Julia Roberts started her day in London wearing a blue Burberry bomber and ended it modeling McQueen graffiti. Let’s unpack that for you. The actor, who’s in town promoting her new film Ticket to Paradise, settled on a fashion-forward wardrobe with her longtime stylist Elizabeth Stewart. But make no mistake, this was no regular street art.
At the premiere, Roberts wore a custom black Chantilly lace Alexander McQueen dress with personalized crystal motifs hand-embroidered in silver bullion, metal thread beads, and sequins. Among the details painstakingly sewn by Sarah Burton’s team? “JR + DM,” in tribute to Julia’s husband Daniel Moder; the year 2002 in honor of their wedding date; the initials of the couple’s children, Hazel, Phinnaeus, and Henry; the word love, and a sprinkling of hearts.
“We were inspired by Sarah’s crystal graffiti in the show,” Stewart tells Vogue of the special commission, which she accessorized with a cropped wool silk tuxedo jacket.
The romantic British house, famed for its storytelling, was the perfect partner to bring Roberts’s sentimental vision to life. The McQueen atelier finds inspiration from all pockets of the world, from sea anemones to storm clouds, but sometimes, as the Hollywood doyenne shows, all roads lead back to home. Judging by her trademark megawatt smile, Julia was thrilled with her latest red-carpet statement.
This is a woman who has ripped up the rulebook on more than one occasion. Famously good at boxy suiting in the late ’80s and ’90s, Roberts gave good Annie Hall (check out her 1989 Golden Globes Armani tailoring) while her fellow Tinseltowners were preoccupied with princess gowns. It was her armpits, rather than Roberts’s sequined Vivienne Tam dress, that stole the spotlight at the 1999 premiere of Notting Hill, and she has gone barefoot at Cannes—a hallowed festival with a famously strict dress code. At 54, Julia Roberts hasn’t finished surprising us yet.
This post was originally published in British Vogue.
