These 100-year-old silhouettes ruled the Venice red carpet

What year is it again? Some of the looks on the red carpet at the 81st Venice Film Festival could suggest the year was 1924, rather than 2024. Since Wednesday, attendees have given elegant nods to old Hollywood glamour: from time-honored dress silhouettes to vintage-inspired accessories.

Last night, at the premiere for Pablo Larrian’s “Maria” — a biopic following the tumultuous life of 20th century soprano Maria Callas — leading lady Angelina Jolie seemed to channel her on-screen counterpart. Dressed in a nude-toned custom Tamara Ralph gown, Jolie finished off her look with a 1930s-style faux fur shrug, a golden rose-shaped brooch and a deep red lipstick. While Jolie’s piece is a dead ringer for the shrugs worn by the likes of Marlene Dietrich, Joan Crawford and Greta Garbo, Tamara Ralph’s faux reimagining brings the antiquated accessory into the modern day.

Angelina Jolie’s faux fur shrug was a dead ringer for the kind worn by Marlene Dietrich and Joan Crawford in the 1930s.

Taylor Russell’s Loewe crepon dress with attached neck scarf was another old Hollywood throwback.

But Jolie wasn’t the only guest at the “Maria” screening taking cues from the starlets of yore. Taylor Russell floated across the carpet in a pale yellow silk crepon dress with a matching scarf attached to the train. The look, a custom creation from Loewe, had a distinct 1930’s feel thanks to the artfully draped evening scarf and conjured Marilyn Monroe in the 1953 film “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” — where Monroe wears a fiery bejeweled gown elevated by an orange chiffon scarf. Coco Chanel, too, in her Spring-Summer 1930 collection topped silk crepe dresses with an extra yard of fabric styled gracefully around the neck.

Ella Emhoff, daughter of second gentleman Doug Emhoff and Vice President Kamala Harris, arrives to speak on stage during the final day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on August 22, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. Delegates, politicians, and Democratic Party supporters are gathering in Chicago, as current Vice President Kamala Harris is named her party’s presidential nominee. The DNC takes place from August 19-22.

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Isabelle Huppert, the festival’s jury president, fast-forwarded a couple of decades for her “Beetlejuice” premiere look. According to British Vogue, the “pope red” opera coat was inspired by 1950s theater goers. Lifted from Balenciaga’s 50th couture collection designed in 2021, Huppert paired the evening gown with white elbow gloves and a stack of Cartier bracelets on each wrist.

Isabelle Huppert’s Balenciaga couture opera coat was inspired by theater goers of the 1950s.

Mariana Di Girolamo opted for a dramatic cape-style dress, a mainstay Chanel silhouette for almost a century.

Chilean actor Mariana di Girolamo similarly resurrected a vintage silhouette for her Venice Film Festival appearance. Her black embellished Chanel cape dress, worn to the screening of “El Jockey” was a masterclass in harnessing fashion history — since the house has been designing dramatic evening capes for almost a century. Di Girolamo’s version was glamorous yet understated, with an outline of sparkle made from embroidered beads and sequins.

The lesson is simple, and applicable to both fashion and film: Sometimes old is gold.