GAH! If you’re going to do a gigantic ball gown, this is really the way to do. This is Zhang Ziyi at the Rome Film Festival premiere of Love for Life. The dress is Elie Saab Couture, and it’s absolutely gorgeous. My only concern is that I feel like I’m looking through the bodice of the gown…? Is the bustier lined? Am I looking at her skin or some flesh-toned fabric? No matter.
Massive sidenote: whenever a Fashion Girl wears some really great, show-stopping dress to one of these lower-tier events – no offense to the Rome Film Festival, but it’s not really Cannes, is it? – I always wonder if the designer is a little pissed that his or her gown didn’t debut in a better event. Like, this dress should have been at the Oscars or the Golden Globes. Instead, no one will wear now because Zhang Ziyi wore it in Rome.
We should cover Zhang Ziyi more often, shouldn’t we? She’s so pretty. She’s one of the most famous Chinese actresses in the world too, and she’s had a varied career in Hollywood and China, and she’s a big international star. She had a longterm relationship with an Israeli billionaire, Vivi Nevo, who I was just reading about in Vanity Fair (he lives in an enormous Malibu property that sounds awesome- you can read the VF piece here).
UPDATE: Red Carpet Fashion Awards IDs the dress as Christian Dior. I don’t know.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
The gown is BEAUTIFUL.
Unfortunatly, there are very limited occasions you can wear something like this to, which is a pity.
She has a cute baby face.
A very charming woman! 🙂
Wow, she looks gorgeous. It would have made an amazing Oscar gown tho.
And she is a bitch. Everyone hates her in China. She claimed to donate millions after the Sichuang earthquake and then did not, which got busted. Her PR image never got recovered after since.
Also, her engagement with Vivo was finished — Vivo dumped her.
I always thought she was beautiful, both in inside and in outside. But the moment I found out that she is sleeping with some rich french guy (I believe), I lost all my respect for her.
She is a natural beauty, she hardly has any makeup and she still looks beautiful. The dress is fit for a princess!
I tolerated it and wished them the best when they were going out but now that they broke up, I’m totally OKAY with her finding a fellow Chinese as her true love. I’m sure she would ONLY marry someone for true love and not money. It simply would be better if she found a Beijing man and made more Beijing unicorns. The baby would rock that authentic accent.
She’s gorgeous and the dress is pretty but it looks very cheap close up. Actually the more that I look at it it looks cheap on the skirt too. Pretty colour on her though.
It’s a disney princess dress. I love it.
People in China have a low opinion of her for various reasons. One of them being she only dates men with a very high net worth.
beautiful dress, except for the bow.
Talented woman; can’t speak to anything else…
She’s gorgeous! Was wondering what happen to her.
You’re right, the Rome festival is not the Venice Film Festival. Venice and Cannes are the really big events in Europe.
The dress is over the top, in my opinion.
About her…yeah, she’s cute but nowhere near as gorgeous as Gong Li, for instance.
She could pass as Bai Ling’s more beautiful sister.
Wasn’t she also in ads for skin whitening products in China? That’s the first thing I think of when I see her.
WOW!!!
@Daphne: I got the bitch vibe from her also.
What a dress, beautiful.
I love the dress and think she is beautiful but she’s not really up to the dress, in my opinion. She looks like she doesn’t know how to handle the volume of the skirt or…anything abotu it really. It’s wearing her, instead of the other way around.
Great dress. . . But what happened to this lovely womans acting career?
Anyone know what she’s been in recently?
Unfortunately she is the epitome of the stereotype of Asian women (for those that have ever lived in Asia).
She does not have a good reputation …
The dress is gorgeous but I find Zhang Ziyi annoying and overrated. She’s a horrible actress and Crouching Tiger is still her most famous role to date. Her star has fallen ever since. I prefer the more talented Chinese actress Li Gong as well as Michelle Yeoh.
“She claimed to donate millions after the Sichuang earthquake and then did not, which got busted.”
@Daphne
That’s seriously BAD. No wonder people hate her in China!
Actually Li Gong is the much more beautiful and talented actress. Maybe Ziyi was just a flash in the pan. She is now more well known for wearing fancy dresses than for doing anything substantial.
Oh my word that dress is gorgeous. Absolutely fabulous. It’s not for everyone, or for every event, but if you are going for a full ball gown then yes, this is the way to do it. I do agree though, Kaiser…is the bodice sheer? That kind of throws me a bit but I’ll overlook it since the rest of it is amazing. If I had somewhere to wear that thing I would hunt that woman down and steal that gown!
