8 Dakota Fanning Looks That Stole The Show In All The Wrong Ways

When Dakota Fanning dressed up in her little pink tutu in the 2003 movie "Uptown Girls," we all did a collective "Awwww" at all her cuteness. She's since grown up (she turned 31 in February 2025, can you believe it?), and her outfits are still causing a fuss, especially when she steps out for big events.

Fanning has been a fixture in Hollywood since she was knee-high to a grasshopper, working as a voice actor for cartoons and as an actor in live-action projects. With the success of her 2024 Netflix mini-series "Ripley," which gave the actor nominations for a Primetime Emmy, a Golden Globe, and a Critics Choice Award, Fanning isn't even close to retiring. All those years walking the red carpet have shown us just how much she's transitioned into a fashionista with a style all her own.

"I like to have [my style] be an ever-evolving thing, but I do think I end up coming back to somewhat of a timeless sort of effortless, classic [look]," Fanning explained to Vogue Australia about her fashion vibe, and the star has for sure had her moments of gorgeous. But she's also had a few misses, leaving us to change our reaction to a disappointed, "Oh. Oh no," just like we did when she popped up at Paris Fashion Week in March 2025 wearing a metallic gold pajama-like set with gold sequins, a gold chain belt, and a rhinestone something at the front of her waist. And we didn't even show you the matching pedal-pusher pants — but we are going to show her other fashion fails.

For a trip to New York City for the CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America) Fashion Awards in June 2012, Dakota Fanning posed on the red carpet in a wrap dress with a busy pattern. It evoked imagery of a Japanese kimono, with an alternate universe twist.

The dress Fanning wore was crafted by designer Proenza Schouler. It featured a bold cheetah and floral print in shades of bronze, orange, and silver. But instead of it being in the silhouette of a simple robe, the fabric was pieced together like an uneven quilt, it's asymmetric edges highlighted with black binding. Just for giggles and extra, unnecessary detailing, a black bow was added to one side.  

In a surprising move, instead of wearing her hair down in glossy sheets per her trademark mane move, she opted to craft a low upsweep, with the sides covering her ears. The entire look didn't quite land for Fanning, although it was wise to pair the all-over-the-place dress with a simple silver clutch.

If films like "Animal House" are meant to be a true portrayal of college life, then we have to assume that Dakota Fanning hit a toga party or two when she studied at New York University. And we also have to believe, based on her red-carpet gown at the Los Angeles premiere of her Netflix series "Ripley," that she still holds fond memories, and wanted to have one more go at a Greek-inspired fashion night in April 2024.

The gown was designer, straight off the Fendi Couture runway, and had the classic, one-shoulder toga silhouette. From the top, billowy layers draped across the star's body in increasingly lengthening angles, ending in almost straight lines along the bottom. Lots of extra fabric pooled around her feet in either a train, or lack of time to find a qualified seamstress for a hem job.

The fabric was feather-light and gauzy, most likely organza, and draped beautifully, but the lack of structure it gave to the dress only reminded us even more of a hand-made party toga. Wrapping a white bedsheet or two around her torso would have probably created a similar look. All that's missing is a fake crown of laurel leaves.

It was her sister Elle Fanning who starred in the Disney "Maleficent" films, but we're thinking Dakota Fanning might have gotten bitten by the princess bug when she was deciding on what to wear to the Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills in January 2020. Her lavender gown was a modern-day twist of what Snow White might have worn in a moment of glamour, had she, too, been invited to walk the red carpet.

Poison apple and Prince Charming aside, the "Once Upon a Time ... In Hollywood" actor looked every part the princess in a gown hailing from Dior Couture by Maria Grazia Chiuri. The full skirt was comprised of layers of gauzy fabric over a solid base, and featured an empire waist with a decorative trim circling just under the bust. The neckline was, of course, in a sweetheart shape, with lots of room above the cleavage for a diamond necklace, also from Dior. Completing the picture of a pretty, pretty princess was the gigantic puffy sleeves, using up enough fabric in their glorious poofiness to have added even one more layer to the skirt. There were no secrets revealed, but we're wondering if Dakota might have tucked a few tissues in there, or maybe her phone and lipstick (lots of room in there). 

The dress itself wasn't terrible, and Dakota looked lovely in it. But, through all the stunning transformations the actor has gone through, there wasn't a moment past the age of 13 where Dakota took on a Disney princess as her muse. She just didn't look like herself — she looked like her sister in "Maleficent."

