Sabrina Carpenter, Halsey among stars giving us déjà vu in vintage gowns previously worn by other superstars
Nothing beats the original — especially if it once clung to the body of an icon.
At the Sept. 11 MTV Video Music Awards, Sabrina Carpenter made out with an alien but also had an out-of-this-world moment on the red carpet. The “Espresso” singer dug into the fashion archives for her Bob Mackie strapless, V-neckline gown — covered with sequins, pearls and crystals — that Madonna wore in 1991.
Mackie wrote on Instagram that Madonna first wore a sample of the gown for a Vanity Fair cover shoot. Days later, the “Material Girl” singer called him personally to request a custom version for the 1991 Academy Awards. Marilyn Monroe (from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) was Madonna’s inspiration at the Oscars.
Not only did Madge perform in the custom dress — Stephen Sondheim’s “Sooner or Later” from Dick Tracy, which won the Oscar for Best Original Song — but she also attended with Michael Jackson, which was a moment in itself. She later wore the custom dress again — in a photo for her book Sex.
Carpenter, carrying the pop star torch over 30 years later, was a blond bombshell at the VMAs as she collected a Moon Person for Song of the Year in the sample version of the vintage dress, which her stylist, Jared Ellner, secured from Tab Vintage, a celebrity-loved archival fashion dealer.
Tab owner Alexis Novak told Vogue, “Madonna still has the custom gown Bob Mackie made for her in her archive, but the other sample piece is the [dress] I believe we have” and that Carpenter wore.
Before Carpenter, it was worn by fashionista Fran Fine, played by Fran Drescher, on The Nanny in 1994.
“When [costume designer] Brenda Cooper was looking for an Audrey Hepburn moment for the show, she went to Bob Mackie’s studio and found the sample of this piece,” Novak told the same outlet.
Carpenter wasn’t alone in VIP vintage. Halsey showed her animal magnetism on the VMAs carpet in a red Versace dress previously worn by model/actress Elizabeth Hurley in October 1996.
“This dress was literally a miracle to find,” the singer said during the pre-show. “This dress was designed by Gianni Versace for Elizabeth Hurley in 1996, and it hasn’t been worn since. So from 1996 to me right now, and I’m just living it up. I’m loving it.”
Is it safe to bring up Blake Lively? In August, before things went sideways with the It Ends With Us press tour, the film’s star wore a Versace gown that Britney Spears had worn to the label’s runway show in 2002. The shimmery one-shoulder dress was covered in butterflies and sequin pink, blue, yellow and purple flowers.
According to TMZ, the dress wasn’t on loan for the night. Lively actually purchased it from Tab Vintage for a little over $10,000. On social media, Lively expressed appreciation for Spears’s entertainment contributions, calling her “the ultimate queen who made us all want to sparkle and write and share our stories."
Stunning again in the same dress is quite trendy at the moment. At this year’s Academy Awards, Sydney Sweeney channeled another movie siren, wearing the same dress that Angelina Jolie had worn to the same awards show in 2004. The archival Marc Bouwer gown was also an homage to Marilyn Monroe (from The Seven Year Itch).
The Anyone But You actress wrote on Instagram that “it was an honor to wear a piece of history.” She later told E! News, “It's really cool to be able to wear such iconic, beautiful vintage pieces, and Angelina is a style icon.”
We’ve been seeing these homages quite a bit over the last few years, perhaps most famously when Kim Kardashian wore Marilyn Monroe’s dress — worn to sing "Happy Birthday" to then-President John F. Kennedy in 1962 — to the 2022 Met Gala.
While the dress was allegedly “permanently altered” — with the fabric appearing to be torn in places and crystal sequins missing — it gave Kardashian the Marilyn moment she craved … even if she only wore the dress for four minutes, changing into a replica once she managed to get up the stairs. (She also lost 16 pounds in three weeks, if you remember.)
Ripley's Believe It or Not! paid a staggering $4.8 million for Monroe’s dress, making it among the most expensive dresses ever. The reality TV star, who has insisted she didn’t damage the gown, said, “I understand how much this dress means to American history.” (Ripley’s also denied it was harmed.)
The same year, singer Kelsea Ballerini arrived at the Academy of Country Music Honors in the famed white, sequin turtleneck gown that Shania Twain had worn to the 1999 Grammy Awards. Ballerini — who was loaned the dress from the Grammy Museum — wore it as a tribute to Twain, who was being honored at the show.
Twain loved the callback, saying at the time, “I am so blown away. She looks stunning. She looks like an absolute angel. It's very flattering to see her in the dress, and that she even wanted to wear it. I said, 'I hope it's not too dusty after being in the [museum].'"
