Lili Reinhart has been quietly tipping her hat to classic romantic-comedy heroines while promoting her new movie.
The “Riverdale” alum, 28, has spent recent weeks weaving vintage-inspired fashion tributes into her press wardrobe for “The Love Hypothesis,” deliberately echoing memorable gowns from films spanning two decades of the genre.
Her most recent homage landed on Thursday, when Reinhart stepped out of the Langham hotel in New York City wearing a $348 Fleur du Mal slip dress paired with Jimmy Choo mules from Wish You Love Vintage. She layered the look with an archival Nanette Lepore piece — the exact dress Jennifer Garner’s character Jenna Rink throws on in an early scene of 2004’s “13 Going on 30.” Stylist Ib Abdel Nasser gave a public shout-out on Instagram, thanking Lepore’s daughter for helping secure the vintage pull.
The timing carried its own wink: Reinhart turned 30 on Sept. 13, making the “13 Going on 30” nod land with extra resonance.
The Garner tribute followed an earlier recreation that had already turned heads. In Brazil, Reinhart appeared in the same butter-yellow silk gown that Kate Hudson made famous as magazine writer Andie Anderson in 2003’s “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.” The original look had been accessorized with Harry Winston’s Isadora yellow diamond necklace; Reinhart skipped the borrowed bling but matched the dress silhouette closely enough to spark immediate recognition from fans online.
She’s also stepped out in a custom Rodarte gown channeling Drew Barrymore’s “Ever After” princess, and wore custom Tory Burch evoking the emerald-green dress Keira Knightley memorably donned in 2007’s “Atonement.”
The Barrymore and Knightley tributes, like the others, were executed with Reinhart’s own styling team rather than direct studio partnerships, suggesting a personal project rather than a coordinated marketing push.
Reinhart has spoken openly in recent months about body image pressures in her industry, saying in April that she experiences “crazy” body dysmorphia and wants to “let other women know they aren’t alone.” The rom-com homage tour arrives alongside that candor, framing her press appearances as both personal expression and a kind of generational bridge.
The actress rose to prominence playing Betty Cooper on The CW’s “Riverdale,” which wrapped its seven-season run in 2023. “The Love Hypothesis,” her forthcoming film, adapts the popular Ali Hazelwood novel about a Ph.D. Candidate who fake-dates a professor — a premise squarely in the modern rom-com tradition Reinhart has been visually celebrating.
None of the original actresses whose looks she’s recreated have publicly responded to the tributes, though social media chatter around each appearance has been immediate and enthusiastic.
The “Atonement” green dress remains one of the most referenced costumes in 21st-century film, with Knightley’s character wearing it during the movie’s pivotal library scene. Barrymore’s “Ever After” gown closed out the 1998 Cinderella reimagining that helped launch a wave of revisionist fairy-tale films. Hudson’s yellow dress, meanwhile, accompanied her character’s triumphant “you’re falling in love with me” speech to Matthew McConaughey’s Benjamin Barry.
Reinhart’s stylistic campaign positions her within that lineage without explicitly claiming parity — a move that has drawn praise for its playfulness rather than presumption.
“The Love Hypothesis” does not yet have a confirmed wide theatrical release date.