Remember the "Schoolhouse Rock" shorts that ran between the cartoons on Saturday morning? There was one about the number eight, with the lyrics, "If you skate, you would be great, if you could make a figure eight," and that's all we can hear when we look at Dakota Fanning in the dress she wore to the Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles in 2020. It's a skating costume in disguise, worthy of all the gold medals.

The dress was Valentino, but we'd be less surprised to find out she borrowed it from Brian Boitano or Kristi Yamaguchi, two legendary American figure skaters. There's all kinds of sparkles dotted throughout, with a concentrated glitter-effect on the top. The cut-out in the abdomen is a flashy element, but not so much that when you execute a jump, things that aren't supposed to be exposed stay put. The skirt is slim and flirty at the same time — a couple of feet shorter, and it's the perfect length to flare out during a spin.    

When Tatler Asia asked "The Alienist" star to describe her style, she shared that it was often fluid (like ice, when it melts). "It really changes all the time," she said. "I think I usually have a vibe in mind when I am getting ready and try to execute that as best as I can." Vibe = Winter Olympics, Albertville, France, 1992.

In 2013, Dakota Fanning was stopped by Vogue at a red carpet event to talk about her style. She was with sister Elle Fanning, who had already earned a reputation for her fashion-forward couture. Dakota gave props to her sibling's style, then declared about her own fashion goals, "I am approaching my 20s and hoping to get more adventurous." Ten years later, she went wild like a jungle plant to accomplish her mission. And we mean "jungle plant" in the most literal sense.

In March 2023, she once again joined her sister, this time for The Hollywood Reporter and Jimmy Choo Power Stylists Dinner in West Hollywood, CA. Elle donned a menswear-inspired vest and pant combo, but Dakota opted for a completely different vibe. Her bright-red dress from designer Loewe fell just above the knees in a flowy skirt. Up top, the fabric only extended over one half of her chest. 

The other half was covered by a faux anthurium bloom, the tropical plant otherwise known as a flamingo flower. The flower hung from her shoulder via a green stem. It was a distracting element to the look, and Dakota's dress seemed incompatible with Elle's low-key look for the same event.

"I like really simple, classic things that always look good for any occasion." That's what Dakota Fanning told The Kit in 2022 about her personal fashion style. Fanning may have changed her tune after the Chopard Trophy event at Cannes Film Festival in May 2019, where the actor's outfit was anything but "simple."

Teeming with detail after detail, the busy-ness that was Fanning's dress started with the layers. A solid under-layer provided the necessary modesty, with a very sparkly, sheer overlay draped over it from head to toe. But instead of a straight hem, it was all about a deep angle starting around one knee and edging downward to the ankle on the opposite site. The two layers weren't enough for the frock's designer Rodarte, so pink organza was also brought in to create not one, but two bows: One in front was randomly attached above the waist, and another was stuck to the back of one shoulder, with tails long enough to drag along the floor. 

As if the dress wasn't enough, Fanning added to the carnival of detail with flowers in her hair. And not just a simple bloom tucked behind one ear — "The Twilight Saga" star went with a whole half of a wreath that started at one temple, wrapped around the back of her head, and ended at the temple on the other side. There's nothing simple about foliage.

Dakota Fanning was only nine when her movie "Uptown Girls" and pink tutu hit movie theaters (a whole year before she became one of those famous actors you didn't know starred as kids on "Friends"). But the star is decades older now, and her taste in fashion has matured. Her dress for "The Watchers" world premiere in New York City in June 2024 had plenty of fabric, but it also showed a lot of skin. 

The dress came from designer Loewe, a curve-hugging silky number in a deep army-green shade. It was full length, and even had a long train attached to the bottom, dragging several feet behind the star as she walked the red carpet. There was also an excess of fabric gathered in the front, in the form of a cowl neckline that hung in U-shaped curves, suspended by gold-chain shoulder straps.

Fanning once explained her fashion choices to Tatler Asia. "I am more traditional than not, but I also like to surprise people," she declared. And she definitely did that, because that cowl neckline? It plunged, plummeted, dove, and hurtled all the way down to the middle of her torso, leaving a wide expanse of skin bare. She didn't even add a necklace, leaving her décolletage to make quite a statement. It was just a little too much, though, and wound up looking like Fanning was dressing for a wrestling tournament in a low-cut singlet.