For years now, fashion has been moving towards circular and sustainable practices. But while we as consumers place more of an importance on greener consumption, it’s also easy to get caught up in the desire for the new, new, new.
So when celebrities and influencers are spotted re-wearing old favourites, it has an impact. Normalising that a piece of clothing shouldn’t be a one-and-done matter, recycled red carpet looks are actually a trend we hope to see more of in the events to come. Some have even managed to dip into the archives to wow us in gowns over five decades old!
Why fix what ain’t broken, right? Beyond just the novelty, being an outfit repeater is essential to combatting the environmental impact of the fashion industry — just ask the pros.
Fashion legend Anna Wintour is famously known to cut a chic figure in a familiar getup — and has long encouraged others to re-wear their clothes with pride. In fact, even though she’s rumoured to have a pretty generous clothing allowance, she once told NYMag, “I usually wear the same dress twenty times. I think it’s always fun to have something new, but it doesn’t mean that everything you already have in your closet has to be thrown out, you know? Recycle.”
And we couldn’t agree more. As much as we love to treat ourselves to the latest in our sartorial obsessions, the importance of investing in pieces that you’ll want to wear over and over again is really the only way to ensure that our wardrobes are actually sustainable.
Below, we round up some of our favourite moments where uber-stylish celebrities have proven that newer isn’t always better.
Cate Blanchett is constantly inspiring us with her red carpet re-wears, but perhaps her most incredible revamp was this stunning Alexander McQueen bodice that she wore to the 2016 BAFTAs and again (in a completely unique way, might we add) at the 2020 Venice Fim Festival.
Who said statement pieces don’t have sartorial longevity?
Tiffany Haddish said it best when asked about her go-to Alexander McQueen gown that she’s pulled out multiple times for special occasions. “I feel like I should be able to wear what I want, when I want, however many times I want, as long as I Febreze it.” Amen. The return of the ’90s aesthetic means Laura Dern’s 1995 cutout dress is still the epitome of chic 25 years later at the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscars After Party. Are we amazed that she somehow looks even better in it? Of course not, it’s Laura freaking Dern.Hollywood legend Rita Moreno, one of the few people on Earth to hold an EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar & Tony) sent the Internet into a frenzy when she attended the 2018 Academy Awards rocking the original gown she was wearing when she won Best Supporting Actress for her role in West Side Story... 56 years earlier in 1962.Supermodel Kate Moss proved the power of the perfect LBD with this vintage number she wore to the Cannes Film Festival in 1998, and again at Coty’s 100th-anniversary celebration six years later in 2004. Michelle Obama is certainly high in the ranks of the most stylish FLOTUS to ever grace The White House, but where she really nailed the assignment was in her ability to seamlessly rework looks, like this graphic floral dress she wore multiple times between 2015 and 2017. Particularly given that her jam-packed calendar would require endless dress codes, we simply must applaud her timeless style.As a royal, Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, would also have a calendar brimming with public appearances, so we’re used to seeing her recreate many of her chic everyday looks. But recently, she stunned when she re-wore this classic Alexander McQueen gown to the Earthshot Prize Awards in London, an entire decade after she first wore it to the 2011 BAFTAs just a couple of months after her wedding to Prince William. The mind really boggles at the fact that Jane Fonda looked this good at the 2021 Golden Globes in this two-piece pearl suit that she initially wore back in 1996… 25 years ago. Kirsten Dunst clearly knows a good piece when she sees it. This lacey Christian Lacroix dress made just as much of a statement at a Vanity Fair soirée in 2004 as it did at a Chopard event 13 years later in 2017.
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