Katie Holmes Doesn't Set Trends, She Follows Them

(And that’s perfectly ok) 

PHOTO: @KATIEHOLMES212 INSTAGRAM

Some celebrities are born trendy, some achieve trendiness, and some have trendiness thrust upon them. The third is true of actress Katie Holmes. On August 28th, Holmes broke the internet when a paparazzi photo of her hailing a cab in New York City went viral. The photo features the tall-and-slender Holmes flawlessly tanned and casually dressed in a khaki cashmere sweater and matching bra top from the luxury brand Khaite. The $520 bra sold out almost-instantly.

Since the photo appeared on numerous fashion-focused Instagram accounts (see The Cut, Who What Wear, Harper’s Bazaar), Holmes has achieved nothing short of cult status within the influencer community. A quick Google search of the phrase “Katie Holmes fashion” generates the following results: “Katie Holmes is a Whole Fall Fashion Mood,” “Why Katie Holmes is Still America’s Fashion Sweetheart,” “Katie Holmes’ Fall Outfits Are Full of Must-Try Style Lessons.”

With her wardrobe continuing to be dissected and her face flooding social media daily, it is obvious that the internet society wants to brand Holmes a trendsetter., But even a glimpse at Holmes’ past fashion past reveals that she’s has never been one. 

The world met Katie Holmes when she was cast as Joey Potter in the ’90s television series “Dawson’s Creek.” At just 19 years old, Holmes was talented, gorgeous and embodied the classic American girl-next-door. persona deemed desirable at the time. Her first Emmys look reflected this persona while also displaying the most popular trends of 1998 — white strappy sandals, a beaded microbag, a pearl choker and a collarbone-bearing white gown that fell right in place among the equally exposing gowns worn by Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Lisa Kudrow.

 Another popular image is of her at the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban premiere in London in 2004. She is sporting flare jeans — a Holmesian staple — and a silk floral halter top, which is not surprising given that 2004 was, according to Buzzfeed, “the year of the halter top.”

In 2007, TIME magazine deemed Holmes reflective of the cultural shift toward “demure fashion,” citing her high-necked gowns and “mid-calf skirts.” This trend is evident in the Monique Lhullier ensemble Holmes wore to the 2007 “Lions for Lambs” premiere. The pleated one-shoulder dress revealed just a sliver of collarbone and Holmes’ pairing of it with flat sandals and a metallic clutch kept the look from feeling too forced or flashy. 

Not only has Holmes been strictly following trends, she’s is recycling them. Take the Marc Jacobs ensemble Holmes wore to the premier of “The Irish Man” at the New York Film Festival on September 27. The white collared blouse with the oversized tie harkens back to the cream silk top and black pencil skirt Holmes donned at the Mentor LA’s Promise Gala in 2007. In June, Holmes paid homage to her charming 1998 Emmys ensemble by wearing a bohemian lace-trim Zimmermann dress to the opening of the Lion King and Jungle Book Festival at Disneyland Paris. Holmes can also be seen re-wearing several of her clothing items, such as her signature black leather mules and boyfriend jeans.

Holmes has an ability to remain rooted in her cultural moment while still adhering to signature stylistic choices, such as a bold red lip or black silk dress.  Over the years, Holmes has proven herself to be a stylish and powerful woman, but she has not proved herself to be trendsetter. To be one would require her to be constantly stepping out in new designer concoctions or experimenting with how everyday items are worn. Instead, Holmes’ fashion choices tend to fall in line with the decade’s biggest trends without offering extensive variation on those themes. Trendsetters aim to push boundaries and surprise with their style; Holmes dresses for herself, and that manner of dressing has, refreshingly, remained constant.

Fashion’s current obsession with Holmes is unwarranted for another reason: it insists that her style du jour is a result of her hush-hush breakup with actor Jamie Foxx, whom it is rumored she dated for six years. When she stepped out in that “bradigan,” as the Telegraph calls it, the outfit inspired captions like The Cut’s “The Best Way to Get Over a Breakup is to Wear a $520 Cashmere Bra.” Headlines like this one imply that a woman’s evolution, be it regarding style, beauty, persona, etc., must be intrinsically tied to losing a man. When The Cut labels Holmes as “thriving” and “living out loud,” it assumes that Holmes desires to be the poster-child for moving past a breakup, literally making her a martyr for a cause for which she didn’t volunteer.

Yes, Holmes has looked great recently. No point in denying it. Yet, to elevate Holmes as a trendsetter, fashion icon or queen of breakups because she bared a little collarbone is, simply put, ridiculous. Holmes should be admired not because she is dressing differently, but because she’s still the same Katie. That’s relatable. The point is not to ignore the timeliness or the attraction of Holmes’ style moment, but to recognize that, from a fashion perspective, it doesn’t matter why she is dressing that way at all. What matters is that she looks good, and we, the plebeians, want to look good, too.