You might have heard of the term “revenge dress,” but do you know its origin story? Invented in the 90s, it was first inspired by an iconic dress worn by Princess Diana, who wore a smoldering black gown the same night that her estranged husband, Prince Charles, fessed up to the world about having an affair with his ex, Camilla Parker Bowles. Rumor has it that Diana wore the gown to put the spotlight back on her and detract from his headline news, earning her own front-page placement. Spoiler alert: it worked. Since then, many famous women have used the same tactic, coming off the heels of divorces and breakups. Here are the most iconic celebrity revenge dresses of all time.
Jennifer Aniston in a champagne minidress
In 2005, Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt had parted ways. After speaking to Vanity Fair and saying that her ex had “a sensitivity chip that’s missing” right after she posed with Angelina Jolie in W Magazine, she looked like a fairy in a shimmering champagne minidress worn at the “Derailed” premiere. The dress hugged her curves and finished off in a fluttery knee-length hemline.
Jennifer Lopez’s sideless gown
J.Lo is the queen of showing skin, and after she split from Ben Affleck for the final time in 2024, she dressed to impress at the Toronto International Film Festival in a look that can only be described as a revenge dress. It had fully open sides, fastened by big velvet bows, and left little to the imagination, combining a revenge body with a revenge dress!
Mariah Carey stepping into her bad girl (and high-thigh-slit) era
Once a buttoned-up, innocent cutie with an angelic voice, after she split from the head of Sony Music Tommy Mottola (who was also two decades older than her), Mariah Carey entered her spicy era after the split. In an interview with Cosmo, she likened herself to a “child bride” and “prisoner,” but she got her revenge when she was a smoldering spaghetti-strapped cropped tank and super high-slit black skirt combo by Calvin Klein at the 1998 MTV VMAs.
Elizabeth Hurley in Valentino
Elizabeth Hurley and Hugh Grant were a celebrity couple that only rom-com lovers could dream of. While they lasted for 13 years (and even weathered that cheating-with-a-sex-worker scandal in 1995), they finally broke up in 2000, right before Elizabeth Hurley showed up at a Valentino charity event in a showstopping glittering gold dress with a dramatically plunging neckline going all the way down to her stomach, showing Hugh what he was missing.
Olivia Wilde in a sheer black dress
After a nine-year relationship with Jason Sudeikis, Olivia Wilde began dating Harry Styles, and the couple was seen holding hands in 2021. They dated for almost two years but had an amicable breakup, with Olivia focusing on her kids and work in LA while Harry Styles went on tour abroad. She showed up at the People’s Choice Awards wearing a dress that was anything but amicable—a sheer lace Christian Dior gown with black underwear underneath that turned many heads.
Zoe Kravitz’s naked divorce dress
In 2021, Zoe Kravitz and Karl Glusman announced their divorce after being married for less than two years. Just months later, Zoe rocked up at the Met Gala to show off her gorgeous physique in a completely sheer slip dress from Saint Laurent, filled with delicate crystal detailing, with a matching thong underneath fully visible. She took revenge to the next step when she left the Met Gala with her future boyfriend, Channing Tatum.
Princess Diana, who started the trend
We couldn’t shout out all these celebs without giving Princess Diana the homage she deserves after putting the term on the map in 1994. Her revenge dress was an off-the-shoulder LBD with an asymmetrical hemline that showed off her legs. She wore it at a Vanity Fair gala that took place at London’s Serpentine Gallery, and it was a serious showstopper for royal fans and the many newspapers that printed her photo with headlines like “The Thrilla He Left to Woo Camilla.”
Bella Hadid’s catsuit had to be sewn into
When Bella Hadid split with her ex, The Weeknd, with whom she had a notorious on-and-off relationship, he was spotted just a couple of months later with Selena Gomez. Bella was hurt, and she brought it to the Met Gala carpet a few months later, wearing a shimmering black, skintight Alexander Wang catsuit that was so well-tailored she had to be sewn into it. The one-piece had a fully open back and, according to Alexander Wang in a Vogue piece, was “done in lace with allover beading and embroidery down to the shoe” to show off her body.
