thrift the looks: your favorite Julia Roberts 90s movie characters

her best outfits, and how to find them secondhand

In the 1990s, Julia Roberts starred in 18 movies and was the lead in 12.

She won an Oscar, three Golden Globes and this doesn’t even count her nominations. She also became a top-paid actress in Hollywood history, helping to narrow the gender-pay gap.

Basically, Julia Roberts is a legend and so are Vivian from Pretty Woman, Anna from Notting Hill, Julianne from My Best Friend’s Wedding and Erin from Erin Brockovitch.

And just like Julia, fantastic fashion inspo. So today, we’re going to have fun thrifting their looks.

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Vivian from Pretty Woman (1990)

We’re all familiar with Vivian’s red dress (it even has its own Wikipedia page). But I’m all about her more-low key looks.

1. (Knotted) oversized men’s shirt

We all have one lying around somewhere, right? I’ve never perfected the knotting technique myself but love it on others over a skirt/dress. And Pinterest is here for guidance on the actual knotting.

If you’re on the lookout for the perfect oversized white shirt, secondhand men’s cotton shirts are the way to go. Here are some secondhand finds:

Figaret for just 20€:

Or Brooks Brothers, also for 20€:

2. Shorts suit

Bermudas are having a moment, so why not add a lil blazer to it. I saw a woman wearing a shorts suit at a wedding this summer and she looked so cool. You gotta love a good two-piece (I have a working draft on this topic).

Found this very fall-appropriate Armani number:

3. Black blazer

Vivian’s final outfit is great proof that a black blazer can turn around the most basic outfits. It’s also, in

Lindsay Sword

’s words, “fall’s MVP”.

Vintage Caroll is a gold mine for some classic cuts, like this one:

This one from Joseph is also great and 30€:

Anna from Notting Hill (1999)

Love this movie so much, it’s the one I’ve rewatched most out of the 4. Anna Scott is cool and elegant, especially in her “every day” outfits.

1. Leather jacket

My last post was all about thrifting the perfect leather jacket, so I’ll plug it here if you’re on the hunt or all of a sudden very inspired by Anna Scott :)

let's thrift the leather jacket of your dreams

2. Embroidered silk jacket

In my humble opinion, Anna’s best outfit is a silk jacket & jeans (and the belt!!). It’s also what she’s wearing for the film’s best scenes: the friend’s dinner and “whoopsie daisy”.

There are great secondhand embroidered silk jackets out there. Using the search term “Chinese silk embroidered jacket” will get you great results, like this one from eBay:

Or from Vinted:

Or Etsy:

3. Cardigan twin set

I’m just a girl, in front of my Substack readers, telling them that cardigan twin sets can be super elegant.

I’ve had this Calvin Klein twin set saved in my Vinted for months:

Erin from Erin Brockovich (2000)

The role that earned Julia Roberts her Oscar. I rewatched it recently: it’s so good. What a story! Some of the looks are a bit more daring than others, but there’s so much great y2k inspo. Julia looks elegant in anything and I love that the character rewears a lot of her clothes throughout the movie.

1. Lace top

I personally wouldn’t go for the one Erin’s wearing. It’s a bit too showy and the fringes aren’t my thing. But there are so many different types of tops with laces out there! Like this red one:

Or this simple shirt:

I also like this Calvin Klein long sleeve:

2. Midi denim skirt

This is basically Erin’s equivalent to a trusty pair of jeans — she wears her denim skirt in so many scenes.

And I don’t need to tell you how easy it is to find secondhand! It took me 10 seconds to land on this vintage Sisley for 5€:

3. Sunglasses

Her sunglasses are so good 🤌 but this extends to all the characters + Julia Roberts in general.

This Etsy shop has millions of fun 90s-style sunglasses to browse through!

Julianne from My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997)

As my brilliant friend Jenny says: “unhinged film but a favorite.”

The plot ain’t great but I Say A Little Prayer for You and the very reasonable ending make up for it. Julianne’s a bit mad but I love her androgynous looks (and the hairrr!).

1. Checkered shirt

This look kinda gives me Meg Ryan early 90s vibes. Also perfect for fall! You can find so many nice checkered shirt for a bargain. Like this one:

Or this lighter option:

2. Oversized suit

Not to repeat myself: I love a good two-piece. Can you ever go wrong with a great suit?? It’s easy to thrift and you can always bring it to your local tailor to get it perfectly fitted.

Here’s a very Julianne option:

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That’s a wrap — I had so much fun thrifting these looks! (And now I want to watch all of these bangers again.)

Who’s your fave Julia Roberts character? What should be my next “thrift the look” edition?

Thanks for reading 💖

— Laure