Anna Wintour Really, Really, Really Loves This Oscar-Era Balmain Skirt

Anna Wintour famously has a uniform. Though she sticks to a handful of silhouettes (and her famous sunglasses) almost exclusively, she'll regularly switch up the labels — a little Chanel here, some Prada there, a sprinkle of Louis Vuitton... However, she also subscribes to the notion that you should really wear your clothes, especially when you love them. Case in point: the Oscar de la Renta-era Balmain skirt she's worn to formal events at least three times over the past two decades.

At the 74th Annual Parsons Benefit in New York City on Wednesday, the global chief content officer and global editorial director of Vogue presented Olivier Rousteing with the Parsons Table Award. In lieu of wearing a recent design of his, though, Wintour dug through her personal archive to find a beloved piece from one of Rousteing's predecessors.

The red floral-print maxi skirt dates back to de la Renta's years at Balmain, and features micro-pleated tiers from the knee down. Wintour styled it with a fitted, short-sleeved, white ribbed knit top and a yellow gem necklace.

The last two times Wintour wore this piece (that we know of) were both in 2002, the year de la Renta left the French luxury house — to the CFDA Awards in New York City and to a Royal Jewellers Garrard party in London. In both cases, she styled it with a sleeveless top: a silky black camisole for the former, a white tank for the latter.

More than 20 years later, it still looks amazing. So, the moral of the story: Wear your clothes!

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