@lin234 – I had to laugh because don’t most celebs only date men with a high net worth? I think she looks like a Princess, but I don’t know anything about her personal life except what I just read on here.
The dress is a bit over the top. Love this little actress regardless of her personal life. She was exceptional in Flying Daggers.
Hate the blue nail polish; for such an elegant dress it’s too casual.
@Cheyenne,
One more thing about this lady: her only best female friend right now is Wendy Teng — Murdoch’s Chinese “tiger” wife. These two women teamed up to launch a film production company together.
@Wunder,
No, she didn’t donate the money as she claimed. The news was all over internet/newspapers. She thus got pissed by media. But she always has very bad relationships with media. They don’t like her.
You are right: Gong Li and Michelle Yeong are bigger stars in Asia than her.
However, I must say, Zhang Ziyi did shine in Crunching Tiger Hidden Dragon. She was born to shine on screen because she is really ordinary in real life. If you she walks by you in the streets, you will never pay attention to her. But take a look at her photo, she looks stunning in that dress.
Well, what can I say? It’s show business. Everyone got to be a bitch.
her dress is stunning. She looks amazing.
“People in China have a low opinion of her for various reasons. One of them being she only dates men with a very high net worth.”
Do people in China also hate actors who only date women who are hot & young?
I have to give her some acting chops: she was very good in both “House of Flying Daggers” and “2046”, which also starred Gong Li in a smaller role. Gong Li is a much better actress than Zhang overall.
I thought “2046” was an excellent film which should have received much more attention than it has to date.
Beautiful woman, beautiful dress, I think she wears it well. I found everyone’s comments VERY interesting!
I didn’t know how to put it delicately but it’s rumored she sleeps around with married men, cheats around, etc as long as the men are super rich. She sleeps with directors who can help her boost her career.
I really like the inane feminine grace asian women often display.
I like grace. I think it’s one of the increasingly underrated female quality in our society today where vulgarity is the new grace.
Her name is Ziyi Zhang
WOW! That is a gorgeous dress and she looks very pretty in it. Everything about her looks perfect except the blue fingernails.
She does look gorgeous… oh wait, so she’s like the Chinese Blake Lively? =P
Hate the dress, but she is too cute!
no her name is zhang ziyi, =/ chinese put last name first.
And yes chinese media hates on actors that only dates young and hot girls too. Chinese media is quite hateful one step wrong they hate you forever.
But yea… she’s known to be a massive gold digger =/
On anyone else i don’t think this would work, but wow does Zhang ever make it work!! She pulled it off perfectly with simple hair, simple makeup, and no jewellery except for those lovely (pink pearl?) drop earrings. You know how celebitchy was discussing who would be a good Grace Kelly for an upcoming movie…well if it was more open to interpretation i’d say Zhang has that perfect combination of elegance, grace and smarts.
I know nothing about her, but she’s pretty.
That dress is gorgeous, would have been perfect for the Oscars.
@Eve, I agree Gong Li is much prettier
but that dress is STUNNING. I thought it was lovely from afar but up close it’s even more breathtaking
Zhang Ziyi herself… don’t know much about her, but reading the comments on here. Oh dear…
this dress is pretty, but the design is not too special.
i got bitch vibes from ziyi too. for a while she was getting cast in everything and it was very annoying. i remember being extremely pained she scored that role opposite my takeshi kaneshiro in house of flying daggers.
unfortunately there don’t seem to be many young chinese actresses who can cross over internationally. there’s talk tang wei will be in the next 007 movie though.
Pretty! And she’s been great in the films I’ve seen her in. I don’t know anything about her private life, so I won’t comment. By the way, is it that impossible to genuinely like a rich man?
uh did no-one see memoirs of a geisha? she was the main star of this movie and although I love Gong Li way more – she definitely shined. She is also a classically trained dancer hence her great performances when she does martial arts fighting (House of Flying Daggers reflects this best.) I am not aware of her public persona but screen wise – she is not bad at all.
Bodice detailing is a bit weird-that triangle of fabric like a handkerchief dangling off her boob? And the bow at the waistline is stoopit.
And please explain: HOW DO YOU WALK in a dress like that? I’d get one of those dealies where you stand on it w/handlebars & two wheels? Forget the name. Maybe she could move herself around on that?
