I’m Loving Emily Ratajkowski’s Vintage Style Renaissance

By Liana Satenstein

Emily Ratajkowski heading to her book signing in a Tom Ford–era Gucci fruit-print shirt from spring 1996.

Emily Ratajkowski has been switching things up. Over the past month, her style has become mature, moving away from the bare-it-all aesthetic we’ve come to expect. The model-actor-author-businesswoman stepped out recently in a bevy of archival looks, but one of the most telling was her ensemble for Kendall Jenner’s birthday party: a Michael Kors–era Celine floral-print dress with a Christian Dior saddlebag. The dress was still sexy and curve skimming, but it wasn’t over-the-top femme fatale. Not a belly button in sight!

While plenty of celebrities have changed up their style by looking to designers’ archives, Ratajkowski reached for a label that isn’t especially trendy and hasn’t saturated the market. Aside from a strappy John Galliano newspaper-print dress that she chose for an event during New York Fashion Week—a style that was famously also worn by Carrie Bradshaw—Ratajkowski’s vintage choices are more pared back. One of the sleekest was when she stepped out last week for her book signing in a Tom Ford–era Gucci spring 1996 fruit-print collared shirt (rare!) with black pants and a thin belt.

Ratajkowski wearing a John Galliano newspaper-print dress.

She also seems to be relying on grown-up vintage bags. She has been rotating between a black Gucci shoulder bag, a black Christian Dior saddlebag, a Louis Vuitton monogrammed bag, and a hulking Hermès Birkin bag that she carried to the spring 2023 Proenza Schouler show. She wore the carryall with an optic-white coat and matching pleated pants. The whole ensemble was a literal clean slate—an expensive one at that, thanks to slick tailoring and sharp accessories. It’s the First Wives Club “You Don’t Own Me” scene, but less fussy, more severe, and incredibly sexy while being covered up.

EmRata’s new vintage moment harks back to when Kim Kardashian was in her tabula rasa Balenciaga era last December. When Kardashian had just turned 41 and was going through her divorce, she started wearing head-to-toe black, even covering her face in the Balenciaga garb. It was as if she was cleansing herself of her past wardrobe and jumping into the public eye with a new look to mark a fresh beginning.

Ratajkowski in Proenza Schouler with a vintage Hermès Birkin bag.

By Hannah Coates

Similarly, Ratajkowski’s vintage streak comes as she has filed for divorce and is busy promoting her book. The pieces are still her to the core—in other words, fun—just more refined. Michael Kors–era Celine will never have the obvious paparazzi appeal as a Vivienne Westwood corset, and a Tom Ford–era Gucci shirt isn’t necessarily recognizable to the general public (unlike some of the designer’s other work for the house). There is a sense of seriousness: Ratajkowski appears businesslike but is still her saucy self.

In a way, she is more alluring than ever before. She’s going somewhere! She’s got things to do! What’s sexier than dressing with purpose and fully knowing yourself?

Ratajkowski in archival Michael Kors–era Celine.