If Kate Hudson can’t make a look work, no one can. Case in point: the dreadful dress-over-jeans trend that briefly took over the cute-casual market in the early 2000s. While attending the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards, Hudson wore a sheer brown top over dark jeans with pointed shoes and a low bun that’s so put-together it almost made the entire look work. Almost.
It’s not her fault! We all thought long tops, skirts, dresses, and other such items were supposed to cover our pockets. Look at poor Ashley Tisdale on a red carpet just a few years later:
Sadly, it is not enough in fashion to just be cute and charming and blonde. One must also wear normal clothes. Alas.
In her look, Hudson is channeling the hippie vibes of Penny Lane, her breakout role in Almost Famous. And 2002 was the year she filmed How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days. We were seeing Peak Kate Hudson; her bulb has never shown brighter.
And yet…
What’s frustrating is that if she’d just lost the pants (and the top had a lining) and thrown on some strappy sandals, you’d have a totally cute summer-fall look! See? Look at the next photo and pretend you don’t know there are jeans just out of frame:
Adorable!
Thankfully, Hudson hasn’t lost her taste for sheer garments in the 20 years since this solid attempt at capital-F fashion. In July of this year she paired a sheet turtleneck with wide-leg trousers to create a look that’s equal parts Victorian Witch and Mortician CEO.
And when she’s not mixing and matching materials, she’s…working on an album? The Nine actor announced back in April that she’s recording music, so hopefully a single isn’t too far off. She posted two pictures of herself to Instagram in which she’s being filmed while singing. “Finally realized it’s time to say f#%! it and saaaannngg!!!!! #albumincoming #myikigai,” she wrote alongside the images. Ikigai is the Japanese concept of something that gives your life purpose. Maybe she can attend the 2025 VMAs as a nominee! Or a proud stage mom; we’ll take either.
Keep an eye out for Glamour’s coverage of the 2022 VMAs, happening this Sunday, August 28, here.
