Touching down in Sardinia, Italy, to accept her award at the 2024 Filming Italy Festival, Katie Holmes was likely more focused on dressing to meet the evening's formal requirements than dressing to co-sign a trend. Still, Holmes's appearance managed to say what insiders have been thinking for a minute: Boho maxi dresses are more than back, and they're summer's easiest dress of the moment.
The actress, working with longtime stylist Brie Welch, appeared onstage in a creamy gown with flowing sleeves and a fluid, airy skirt. Her piece also featured a matching belt cinched at her waist. With a few extra ruffles, the maxi dress could belong in Taylor Swift's Eras Tour outfits for the woodsy Folklore set: The dreamy shape and lightweight chiffon are "august" or "betty" embodied.
Holmes kept the rest of her look understated, pairing her dress with a gold chain necklace and double-strap sandals coated in a snakeskin-like material. She wore her hair in her signature undone waves and kept her beauty to a glowy minimum. The Dawson's Creek star also limited her evening to a single look: Unlike recent sightings at home in New York City, she wasn't seen making an outfit change.
One look at Holmes's woodland fairy styling and visions of a boho revival immediately appeared in my mind's eye. The floor-grazing maxi silhouette and pale neutral palette looked a lot like Chloé's insider-favorite show at Paris Fashion Week last March, where incoming creative director Chemena Kamali dipped back into the house's 1970s archives to show ruffled chiffon dresses, slouchy leather bags, and wedge sandals.
Regardless of whether more runways catch on this fall, Laurel Canyon-coded clothing is resurfacing all over fashion. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce just matched for a London date in crochet; film and TV projects like Daisy Jones and the Six brought bell-bottoms and tiny woven crop tops back into conversation. On the street style front, models, editors, and influencers are styling crochet pieces on top of jeans or flowing white skirts (and not just at Coachella).
It's boho maxi dresses like Holmes's that are both a call-back to a sepia-toned aesthetic and the epitome of relaxed warm-weather dressing. In fact, they may be summer's easiest dress trend. With silhouettes that flow away from the body and light fabrics, they're comfortable enough to wear on a hot afternoon. (Or, if you're Holmes, under the stage lights at an international film festival.)
Holmes has always loved an easy dress, but this week's is even more ethereal than her usual style. Back home in New York City, she's lately tried poplin colorblock dresses (with an affordable bag and fisherman sandals) and grunge '90s slip dresses (with velvet Mary Janes). The through-line between each one is capital-C comfort—a quality anyone can appreciate, no matter what's trending. Shop boho maxi dresses inspired by Katie, at every price point, ahead.