Otherwise: TIMMMBBBEERRRRRRRR!
Lovely dress, ans she looks amazing. With such grace and elegance she could pretty much pull off anything though. To get back to my favourite pet peeve, she has it, and princess kate does not.
I had dinner with her once, because she was my hero. She was a HUGE bitch the entire time. And in person, she’s not as pretty.
Nice eyebrows…strange comment, but they’re nice…
Without makeup, she’s really average. She’s all looks and no substance whatsoever
Ziyi Zhang is breathtaking in this beautiful gown!
People, don’t be fooled by those stupid internet trolls who spread rumors about Ziyi everywhere. I’m so tired of seeing all their hateful comments and now i’m quite sure those people are hired by someone who seriously wants to ruin Ziyi Zhang’s reputation and hurt or even destroy her career. Pathetic~~
This is NOT Elie Saab. It’s Dior, from the 2011 resort line. Nothing about this dress says Saab. But she looks stunning nonetheless.
She is the kind of person who can pull this off. It would be overblown on most people; not her.
the dress is gorgeous but she is not…
the dress is wonderful
I love love love that sparkley little purse!
she is a natural beauty, she is talented and she is the pride of China to the world!
If i could have a princess dress this would be it. I love it.
Ziyi Zhang is viewed as the biggest liar of the decade in China. She told the press ten years ago that she won the best actress award at the Irani Film Festival. It turned out to be a big lie. She just delleted that off her website. Many people in China know her money driven affairs with rich people and that was the reason Vivi Nevo dumped her. What really made the Chinese hate her was that she used the massive earthquake in Sichuan to benefit herself. She claimed she raised millions of dollars from celebrities in France and the US. But three years later, she has not passed a penny to the victims. What a fake!
this woman is a totoally a liar, she not only slept with her best friend’s hunsband, but also pocketd the millions of charity fundation that people donated to Sichuan earthequake, the chinese media described her lead a life by cheating for 10 years ever since he debuted in film industry.
1) Zhang Ziyi’s fund raising activity for the China earthquake at the 2008 Cannes film festival was illegal. How much money she has collected remains a mystery till now. Her public statement changes every time, the inconsistencies and holes are obvious. Chinese people no longer believe her stories. They request her to show solid financial proof, such as bank statement and audited financial report, which should be the easiest way to prove her innocence, but she firmly refused to do so. All she has is a lawyer’s memo, which is NOT a replacement of financial statement. As far as I know, non-profit charity organizations should be transparent, but “Zhang Ziyi Foundation” is definitely an exception.
2) No matter how much donation money she has collected, she DID NOT give the money to the earth quake victims. The money stayed in her pocket for more than two years. When people started to question the whereabouts of the donation money, she uses a Care For Children project, which is not directly related to the earthquake relief, as her cover up. Finding a way to get rid of the money cannot clear one’s crime, and there is no financial evidence that she DID deposit the money to CFC.
3) Zhang has contracts with many major websites and newspapers in China. No negative comments about her can be published. She has been forging fake news to boost her fame and popularity for years. More than half of the awards she claimed to won and published on her official web site, were proved to be untrue. This time, Chinese people can not tolerant a suspected criminal walking freely and still acting proudly as a role model in the public society. They gathered in a public forum “Tianya” to discuss this and it soon became the record-high post in Tianya history with more than 3000 pages.
4) More and more people are aware of her wrong-doings. Luxuries brands terminated their contracts with Zhang one after another. Zhang’s team tried every means to destroy and mess up that Tianya post. She used her media weapon to white wash herself. She told everybody that those netizens are organized by her rivals who are jealous of her success. She squeezed herself into charity events to build a good image. But her reputation, without any solid financial proof, cannot change.
5) On September 18, 2010, “Tianya” suddenly deleted the record-high post about Zhang, as well as many other similar posts related to her. Popular IDs were removed without any explanations to the users. In 48 hours, new posts which continued to discuss this issue were deleted instantly, even personal blog accounts and Sina Weibo (China’s Twitter) accounts were deleted as long as “Donation Fraud” was mentioned. I don’t know how much money Zhang paid those IT companies, but one thing is clear — she’s trying desperately and using all her efforts to shut people’s mouths off. This is a cultural-revolution on the internet. I can’t imagine this is happening in the modern world. An actress can block the nation’s freedom to speak, except praising her.
