Nicole Kidman gave the perpetually controversial dress-over-pants look a couture reworking at the Lioness Season 3 premiere, layering a gold minidress over white wide-legged trousers. The choice was a deliberate wink at the 2000s, filtered through Fendi Haute Couture.
The trend’s history is a study in persistence. Lindsay Lohan, Jessica Biel, and Anne Hathaway wore printed minis over jeans in the early 2000s; today Angelina Jolie, Kendall Jenner, and Dua Lipa carry the formula in monochrome and glamour.
What made the look controversial is also what keeps it alive: the refusal to resolve the two garments into one. Kidman’s couture version proves the tension can be elegant.
The sleeveless dress is more intricate than its simple silhouette suggests: metallic mesh and lace, a scalloped hem, and front embroidery that mimics a stack of long necklaces — jewelry rendered in thread.
Stylist Jason Bolden completed the look with a gold watch, a bangle, and beige sandals, accessories that let the layered set speak. Kidman had tested the formula before, wearing dress-over-pants at the Academy of Country Music Awards last year.
The piece debuted at Fendi’s Fall 2026 couture show, the house’s first under chief creative officer Maria Grazia Chiuri, whose tenure has been defined by this kind of deceptive delicacy.
