Nicole Kidman unlocked a core (fashion) memory for me at the 2024 Gotham Awards. The actress—who was up for Outstanding Lead Performance for her role in Babygirl—graced the red carpet in a floor-length floral dress from Dolce & Gabbana. This was no ordinary Dolce & Gabbana gown, however. (Not that there is ever an ordinary Dolce & Gabbana design.)
Kidman’s stylist, Jason Bolden, dug into the fashion house’s archives as this piece first debuted on the luxury label’s fall/winter 1998 collection. The gown features a corseted bodice, hand-painted flowers throughout, and a cascading train. After staring at Kidman’s red carpet photos for over 10 minutes, I realized that the look felt familiar. Why, you ask? Well, Sarah Jessica Parker’s Carrie Bradshaw briefly wore the dress in season 4 of Sex and the City. In episode 2, Carrie is asked to walk in a charity fashion show with Dolce & Gabbana taking on the role of dressing her. At a fitting, Carrie falls in love with their pick: the floral, spaghetti strap gown. Unfortunately on the day of the show, Heidi Klum wears the look instead, and Carrie is forced to go down the runway in nothing but a bright blue silk jacket and sparkly underwear. She also ends up falling on her face.
Anyway, the Dolce & Gabbana dress is a part of Sex and the City fashion history, alongside Carrie’s DKNY naked slip dress, her Dior newsprint frock, and her Vivienne Westwood wedding gown.
Kidman, meanwhile, paired the look with pointed-toe black pumps and a voluminous blowout. She further complemented the gown with a bold red lip and dark nails.
At the ceremony, Kidman was nominated in the Outstanding Lead Performance category alongside Pamela Anderson (The Last Showgirl), Adrien Brody (The Brutalist), Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Hard Truths), Keith Kupferer (Ghostlight), Mikey Madison (Anora), Demi Moore (The Substance), Saoirse Ronan (Outrun), Justice Smith (I Saw the TV Glow), and Colman Domingo, who won for A24’s Sing Sing.
