Jenna Ortega and stylist Enrique Melendez aren't just subverting Wednesday Addams's all-black wardrobe on the Wednesday Season 2 press tour. They're also sampling a summer dress trend that fashion editors like me wear all-year-round.
Let's rewind a moment: As the purple carpet unrolled for Wednesday's July 30 premiere, Jenna Ortega arrived in a straight-off-the-runway Ashi Studio couture gown. The high-neck piece combined a clingy, wet-look fabric with the slightest hint of snakeskin—like a serpent's shed skin refashioned into a floor-length gown. The dress elicited gasps from the premiere's London crowd and from Marie Claire editors watching from New York City. And while the dress wasn't all that relatable, I knew it was a capital-M moment. But Ortega had another style trick up her invisible sleeves.
A few hours later, Ortega hit her cast's after-party in a much more approachable silhouette: the slip dress. I've combed the internet without tracking down exactly who made it (yet), but I know this much: the contrasting silk and chiffon layers were in perfect balance along the neckline and skirt hem. Ortega quick-changed into the champagne gold piece with Santoni slingback pumps and a diamond pendant necklace. Her styling went straight to my personal mood board for fall weddings and holiday parties: It's elegant, but not too red-carpet-coded for real life.
Of all the dress styles A-listers can choose between, slips are the style they keep coming back to this summer. Just a day before, Bella Hadid wore a Mango slip dress while out in Los Angeles. While Ortega's leaned formal with her heels and up-do, Hadid styled hers like a boho-chic cowgirl: a suede bag, cowboy boots, and long, flowing waves were her accessories of choice.
Between these two examples—and the dozens of slip-dress looks I've catalogued Jennifer Lawrence, Dakota Johnson, and more wearing this summer—I'm validated in my take on the style. I've always seen satin and silk slip dresses as an all-year, all-aesthetic staple. They've recently been revived in pre-Fall 2025 runway collections from Stella McCartney to Saint Laurent, but make no mistake: This is a dress you can wear any time, anywhere, with the right accessories. (Right now, I'm loving mine with toe-ring sandals and a scarf belt tied around my waist.)
Ortega's stylist previously told Marie Claire the star is backing away from obvious Wednesday black on her current press tour. Still, I wouldn't be surprised if she wears a black slip dress on her next press stop, and then again in real life.
