Nothing beats the original — especially if it once clung to the body of an icon.
At the Sept. 11 MTV Video Music Awards, Sabrina Carpenter made out with an alien but also had an out-of-this-world moment on the red carpet. The “Espresso” singer dug into the fashion archives for her Bob Mackie strapless, V-neckline gown — covered with sequins, pearls, and crystals — that Madonna wore in 1991.
Mackie wrote on Instagram that Madonna first wore a sample of the gown for a Vanity Fair cover shoot. Days later, the “Material Girl” singer called him personally to request a custom version for the 1991 Academy Awards. Marilyn Monroe (from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) was Madonna’s inspiration at the Oscars.https://www.instagram.com/p/C_zCjL1S-f1/embed/captioned/?cr=1&v=12
Not only did Madge perform in the custom dress — Stephen Sondheim’s “Sooner or Later” from Dick Tracy, which won the Oscar for Best Original Song — but she also attended with Michael Jackson, which was a moment in itself. She later wore the custom dress again — in a photo for her book Sex.
Carpenter, carrying the pop star torch over 30 years later, was a blond bombshell at the VMAs as she collected a Moon Person for Song of the Year in the sample version of the vintage dress, which her stylist, Jared Ellner, secured from Tab Vintage, a celebrity-loved archival fashion dealer.https://www.instagram.com/p/C_zj8W6pGB4/embed/captioned/?cr=1&v=12
Tab owner Alexis Novak told Vogue, “Madonna still has the custom gown Bob Mackie made for her in her archive, but the other sample piece is the [dress] I believe we have” and that Carpenter wore.
Before Carpenter, it was worn by fashionista Fran Fine, played by Fran Drescher, on The Nanny in 1994.