Sydney Sweeney Twins With Angelina Jolie Across Two Decades

If Jennifer Lawrence can do it, why can’t Sydney Sweeney? We’re talking about digging into the archives of luxury brands — many of which have Met Costume Institute-sized archives of looks from the past 70 years or so.

For Vanity Fair‘s 2024 post-Oscar party, Lawrence ditched the polka dot Dior couture she wore to the Academy Awards, changing to a 1996 cream Chantilly lace puff sleeve dress by Givenchy, a slightly more revealing Bridgerton-style gown. Recycling ’90s styles has been a hot trend for more than a moment, but now it’s reached fever pitch.

Also for Vanity Fair‘s shindig, Sydney Sweeney dug deep into New York designer Marc Bouwer’s archives and plucked out the very same white satin gown that Angelina Jolie donned attending the 2004 Oscars.

Sweeney’s Bouwer dress is dripping with old-Hollywood chic — the white liquid looking gown has Grecian pleats and folds, and a V-neck so deep on its halter bodice, it’s giving us Marilyn, Jean Harlow and Lana Turner vibes.

Who’s Marc Bouwer, you whipper-snappers might ask?  The New York designer of slinky evening wear is still in business, creating evening fantasy creations from four grand up to $14,000. In the 1990s, he became famous for bodycon cocktail dresses (before the word bodycon was coined), reminiscent of Azzedine Alaia’s silhouette clinging looks.

It’s one thing when environmentally conscious actresses like Cate Blanchett recycle looks they’ve either worn before or pull from archives. But when an ingenue like Sweeney (age 26) does it — pairing it with a Messika multi-row diamond necklace made expressly for the occasion — it shows younger stars how cool vintage is, giving the gown an instant backstory. Not a bad way to get more ink.

Remember the recycled Valentino (a 1992 design) that Julia Roberts wore when she won at the Oscars in 2001? That started a precedent — if you don’t want to look like your competition, go back in time. It’s fashion forward now.