6) “Zhang Ziyi” is now the most disgusting name in China. Her new nick name is “Ms.Wecannotsay”. People without money and power can do nothing but boycotting any films she is a part of, any products she represents and any activities she’s involved. Someone who knows nothing about this may still be fooled by Zhang’s fake news and never-ending lies. Justice hasn’t been made to this complicated case yet, but it will come. FBI and IRS already received complains submitted by Chinese citizens, however, it may take months or years to investigate until the truth comes to surface. We should not allow anyone to take advantage of a natural disaster and exploit on the generosity of unsuspecting donors.
Zhang Ziyi, the shameless.
shame on her, charity liar!
how could this woman still pretend nothing has happened? where is the money she raised in the name of the victims of Sichuan earthquake? those money just diappeared? did she use these money buy this beautiful dress, no matter how beautiful this dress it is, yes, it is absolutely stunning, but it should not be weard by a liar and whore!
the gown itself is pretty,but the person who wears it is a great cheater and long-term liar.she’s still unable to clear herself out the $1M charity fraud scandal,she rejected to show her public foundation’s financial statement ,didn’t file IRS tax return for last year ,no apology to the earthquake victims whom she used for cheating others to make donation ,she lied about many international awards to cheat public and movie investors and luxury brands to get contracts in the last decade.so no matter how pretty the dress is ,she is still a charity fraud suspect ,and a shameless liar.she just brought shame to the brand which endorses her,millions Chinese are boycotting her and any productions supporting her.
check this out: info about ziyi zhang’s charity fraud scandal. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lO2ho6kz2QY
2 year later ,donation from $1M became $40K without any charity activities ,where is the rest of donation ?it has been 2 years.she still can’t answer.no financial statement showing to public as US charity regulations required so.so even she wear the most pretty dress like the one on the photo,she still has the ugliest heart and fishy soul.
charity liar!
is this a real Dior dress? how could Dior sponsor a cheater of charity fraud? did Dior go crazy?!
Zhang Ziyi, please give the charity money you pocketed back to the vicitims, send back the charity awards you got by cheating and appoligize for the public you fooled!
she is the my idol…don’t believe all the shameless reports on her .
Zhang Ziyi is an ugly woman with lazy eyes, crooked chin and flared nostrils. Her monumental achievement was the magical charity show in Cannes, France in May 2008. It was a low cost show with huge returns for Zhang Ziyi. The props used in that show was a five gallon plexiglass fish tank, a paper Chinese flag, a LV black dress and a white flower. The mass actors, whose participation in Zhang Ziyi’s charity show was free, included celebrities who attended the 2008 Cannes Film Festivals and tens and thousands earthquake victims in Sichuan China. The lucrative outcome from the charity show was four heavy weight national charity awards, millions of dollars from sympathetic wealthy celebrities deposited in Ziyi Zhang’s bank accounts and advertisement contracts with big brands including Swatch Group’s Omega Watch.
Having a look-alike face as Gong Li,’s Zhang Yimou’s ex-lover, Zhang Ziyi wiggled herself into Zhang Yimou’s bed and got herself into Zhang Yimou’s movies and a ticket to international film market. The Road Home won the Silver Bear Award at 2000 Berlin Film Festival. Meanwhile, Zhang Ziyi broadcasted in China that she won the Best Actress Award at 2001 Iranian Film Festival (Fajr Film Festival) for her performance in The Road Home. Unsuspected audience in China was not going to question a young actress’s press release and check Arabian newspapers for the film award. It was not until 2010 after Zhang’s charity fraud case was exposed did people find out she lied on about film award ten years ago! In addition to the few film titles Omega Watch listed on its ambassador website for Zhang Ziyi, her impressive credit lists includes “Phantom Lunch with President Bush and President Hu Jingtao”, “Slapping Sharon Stone’s Face in Public for Earthquake Victims”, “Magical Charity: Million Dollar to $1300!” “Care for Children: the Most Luxury and Mysterious Charity Organization, came to Ziyi’s Rescue!” “Failed Attempt to Break into Greek Olympic Historical Event”, “Black Ink over Family Wrecker”, “Closed out Sale: titie titie for Vertu! 90% off!”…All of which contributed to a massive boycott against Zhang Ziyi in Chinese speaking regions.
Zhang Ziyi is ugly!!! Where are the millions in Ziyi Zhang Foundation? Thief!
Valuable information. Lucky me I discovered your website unintentionally, and I am stunned why this coincidence did not happened earlier! I bookmarked it.