Thirty-five years after Julia Roberts rewrote red-carpet rules in an oversized men’s Armani suit at the 1990 Golden Globes, the look is back in motion — this time as family heirloom and culture touchstone. In a new conversation with the After the Hunt cast, Roberts revealed she still owns the exact suit and that her 18-year-old son, Henry, “had it on the other day” — a casual aside that says everything about fashion’s power to travel across decades, genders, and generations.
The Origin Story: A Menswear Detour That Became a Milestone
Roberts didn’t pull the look from a stylist’s rack. She found it herself — walking upstairs into the men’s department at Armani, slipping on a gray suit, getting it tailored on the spot, and falling for its attitude. That night, she won Best Supporting Actress for Steel Magnolias and, just as memorably, broadened how women could dress for an awards show. The purple tie, the crisp shirt, the slouch of the jacket: it became one of her all-time favorite outfits, by her own telling.
From Archive to Action: The Suit Still Works
Plenty of legendary looks end up hermetically sealed. Not this one. Roberts confirmed the suit remains in circulation — and in wearable condition — inside her own closet. Sitting with After the Hunt co-stars, she even floated the idea of bringing it to set for colleague Ayo Edebiri to try on, underscoring her easy, share-the-joy philosophy around clothes.
Ripple Effect: Ayo Edebiri’s Globe-Era Menswear Moment
The suit’s cultural echo is visible on today’s carpets. At the 2025 Golden Globes, Ayo Edebiri arrived in a custom gray Loewe suit — boxy jacket, draped trousers, and a gleaming feather-like tie — that nodded directly to Roberts’ 1990 template while feeling distinctly modern. Styled by Danielle Goldberg, the look drew on Roberts as a reference point and helped cement the new guard’s fluency in archival language. “I love those ’90s Armani suits,” Edebiri has said — proof that an iconic idea can be reinterpreted, not repeated.
Borrowed, Shared, Reworn: Celebrity Closets Are Changing
Roberts’ suit story is part of a bigger shift: high-profile wardrobes functioning more like circulating libraries. In Venice this September, Amanda Seyfried openly borrowed Roberts’ Versace ensemble days after Roberts wore it for After the Hunt press — coordinated by their shared stylist, Elizabeth Stewart. The public swap read as chic and intentional, but also as a small manifesto about reuse at the top of the fashion food chain.
Why It Resonates Now
- Sustainability with Soul: Rewearing is planet-minded, but it’s also emotionally intelligent — clothes gain meaning when they’re lived in, not mothballed. Roberts keeping, caring for, and recirculating a 1990 suit models that value system.
- Gender-Fluid Tailoring. What felt radical in 1990 — menswear suiting on a young actress — now reads as a shared vocabulary across genders and generations. Edebiri’s Loewe proves the language evolves while the grammar holds.
- The Comeback of the Classic: Roberts herself recently revisited the silhouette with a modern twist on late-night TV — sharp gray tailoring and a tie studded with brooches — connecting her past and present style codes in one frame.
How to Wear ’90s Menswear Tailoring Today
The Roberts suit may be an archive gem, but its lessons translate beautifully for 2025:
- Play with Proportion: Look for oversized jackets balanced with slim trousers or fluid skirts.
- Add a Twist: Swap the tie for a brooch, a silk scarf, or even a metallic accessory to make the look fresh.
- Layer Lightly: A crisp tee under a suit jacket gives that casual “just threw it on” edge Roberts embodied in 1990.
- Invest in Tailoring: The reason Roberts’ Armani worked then — and still works now — is fit. Find a good tailor and let them customize it to your frame.
The Takeaway (and What Our Readers Can Steal)
Think of a great suit as living history. Buy the one that makes you stand taller, tailor it like it’s yours alone, then refuse to retire it. Wear it. Lend it. Let someone you love wear it, too. Julia Roberts’ Armani didn’t just make a statement in 1990; it built a legacy that’s still being written — on her, on her son, and on a generation remixing the idea with their own signatures.
