Katie Holmes returns to the early 2000s in her latest red carpet appearance

"Katie Holmes woke up and decided it was 2002". It was one of the most shared comments on social media after Katie Holmes arrived at Madison Square Garden for the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Awards last Friday in a definitely throwback time look: a deep blue strapless minidress, worn over a pair of frayed jeans (and here I cry true horror!) with a relaxed (not to say shapeless) fit, both paired with black New Balance shoes. The only accessory? A nose ring that shone over natural make-up played on brushstrokes of blush and pink lipstick with a veil of illuminating gloss. Finally, her hair, slightly wavy, was loose on her shoulders. 

Everything about this look screamed early 2000s, when it was common to see celebrities such as Ashley Tisdale, Selena Gomez or Mischa Barton on the red carpet sporting the dress + trousers combo or, alternatively, skirt + trousers. A style solution that even at the time, although worn by many, raised quite a few criticisms and was anything but cool. It is known that fashion is cyclical and comes back to haunt all of us who often have too short a memory. Including Joey Potter, who, in the cult series Dawson's Creek, was the water-cooler girl next door, the one undecided between love for the best friend and the suburban "bad guy", who had a wardrobe made of dungarees, tank tops, t-shirts and jumpers, bucket hats and trainers. 

If Joey's look was fiercely normcore, Katie's always struggled to find its own originality, always out of focus with the actress's faded personality or the trends of the moment. She experienced her quarter of an hour as a style icon in 2019 after being photographed walking around New York in a bradigan, i.e. a reinterpretation of the classic twin set consisting of a bra (bra) and cardigan, which sent the two garments designed by the New York label Khaite flying off the shelves within minutes. Before and after that, nothing or almost nothing, between a mix of good girl outfits and a not too successful attempt to look sexier. The result is a mishmash of jeans, belted coats, passepartout blazers, Capri pants and anonymous jumpers.

How to get out of this winter fashion loop? The solution devised by Katie and her trusted stylist Brie Welch was to go back to the recent past, resurrecting one of the most controversial combos of the early 2000s (although, honestly, every trend from that era is the subject of dissenting opinions). It's hard to say that the look works from the point of view of coolness, but it certainly created a lot of hype around the actress, who hasn't been in the news for some time for professional or gossip reasons. The net is buzzing about whether Holmes wanted to wink at Gen Z, still obsessed with the first decade of the 2000s, or whether she simply gave us yet another flop outfit inspired by her period of greatest popularity and the return of the dress/skirt/trousers combo by contemporary brands such as Chopova Lowena and Stefan Cooke. Perhaps we will never know. We only have one certainty. If Bella Hadid had worn that look, we would all be copying her now.