Rachel Brosnahan Proves Lois Lane Was the Original Carrie Bradshaw

In some ways, Lois Lane was the original Carrie Bradshaw. An independent woman making it in the man’s world of print journalism who, despite all that, found herself hung up on a powerful man with secrets. Rachel Brosnahan, who plays the famed fictional journalist in the upcoming Superman film, picked up on that connection at CinemaCon yesterday. She wore a Bradshaw-approved mini dress from the 2000s that grabbed all the right headlines.

Brosnahan slipped into a vintage John Galliano number for the Las Vegas event. It featured a curve-hugging fit and the designer’s infamous newspaper print which he debuted for the fall 2000 season.

Yes, the famed Galliano newsprint filled Bradshaw’s wardrobe during the debut seasons of Sex and the City. But Brosnahan’s choice of this specific newspaper dress, likely a commercial version based on the runway styles, is all that more layered considering the role she’s playing. While Brosnahan could have selected this dress as a nod to Lane’s career at The Daily Planet, the design choice was actually a slight dig at reporters when it debuted in the early aughts.

The designer’s “Galliano Gazette” featured collages of negative press his presentations had received from critics. It was partially inspired by the “Tramp Balls” of 1920s Paris when high society would dress up like the lower classes. The tongue-in-cheek pattern that debuted during Galliano’s 2000 collection enraged the press even more, but the designer was steadfast in his vision. He kept experimenting with the print both at his own label and at Dior, resulting in an infamous mini dress that Bradshaw slipped on for the third season of Sex and the City.

She wore the cowl-neck piece to meet with Big’s wife Natasha, a quirky choice given she was informing her of the couple’s affair. The dress, which she paired with her signature name plate necklace in the episode, quickly became one of the more famous pieces throughout the series. (The exact pieice went up for auction in 2024 and similar versions have been worn by the likes of Emily Ratajkowski in recent years). So much so that Bradshaw wore a longer, backless version in the Sex and the City 2 movie in 2009.

Sure, there’s a surge of vintage fashion on the red carpet right now, but Brosnahan’s archival dress approached the art with an eye only a journalist could have.