20+ Red Carpet Outfits That Gave Iconic Moments in Fashion History New Life

Fashion, turn to the left! At the 2016 Grammys, Zendaya took inspiration from David Bowie, who passed away in January. She told MTV Style correspondent Gaby Wilson she was inspired by David Bowie’s Thin White Duke persona.

She said — “Anything when it comes to fashion, for me, I am definitely inspired by past things and taking past things and doing it in my own way. I was like, ‘You know what? I don’t think anybody on the red carpet tonight is gonna have a mullet.’ So I decided I’d do it.”

Fashion, turn to the right! Late, great, genius musician and androgynous alien David Bowie had several famous alter-egos, and he adopted the Thin White Duke persona in the mid-1970s. The character first popped up during the 1974 Young Americans album tour but is most associated with his 1976 album Station to Station.

The look and persona were influenced by Bowie’s role as the alien Thomas Jerome Newton in Nicolas Roeg’s 1976 film The Man Who Fell to Earth, which was filmed in 1975 around the same time the Thin White Duke persona arrived on this blue dot.

Can you believe this shot of Zendaya is from before the singer even made her feature film debut in Spider-Man: Homecoming? Since then, the world’s most beautiful woman has starred in three Spider-Man movies, fallen in love with the luckiest man in the world, Tom Holland, and starred in HBO’s Euphoria and two Dune movies.

Since David Bowie’s most famous alter-ego is Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, we’re gonna go right ahead and call this Zendaya Stardust and the Spider-Man from Mars!

Kim Kardashian wrote all the headlines when she wore Marilyn Monroe’s iconic “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” dress to the 2022 Met Gala. Kim wrote — “The idea really came to me after the gala in September last year. I thought to myself, what would I have done for the American theme if it had not been the Balenciaga look? What’s the most American thing you can think of? And that’s Marilyn Monroe.”

Kim continued, “For me, the most Marilyn Monroe moment is when she sang Happy Birthday to JFK; it was that look.”

If you weren’t alive in the 1960s, you might not know what all the fuss is about. The date was May 29th, 1962, and President John F. Kennedy was celebrating his 45th birthday at Madison Square Garden. In a jaw-dropping moment, actress Marilyn Monroe dropped her fur coat to reveal a skin-tight flesh-colored dress.

Next, she approached the microphone and sang a breathy, husky, sensual version of Happy Birthday to the main man. The only thing was, Marilyn had been having an affair with JFK… and his brother, RFK!

Marilyn’s see-through dress was designed by that man again, Bob Mackie, and embellished with over six thousand crystals. Kardashian said, “Nowadays everyone wears sheer dresses, but back then that was not the case. In a sense, it’s the original naked dress. That’s why it was so shocking.” But there was more shocking news to come…

The Marilyn Monroe collector, from whom Kim borrowed the iconic dress, later claimed that Kardashian had caused “permanent damage” to the priceless gown. Oopsie! Kim denies breaking the garment.

English-Albanian singer-songwriter Dua Lipa paid homage to Amy Winehouse at the 2021 BRIT Awards. The Future Nostalgia singer wowed the audience and paparazzi as she stepped onto the red carpet wearing an eye-catching, cleaving-showing yellow polka-dot dress with a long train trailing behind her.

The jaw-dropping, thigh-gazing dress shows off kinky black stockings and a suspender belt combo underneath while she sports a pearl necklace around her neck. But Dua’s biggest homage to Amy Winehouse was the late singer’s trademark beehive hairstyle.

Dua Lipa’s Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Dress channels Amy’s yellow dress she wore to the 2007 BRIT Awards, the year she and her 2006 album, Back to Black, won her the gong for Best British Female Solo Artist.

If you’re wondering, the BRITS are the UK’s version of the Grammys. Tragically, the British singer with the velvet voice passed away in 2011, and millions of her fans still sorely miss her.

Seeing the pair side by side, Dua Lipa even managed to capture Amy’s famous scowl. Despite looking unhappy to be there, Dua said, “I’m really excited. I feel so lucky to be here and to get to put on a performance and to be with my dancers and with my team and to do it in a safe way. It means a lot so I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.” Take a breath, Dua!

