoke about the ring to The Knot and explained that it had been non-negotiable for her to wear a piece she truly believed Eleanor would wear. For starters, she pointed out, it had to be a real jewel. More than that, she said of the ring's quality, "Eleanor was a character who knew what she wore had to be flawless." The Hollywood superstar, who also wore the ring to the 2019 Golden Globes, also told E! Insider that the ring was a character in its own right, and as such, nothing but a showstopper would do. Well, her ring was that and then some. 

No "Firkins" for Kelly Rutherford. The "Gossip Girl" star, who has become known as "The OG Birkin mom" on social media, used her own handbags during her tenure as Lily van der Woodsen, and yes, they were all real. 

Speaking about bringing her own Hermès bags to work, Rutherford told Harrods (rather modestly, considering), "Yes, they were all mine — but that was just because we couldn't get them anywhere else at that time." That was something Rutherford also mentioned in an interview with Elle. "Hermès was obviously Hermès, but not everyone was wearing it," she told the outlet. Sure enough, Hermès was notoriously difficult to purchase around that time. However, similar to how Michelle Yeoh felt about Eleanor Young, Rutherford had a very clear vision of what her character would own. So, since she'd already acquired a few bags from the brand, using what she had was an easy solution.  

It is worth noting that Rutherford using her own uber-expensive bags wasn't intended to come across as braggy. Far from it, the actor (whose son's name is Hermès, BTW) has been very down-to-earth about her collection. In her conversation with Harrods, she even seemed to shy away from calling it a collection. "There weren't that many," she said. Rutherford also told Elle that when it came to purchasing her bags, she had a rather measured approach. While shooting "Melrose Place," she said, "I would just go buy the one bag because it was so expensive. ... And that's kind of how I built my collection: I would treat myself at the end of each season to a bag." Sage advice for any aspiring collector, and also wisdom we'd expect to get from van der Woodsen herself. 

From Kelly Rutherford to her "Gossip Girl" character's on-screen daughter, next up, Blake Lively. Lively has long made it clear she doesn't work with a stylist, famously telling Glamour in a 2011 interview of picking her own 'fits, "This is one of my favorite hobbies! And I'm going to pay someone to steal my hobby from me? That's a terrible idea!"

While Lively was talking about her red carpet and event appearances when she spoke to Glamour, several years down the line, she told Vogue she also liked using her own things on camera. "I show up with my own wardrobe a lot," she joked, pointing out a pair of trousers she used in "The Age of Adaline." 

Lively also told Vogue that her love for collaborating with the costume department of anything she was working on stemmed from her time on "Gossip Girl." She said of the show's costume designer, Eric Daman, "[He] was just so spectacular and inventive and he really took that idea to the next level of characters really having a look. ... They had such a distinct look, and I just find that so inspiring. To this day, I bring that with me to every character." Lively and Daman would collaborate again for "It Ends with Us," Daman telling Variety, "She wanted to bring in her own things. ... I feel like I'm really here as a costume designer to bring the tools and help these actors create the most amazing character possible. And if that means using a custom pair of Louboutins from Blake Lively's closet, I'm in." Of course, in the case of "It Ends with Us," some thought Lively's outfits missed the mark, but no one can say she didn't put her own spin on it. 

Back to stars who brought their own jewelry to the screen, Elizabeth Taylor was famous for her love of flashy gems, and she certainly made her mark on her films by wearing some of her most fabulous pieces on screen. However, one particularly touching piece came in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," and was a decidedly simple necklace. 

Taylor's necklace, which featured a heart-shaped diamond pendant, would always have been sentimental choice, because it was given to her by her third husband, Mike Todd (and as the actor's assistant told People, he'd given a matching one to her mother, too). However, it became all the more touching after Todd died in a plane crash while the film was being made. She would wear it again in her next film, "Suddenly, Last Summer."

Of course, not all of Taylor's jewelry was so pared-back and sentimental, so much as fabulous and a way to make a statement with her characters. Such was the case with the film "Boom," in which she played a spectacularly wealthy dying woman. Naturally, Taylor wore the 33.19-carat Krupp diamond for the role — aka the diamond renamed The Elizabeth Taylor Diamond in 2011. Other standout pieces included the La Peregrina pearl, which she wore during a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo in "Anne of the Thousand Days." Taylor wasn't even credited in the film, but she certainly made her presence known, and decades later, we're still talking about it.