Anne Hathaway 2003

Valentino Garavani and his longtime partner Giancarlo Giammetti were celebrated for their contribution to fashion last night at the WWD Honors event in New York. Valentino is now 93 years old and does not step out in public anymore so Giancarlo was there with Anne Hathaway, a longtime friend of both and the house. 

Anne also presented to Giancarlo, in an archival red dress, signature Valentino colour, from the archive. This dress is from the fall 2003 collection – and you can tell. There were a lot of silk chiffon dresses during that decade and this is one of the high fashion pieces that ended up making its way to the mall. By 2004/2005 variations of this dress were all over Bebe and BCBG. (Remember BCBG?!) I know because I wore them! Two years or so later the Valentino dupe would then be replaced by the bandage dress dupe. 

So Annie is really taking us back here, and not just with the dress but even with how her hair is styled. This too is 2003 coded. Instead of slicking it all back in the way that’s more favoured now, 20 years ago a pony or a half-up style was given a bump over the forehead, like a mini pompadour. See also Gwen Stefani. It has been a minute since I’ve worn my hair like this but back in the day, that was the preferred ponytail – super tight and flat on the sides with a pouf on top.

Love that Annie went head to toe with her throwback, but please let’s keep the hair for one night only and not bring it back. Some things can stay in 2003.