Channeling the spirit of Amy Winehouse has helped Dua Lipa win seven BRIT Awards so far…

Madison Beer stopped traffic on the red carpet at the 2021 VMAs. That’s the MTV Video Music Awards if you need more clarification. The New York singer-songwriter skyrocketed to fame after Justin Bieber posted a link to one of her YouTube cover versions, and she went viral.

The “Selfish” singer was nervous before the ceremony, “Barely slept last night ahhhhh today’s @vmas day!!!!” But she didn’t need to worry, as she looked like a million dollars in a dress that sold for just $5,995.

Now, if you’re getting a sense of déjà vu from Madison’s dress, your instincts are spot on. Beyoncé sported a virtually identical gown when she was a guest on The Late Show With David Letterman all the way back in 2003. Well, when we say virtually identical, it’s actually the exact same 18-year-old dress. We hope the dress came with mothballs!

The stunning rare designer dress is from Dolce & Gabbana’s Spring 2003 collection and consists of panels of rose pink silk and leather, with corset detailing throughout.

Beyoncé laced her version up to just above the knee, pairing it with sparkly pink peep-toe sandals. After blowing the dust off the vintage dress, which Queen Bey first wore when Madison was just four years old, Madison Beer left her version unlaced all the way to the hip and complemented the pastel pink tones with a fabulous pair of metallic-heeled sandals.

Despite the differing styles, both stars complemented the look with loose, wavy hairstyles and soft pink lip gloss.

America is known for its star-spangled banner, but how about a star-spangled Emily Blunt? The theme of 2021’s Met Gala was In America: A Lexicon of Fashion, and the English actress didn’t disappoint. Mrs. John Krasinski took to the red carpet in a custom Miu Miu frock, a star-spangled headpiece, and a star-studded sheer skirt and bodice.

She topped the daring outfit off with a white cape to make her look even more super-duper. Emily completed the look with diamond-shaped dangly earrings, a wrapped diamond bracelet, and a boxy silver clutch bag.

Now, if you’re under 120 years of age, you might not remember Hedy Lamarr. Born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler in 1914, she was an Austrian-born American actress who dazzled the silver screen and audiences in the 1930’s, ’40s, and ’50s.

Here she is in 1941’s Ziegfried Girl, wearing the star-spangled headpiece that inspired Emily Blunt’s homage. Now, you probably think that the wiry headpiece was just for fashion, but we can exclusively reveal that that starry headpiece also served a more functional purpose.

Hedy Lamarr wasn’t just a pretty face; she was an inventor, too. You probably wouldn’t be reading this if it weren’t for her. When she wasn’t acting, the multi-talented good-time girl and her Hollywood neighbor, George Antheil, would tinker with radio waves to aid the ongoing World War II effort.

In doing so, the pair developed radio frequency-hopping technology. The same technology was later used to develop Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS. So, we’re assuming that Hedy’s starry headpiece was channeling Wi-Fi signals straight to her brilliant brain!

Kendall Jenner looked gorgeous as she stepped out onto the red carpet at 2021’s Met Gala, which celebrated “In America: A Lexicon Of Fashion” at New York’s Metropolitan Museum. She turned to her designer of choice, Hubert de Givenchy, for her glamorous sparkling silver gown, styled with a heavily stacked choker and a sleek updo hairstyle.

But if you think the Kardashian sister’s dress looks slightly familiar, you’d be right. You have seen it before, but not where you think…

While stylistically different, Kendall’s Givenchy dress was inspired by Audrey Hepburn’s dress in My Fair Lady. The 1964 musical is based on George Bernard Shaw’s 1913 stage play Pygmalion and tells the tale of Cockney flower-seller Eliza Doolittle, whom Henry Higgins teaches to be a high-society lady so she can pass for a Duchess in Edwardian London.

The film culminates when ‘Enry ‘Iggins passed Eliza off as a Hungarian princess in the Embassy Ball scene, thanks to 1960s British designer Cecil Beaton’s beautiful ball gown.

Come to think of it, Kendall and her fellow Kardashian Sister’s story isn’t that far from Eliza Doolittle’s journey. While Kim, Kourtney, Khloé, Kylie, and Kendall’s parents were already famous, the girls came out of nowhere. They had to adapt to a new life in the limelight, learning along the way how to navigate the ups and downs of becoming world-famous American-Armenian princesses.

Hang on a minute! All this talk of Eliza Doolittle gives us a great idea for a brand new rags-to-riches reality TV show!

