Dream Dresses of my Childhood – And Where to Find Their Knock-Offs Now
Growing up, I realized that I would be drawn to the costume design of some of my favorite childhood movies more than the actual plot. There were a few dresses in particular that I always dreamed of wearing, but because of how unique they were, I’d never be able to stumble upon a look-alike at my nearest Urban Outfitters. However, I’ve compiled a list of my favorite looks from my childhood, and tried my hardest to find what modern looks are out there to match that style.
5. Romy and Michele’s Reunion Dresses “Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion”
While I do have a slight preference for the dress that Michele (Lisa Kudrow) wears in this movie because it’s pink, I have to mention Romy (Mira Sorvino) because of how well they compliment each other. The shiny material, the sequins, and the fluffy hem along with each of their respective hairstyles made these two stand out for the better at their high school reunion. Also, the pairing of the light blue and pink enhanced the beauty of the costumes.
Today, bold fashionistas such as these two can find similar dresses at the trending edgy clothing store, Dolls Kill.
The pink and blue dresses shown to the right and left, respectively, really give a modern take on the 90’s fashion in the movie, especially noticeable if you wear one and your best friend wears the other. All that's missing are the iconic hairstyles, and you'll fully embody that "businesswoman" look that they achieved.
4. Jenna Rink’s Party Dress “13 Going on 30”
This dress was not necessarily something that I could envision myself wearing, but it was something that I appreciated. This dress exemplified Jenna’s (Jennifer Garner) youthfulness by having her wear something colorful and vibrant, paired with a sparkly butterfly necklace. Her bright pink lipstick was something that I modeled after in my middle school years, and I have to give her some credit for that. Although Lucy’s (Judy Greer) dark green “mermaid” dress in this scene would be something that I would probably be more inclined to wear, it just didn’t stand out as much as Jenna’s.
In my younger years, I always thought of dressing as this character with her statement dress for Halloween, but that would require stitching talents that I did not bear. However, nowadays the dress has risen from the ashes and online stores like Cider and Amazon sell that exact garment for only $20. In other words – I know what I’m being for Halloween next year.
3. Andie’s Party Dress “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days”
These next three dresses that I have listed were pretty hard to put in order since they should all be first place, but I narrowly sorted them into my top three.
Andie’s (Kate Hudson) iconic yellow satin dress with the delicate low placed ribbon wrapped around the front and the open back creates such an angelic look. Her low bun with a few strands standing out in the front makes the look toned down while still elegant. It is no wonder that there was no hesitation to give her the “Isadora” diamond necklace to complete her yellow aesthetic look.
A similar dress that carries the same essence of angelic elegance is sold from the online brand Réalisation Par, shown to the left. Though patterned with flowers, the dress still has that same baby yellow color and flows beautiful, making it very reminiscent of the classic rom-com look. Just in time for summer, this dress is absolutely perfect for farmer's market trips and spontaneous beach outings.
2. Hallie’s Date Dress “My Date with the President’s Daughter”
Honestly, there are only two things that I remember about this movie from my childhood: the fact that a guy who lives in Washington D.C. wouldn’t know what the President’s daughter looked like or that 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue was the White House, and Hallie’s (Elisabeth Harnois) bright pink mini dress.
I remember thinking this was the cutest, girliest dress ever and I absolutely loved the shade of pink for the material. This velvety dress paired so well together with her blonde hair, and it made the whole ensemble an absolute dream date look. Although this movie isn’t that well known, nor do I remember it being all that exceptional, this dress made the movie worth remembering.
A copy of this dress is extremely hard to find, and to my understanding, there’s nothing exactly like it anywhere. However, I did find one modern cocktail dress version of it from the online clothing store, Revolve. This dress offers a more mature look – with its deeper neckline and use of hot pink instead of the bubble gum pink in the original look – it still carries the same velvet material "girliness" that I always dreamed of.
1. Alex’s Fashion Show Dress “Wizards of Waverly Place”
The design of this dress was appreciative of the 90’s while also being ahead of its time. The comic book dress worn by Alex (Selena Gomez) was so forward thinking, and we see trending brands like Reformation and With Jéan use this kind of design in their dresses today. However, looking in the past we see 90's icons like Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) from "Sex and the City" wearing black and white (and read all over) dresses that are similar to this underrated Disney Channel look. I absolutely love the newspaper/comic book aesthetic, but there's none quite like this dress in real life retail stores because of its cut out paper look. However, the two looks shown below from the brands mentioned previously definitely offer the same type of interesting and trendy pattern.
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