Overlooked or Overdone?: Sabrina Carpenter reimagines Old Hollywood

Vogue’s March 2025 cover saw Sabrina Carpenter in a full-page portrait, hands delicately tousling her platinum hair as she dazzled in a blue satin dress. In another image, she’s pictured lying alluringly on a plush pink sofa, dressed in a champagne slip. In both, her hair is noticeably voluminous and styled to the side – a classic Hollywood staple reminiscent of Marylin Monroe. Though her style certainly evokes the grace of Old Hollywood, Carpenter is redefining Hollywood in a way that feels uniquely modern. Despite being in the music industry for over a decade, she’s finally made her big break this year, taking home her first two Grammys, alongside her sixth studio album which finally went to number 1 on the Billboard 200. Yet whilst her career is undoubtedly focused on the future, the inspirations behind it are rooted in the past.

It’s no secret that the allure of the classic Hollywood style came from how it was just out of reach for those not in the clique of elite actors and starlets who shaped the era. Its glamour was defined by the notion that such an elegant and unfathomable lifestyle was exclusive. It was something that was elusive yet endlessly imitated, creating the paradox that would keep it alive for decades to come. Take Ryan Gosling paying homage to Monroe, recreating her ‘Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend’ performance at the Oscars. Or Kim Kardashion (albeit controversially) wearing her famed dress to the Met Gala in 2022. Undoubtedly, popular culture and those who influence it are constantly inspired by those that came before them, trying to reclaim and recreate a period of timelessness we seem to have lost today. Yet, as she grows in popularity, Carpenter brings a fresh perspective to a dated period, bringing Hollywood to a new stage and generational demographic. 

In a time when film and entertainment were dictated by male directors and studio-heads, and women were seen as mere objects for the eye of the beholder, Carpenter reinvents this dynamic, subverting the harm it once caused. Her new vision of Hollywood echoes the concerns of Second Wave Feminists who were campaigning at the time of her inspirations, granting the issues a visibility they have long fought for and deserved. Whilst Monroe and other actors of her time were boxed into hyper-feminine and over sexualised personas, Carpenter instead uses this as a blueprint for agency rather than oppression. Combining an aesthetic traditionally trademarked with the male-gaze and her ‘tongue and cheek’ lyrics, she alludes to female sexuality and modern attitudes towards relationships through (sometimes not so) subtle innuendos. In doing so, she welcomes a sense of embrace that aligns with modern feminist discourse, expressing sexuality and transparency in a way women of the 60’s could only dream of.

Take for example her 2025 Grammy’s appearance, perhaps the pinnacle of her Hollywood homages. Her red carpet look, a pale blue satin dress adorned with a feather trim and a diamond necklace draped at her back, was undeniably a reference to Shirely McLaine’s iconic dress from ‘What a way to go!’. Her performance also paid homage to Goldie Hawn’s choreography from her 1978 television special. The opening saw her classically spotlighted performing ‘Espresso’ in a bedazzled tuxedo and heels, alongside a pulled back tempo and jazz inspired accompaniment before transforming into a blue bodysuit, bringing us back to the present. And it’s not just on Grammy stages where she brings a “risque, romantic, and real” essence to her performances. Her sold-out ‘Short n’ Sweet Tour’, set in a Barbie dreamhouse-like set, has her wearing 60’s inspired outfits from start to finish, paired with flirtatious choreography that’s a far cry from what would be seen in Old Hollywood. Yet still, opening the tour, a short video narrated by a voice reminiscent of a classic talk show and an opening credit in a cursive font illuminated in front of a red curtain to introduce the star. She performs in bedazzled bodysuits, later layered with a sheer negligee to match and black lace capri catsuits that screams 60’s. No matter which stage she is on, her modernisation of vintage inspirations are always clear.

By taking a historically restraining archetype and transforming it into a mode of self-expression, Carpenter reinterprets rather than merely replicating defining elements of Old Hollywood. Creating a conversation with the past, she has truly “brand-newed” Hollywood for us, reimagining its legacy in a playful manner for a new generation of women.

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