Marvel’s ​​Eternals actress Gemma Chan wore a stunning little black dress decorated with a Chinese dragon and complemented by a green trail to 2019’s Met Gala. The English actress wrote on Instagram, “Honoured to be attending this year’s #MetGala with Nepalese-American designer Prabal Gurung.”

Gemma continued: “Born in Singapore, raised in Kathmandu, and based in NYC, Prabal is a leading voice for change both within the fashion industry and beyond. For his 10th anniversary 2020 collection, he sent models down the runway in sashes reading, ‘Who gets to be American?'”

Gemma’s stunning outfit paid tribute to Anna May Wong, the first Chinese-American film star of Hollywood’s golden era. Born in Los Angeles in 1905, Anna’s grandfather emigrated from China to the US in the 1850s. When she was just 17, she played the lead in the first-ever Technicolor film, 1922’s The Toll of the Sea.

Gemma wore this dress to pay homage to her forgotten hero, who starred in more than 60 movies in a career that spanned from early silent movies to the 1960s.

Gemma felt strongly about representing her heroine at the American-themed Met Gala. Anna May Wong passed away in 1961 at the age of just 56. Gemma’s Instagram post explained the meaning behind her red carpet look… “Despite facing prejudice and stereotyping, she fought back against the discrimination she faced in Hollywood.”

Chan described Anna May Wong as “a trailblazer, fashion icon, and woman ahead of her time — she paved the way for those who came after and continues to inspire.”

Wonderful Billie Eilish stopped the 2021 Met Gala in its tracks when she arrived in a Marilyn Monroe–inspired ballgown. Billie said she was “shivering and shaking [as] this is the first thing I’ve done in this realm at all.” But there was no need to worry, as Billie absolutely rocked it in this Oscar de la Renta ball gown, which had a long trail that reached halfway down the steps.

The young singer — who was 19 at the time — added, “I’m so excited. I have butterflies. I couldn’t be happier.”

Marilyn rocked many styles during her time, most famously the “flying skirt” as the wind from the subway blew her dress up around her waist while filming The Seven Year Itch in 1955. But the blonde bombshell wasn’t always showing off her legs; she also wore exquisite ball gowns like this sleek, black, off-the-shoulder princess dress to the 1955 Oscars.

This ball gown was originally created for Italian actress Valentina Cortese for the 1951 film The House on Telegraph Hill.

Billie’s beautiful peach-colored ball gown was more like one of Marilyn’s many puffier dresses from the 1950s. After managing not to tumble down the Metropolitan Museum’s steps, Billie took to Instagram to announce, “Thank you, Oscar de la Renta, for designing this BEAUTIFUL dress and bringing my ideas and vision to life.”

After rocking Marilyn’s look, she wrote, “It just was time. It was time for this, and I feel like I’ve grown so much in the last few years and my confidence.”

The 2021 Met Gala was a massive night for re-creating iconic looks of yesteryear. Just like Billie Eilish, American model and actress Kaia Gerber wore an Oscar de la Renta creation to her first Met Gala.

She employed the renowned Dominican fashion designer to recreate one of our faves, this lovely strapless black gown featuring floral detailing around the neckline. But who first stunned on the red carpet in the dress that inspired delightful Kaia Jordan Gerber to look even better 40 years later?

Surprisingly, for once, Marilyn Monroe wasn’t the inspiration. Kaia’s dress was inspired by the Christian Dior gown Bianca Jagger wore to the 1981 Met Gala. In the 1970s and 1980s, Bianca Jagger often attended the Met Gala wearing Roy Halston Frowick’s simple, elegant dresses.

Her designer was so famous that, like Beyoncé and Cher, he only needed one name and went by Halston. If you want to know more about the ‘Designer to the Stars,’ check out the 2021 Netflix miniseries starring Ewan McGregor as Halston.

So, who was Bianca Jagger? We hear you cry… She was a Nicaraguan actress who was married to Rolling Stones lead singer and hip-gyrator Mick Jagger. They wed in 1971 and she was quite the looker back in the day. They split up in 1978 after having a daughter, Jade Jagger.

Mick dumped Bianca to get with American model and actress Jerry Hall. No, Mick… don’t do it… Mick, you fool! Shucks, 40 years too late! So, who wore it better — the original Bianca Jagger or Kaia Gerber’s homage?

