Helen Mirren found red carpet confidence at a stripper shop.
The 80-year-old Oscar-winning actress opened up about her long-time love of pole-dancing heels in an interview with British Vogue magazine from the front row of Erdem’s fall 2026 show during London Fashion Week on Sunday.
“Ideally, stripper heels are my preference,” Mirren told the outlet from her seat at Tate Britain. “When I first came to Los Angeles, it was all about the awards, and there were so many actresses like Nicole Kidman and all these beautiful, tall, thin, gorgeous actresses, and I was this little dwarf, about 5 feet 4 inches tall.”
Comfortable yet very high heels weren’t widely available at the time, so the “Queen” star had to get creative with her shopping methods.
“Platform heels weren’t fashionable, so the only place you could find platform heels was the stripper shops on Hollywood Boulevard,” she recalled. “They were $39.99, my first pair of stripper heels, and they worked like magic. Suddenly, I was eye-to-eye with (5-foot-11) Nicole Kidman there.”
Mirren has been outspoken about her love of supertall platforms for years. In 2010, she raved about the style in Woman & Home magazine, saying, “The 4-inch platform makes you look taller and your legs look incredibly long. It used to only be available in stripper shops, but now you can buy it everywhere. Unfortunately, that means others have discovered the trick, too.”
Her dedication to the look was immortalized in 2024 when Mattel created a Barbie doll modeled after her appearance on the red carpet at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. Complete with a periwinkle Del Core dress, matching blue hair, and her signature platforms, which she showed off for the occasion.
“Congratulations to the team at Mattel because they made the right choice with my FK-ME pump shoes,” Mirren told British Vogue at the time. “The giant platform pleaser has always been my secret weapon on the red carpet. With a six-inch leg height and made for strippers, it’s super stable.”
At Erdem, the “1923” graduate sat in the front row alongside fellow movie stars Glenn Close, Keira Knightley, Lily James and Rashida Jones. She channeled the label’s 20th anniversary collection in a navy knit cardigan with a crocheted shawl, white botanical print skirt, and Mary Jane flats. This time, I left my Pleaser pumps at home.
