Why Stars Like Blake Lively, Sabrina Carpenter and Sydney Sweeney Are Copying Old Red Carpet Looks

If you were offered the chance to wear a standout celebrity dress from the past, you’d be all over it, right? And that’s the case for the many big names who are eagerly delving into the fashion archives to pay tribute to famous outfits — and often looking just as incredible as the star who wore it first.

Whether you like her or not, Kim Kardashian has to get some of the credit for this growing trend. She controversially wore Marilyn Monroe’s infamous “Happy Birthday, Mr President” dress from 1962 to the 2022 Met Gala, even going on an insanely restrictive diet to fit into it.

Unsurprisingly, it didn’t go down well with everyone. “[Marilyn] was a goddess,” said Bob Mackie, one of the original designers of the gown. “It was designed for her. Nobody else should be seen in that dress.”

But this hasn’t put off other stars from copying vintage looks. Since then, numerous actresses, singers and models have paid homage to memorable outfits — just in a slightly less extreme way.

There was Blake Lively slipping into Britney Spears’ 2002 Versace butterfly dress for the 2024 It Ends With Us premiere; Sabrina Carpenter wearing Madonna’s dazzling 1991 Oscars gown to the 2024 VMAs and Zendaya inducting Cher into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last year in a striking gold Bob Mackie design closely resembling one worn by the legend herself.

One of our favorite looks from this trend has got to be Sydney Sweeney pulling off old Hollywood glamour with aplomb, bringing Angelina Jolie’s 2004 Oscars dress by Marc Bouwer out of the archives 20 years later for the same event. As Sweeney said, “It was an honor to wear a piece of history.”

The Euphoria star kept things simple, with her entire ensemble closely resembling Jolie’s, but some celebs prefer to give styles from the past a modern twist.

While Elizabeth Hurley looked like a classic English rose when she wore bejeweled Versace in 1996, Halsey’s take on the same outfit was quirkier, matching her bright red hair to the dress and showing off her cool girl tattoos.

Stars have different reasons for dressing this way. Sometimes, it’s to declare their love for a particular person, paying the ultimate tribute to someone they adore or respect — like when Kaia Gerber recently showed her admiration for her mom, Cindy Crawford, in a dress identical to the legendary supermodel’s white Hervé Leger from the 1993 Oscars.

Sometimes, vanity is at play too — Kardashian took huge pride in squeezing into Monroe’s iconic, figure-hugging gown. Plus, these celebs know that, as soon as they step out in a dress everyone instantly recognizes, they will be pitched against them in the ultimate “Who wore it better?” They also know that being loaned an iconic piece from the designer archives is a big deal, so keeping their tributes respectful to the original is important — and, let’s face it, they all look amazing.

In an era when some stars use the red carpet to be as shocking as possible, trail-blazing in outrageous outfits — or sometimes, barely any outfit at all (we’re looking at you, Bianca Censori!) — we love that these ladies are keeping things simple and proving that truly memorable red carpet looks are timeless.

Mostly, though, it’s in keeping with the growing love for nostalgia and the comfort that it can provide. When you see Spears’ or Jolie’s dress from the aughts, it takes you back there, to a time when life felt simpler, more frivolous and fun. And remember, stars used to be normal girls too, idolizing celebrities from afar, so getting to wear clothes they once gazed at in magazines can still feel pretty exciting. “It is Britney’s actual dress!” gushed Lively. “It should be in the Smithsonian or the Met. But it’s on me. I feel so lucky!”