Back in 2014, Katy Perry was quite literally roaring up the charts with hits like “Roar!” After kissing a girl and liking it, she ran “Hot N Cold” and ended up with some riff-raff. Not literal riff-raff, but ​​Horst Christian Simco, aka tattooed Texan corn-row sportin, grill-toothed rapper Riff Raff.

After Katy split up with John Meyer (who hasn’t?!), Riff Raff took her on the ‘Holy Trinity’ of dates: sushi, bowling, and drinks. There must have been “Fireworks” because the pair showed up arm in arm at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards.

However, Katy and her short-lived boyfriend, Riff Raff, didn’t show up wearing any old riff-raff or a tuxedo and ball gown. No, they showed up in matching Versace denim-and-diamonds outfits. Why? Well… they did it to pay homage to Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake’s double denim disaster at the American Music Awards in 2001.

Britney even tweeted Katy Perry, saying, “Just when I thought the denim dress had retired….you bring it back! You looked amazing tonight bb ;).”

So, who wore this denim-upon-denim-upon-denim combo better: style originator boyfriend and girlfriend Britney and Justin or Katy and Riff Raff? Do Justin and Britney’s often questionable matching outfits take the crow as the originators of double denim style, or are their pale, faded stonewash denim imitators top of the pile? While Versace’s added diamonds are a nice touch, we must give the crown to Justin and Britney.

Fact of the day: The word denim comes from the French De Nîmes, referring to the town where blue denim jeans were invented.

There’s an old saying in the entertainment industry about saving your best until last. So, that’s precisely what we’ve done, with not one but two final entries. Our penultimate entry is one-half of the genius lunatic team behind South Park.

Here’s Trey Stone rocking up at the 72nd Academy Awards in 2000, taking inspiration from a very famous green dress. Can you guess who that dress belonged to? Here’s a clue… she once went by the monicker Jenny from the Block.

Nowadays, it would be commonplace to refer to a star’s red carpet dresses as breaking the internet. But back in 1999, Jennifer Lopez’s flamboyant green dress invented the internet, kinda. So many people searched for the famous green dress that it inspired Google to create Google Images.

J-Lo dropped everyone’s jaw in Donatella’s Versace silk chiffon green dress. Its sheer fabric featured a tropical leaf and bamboo pattern print. The dress was cut with a very low plunging neckline that extended well below Lopez’s navel.

Jenny from the Block wore the infamous green dress to the 2000 Grammy Awards ceremony on February 23rd, 2000. Five weeks later, on March 26th, Trey Stone decided it would be a good idea to recreate Jen’s show-stopping look by wearing his winning version of the dress.

He topped (or rather bottomed) the look off with a thong. Not that kind of thong, but the flip-flop you can see sticking out at the bottom. While Trey’s version erased some laughs and a few eyebrows, it didn’t inspire anyone to create an internet image search tool.

Not to be outdone by his creative partner, South Park‘s other genius, lunatic creator, Matt Parker, showed up on the red carpet at the same 2000 Oscars ceremony also wearing a dress. This little off-the-shoulder pink number certainly grabbed the headlines, but for all the wrong reasons.

He topped the look off with dark sunglasses, and you’ll find out why he needed those in a minute… Five cool points if you can guess which famous actress he was imitating. Yep, that’s right, it was…

At the end of the last Millennium (that sounds so weird!), Gwyneth Paltrow was Hollywood’s newest darling. After her boyfriend, Brad Pitt, found her head in a box in Seven, she started a new life. Gwyneth met Hollywood’s other hottest hunk, Ben Affleck, and made with her new beau.

Channeling Grace Kelly, ​​the waif-thin actress wore this marvelous flowing pink taffeta Ralph Lauren dress to pick up her Oscar for Best Actress for Shakespeare in Love.

Fashion magazines stated Gwyneth’s dress brought pink back into style and inspired many imitators. Unfortunately for her, one of them was Matt Parker. Who do you think wore it better? Over the years, the comedy duo has often ripped into Gwyneth, most notably in South Park: The Streaming Wars Part 2, in which she and other celebs drink their own PiPi+.

What on earth were Matt and Trey thinking? Well, it turns out if anyone told the pair, “You be trippin'” on the red carpet… well, they were trippin’… and we don’t mean on their dresses if you catch our drift.