Dame Kiri Te Kanawa stepped out wearing a $38.50 bed sheet as a skirt ...

When award-winning opera star Dame Kiri Te Kanawa walked out on stage at St David's Hall in Cardiff to present the BBC Cardiff Singer of The World award she was her usual vision of elegance.

Wearing a white lace blouse with an opulent skirt featuring a pattern of lavender-blue hydrangea blooms, you'd be forgiven for thinking her outfit was designed by the likes of Dolce & Gabbana or a vintage Christian Dior.

But it turns out the skirt was from none of the above.

To present Ukrainian baritone Andrei Kymach with the £20,000 (NZ$38,500) prize over the weekend, the 75-year-old wore a skirt made from a £19.99 (NZ$38.50) bedsheet that she bought in Zara Homewares!

"I have been looking for a hydrangea print for years," said Dame Kiri.

"And when I saw this sheet, I thought my prayers had been answered."

Her dressmaker turned the single flat sheet, which comes with matching duvet cover and pillowcases, into a full-skirted style edged with blue ribbon.

How cool is that?!