Flare

Eva Mendes can wear just about anything and look great, but the Hollywood beauty detests jeans, calling them her "worst nightmare."

"I'm always in dresses, in skirts - I think they're so easy," Mendes told Flare magazine for its May cover story. "People are always saying, 'I love jeans, they're so casual and easy,' but I think jeans aren't easy. They're my worst nightmare."

Though Mendes prefer dresses, don't expect her to flaunt her curves.

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"It's not that I'm against body-conscious clothes: I have worn them on the red carpet or out, but when I'm photographed in them, I always regret it," the 40-year-old actress said in the interview. "For me, it's always been the easy way out. When I wear something a little more revealing, I think, 'Oh, gosh, I should have been more creative…' [And] I don't like when it's just me and I'm not working. I don't like feeling like I'm on display."

The actress, who has been dating Ryan Gosling for nearly three years, said her mother has a different opinion.

"She wants to see me in more fitted things! She's always saying, 'Show off your body, it's not always going to be like this!'" Mendes said.

The actress, who recently launched her own fashion line at New York and Company, revealed her all-time favorite red carpet dress was the red Gucci she wore to the 2011 premiere of "Last Night."

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"I usually stay away from red because it can be too va-va-voom and too much of a statement," Mendes told Flare. "But because this was chiffon, it just felt so right. It was an orangey kind of red, and it had long sleeves, went to the floor and had a high neck. I could live in a dress like that. It's just so comfortable and romantic, and more indicative of my real style."

Whether she's on the red carpet or running errands, Mendes admitted that choosing what to wear is "an important part of my day."

"I also have to remember that I probably will be photographed at the gas pump," she said.

Hence her love for a good head scarf or wrap.

"They're an easy way for me to feel pulled together, even when I'm not. Some kind of scarf or a mini-turban situation," Mendes explained. "That finishes a not-so-great outfit and polishes up the look a bit."