Has Katie Holmes singlehandedly brought back the dress-over-jeans look?

Has Katie Holmes casually gone viral with another confusing fashion trend?

She did it with the cashmere cardigan and matching bralette moment back in 2019 — when photos of her hailing a cab and wearing an oatmeal knitwear set by Khaite flooded feeds and spurned a thousand imitation high street cardi-bra combos.

This weekend she did it again — but with a divisive new look. It was at the Jingle Ball at Madison Square Garden where the actress hit the red carpet in jeans and a dress. Specifically, a cobalt strapless mini dress worn over blue denim jeans, and paired with a pair of New Balance trainers.

Yes, wearing jeans with dresses is back. We said it wouldn’t happen to flares, and it did. We said it wouldn’t happen to low rise, and it did. Now, we face the final boss.

It’s this exact attitude (read: fear) which has made Holmes’ Jingle Ball look so contentious: is this another Y2K trend we hiss and spit at, before eventually bedgrudingly leaning into it? Or is this a step too far, even amidst the Noughties-naissance?

So far, the jury is split. One Twitter user mourned Holmes’ previous looks, saying: “I actually don’t have a witty tweet for this, I’m just very disturbed. Like this CAN’T BE the Katie Holmes who was serving in a knit Khaite sweater and bralette just two summers ago.”

Another focused in on her footwear choice, which clearly seems to be a sticking point, simply joking: “Katie Holmes should be in prison for this.”

However, many have leapt to Katie Holmes’ defence — suggesting that perhaps we as a society could be more amenable to the ”jress” look than previously assumed. “This is what true Y2K is but y’all aren’t ready for that conversation,” said one tweet.

Another made the compelling point that were this look worn by a more typical “fashion girlie”, the attitude towards it would be entirely different. “If Bella Hadid wore this you guys would be singing a different tune, I’ll tell you that much.”

People have commented on the possibility that Holmes’ style is “regressing” but perhaps she’s just further ahead than us all, and we’re not brave enough to admit it. After all, she’s recently been spotted repping skinny scarves, ultra cropped sweaters (above boob level) and enormous jeans that wouldn’t look out of place on one of the boys from Kris Kross.

Katie Holmes is at the forefront of the Y2K resurgence — she’s just wearing all the daring looks none of us are brave enough for.