Hillary Clinton reveals story behind her off-the-rack wedding dress from Dillard’s

Sourcing the gown was a last-minute affair

Thursday 15 September 2022 08:09 BST

Hillary and Chelsea Clinton in September 2022 (Getty Images)

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Hillary Clinton has opened up about sourcing the wedding dress for her 1975 marriage to Bill Clinton.

During an interview for an episode of The Drew Barrymore Show, the former Secretary of State and presidential candidate revealed she took a relaxed approach to the important garment for her big day.

Daughter Chelsea Clinton, who appeared on the show with Hillary, asked her mother how many attempts it took for her to find her wedding gown.

“Only one, I found what I wanted,” Hillary, 74, admitted, eliciting a shocked look from the Charlie’s Angels actor.

“But here's what happened,” she continued.

“My husband [Bill Clinton] had asked me to marry him twice, and I said, ‘Not now, no.’

“The third time was the charm,” she revealed. “And then he said, ‘Well let's hurry up and do it before you change your mind’.”

The Yale Law graduate, who in 1974 advised the House Committee on the Judiciary during the Watergate scandal, was too occupied to source a dress for her nuptials, prompting her to head to her local Dillard’s store on the weekend she was set to tie the knot.

Barrymore asked the 74-year-old whether the mid-range department store was really where she ended up purchasing her wedding dress, to which Clinton replied, “Yes, it is.”

The dress she chose was a bohemian smock dress with bell sleeves and crochet lace detail.

Her husband-to-be wore a suit, which he paired with a polka dot tie.

The former First Lady appeared to defend her husband over his affair with Monica Lewinsky during a clip from her recent TV programme Gutsy.

Bill Clinton was notoriously involved with Monica Lewinsky while she was an intern at the White House and just 24-years-old, 27 years his junior.

The former president, who was serving his second term, would not have revealed his affair had the couple not been in the public eye, according to Hillary.

“Oh no,” Hillary responded. “No. Because he was so embarrassed and really ashamed about it.”

Despite initially denying the allegations, Bill finally admitted that he had conducted a sexual relationship with Lewinsky during a deposition to a grand jury in 1998, prompting him to apologise to the nation.

In a series on her life titled Hillary that premiered in 2020, Hillary said that she was “devastated” by the affair and that she “could not believe it.”