Lili Reinhart is set to star opposite Tom Bateman in Prime Video’s film adaptation of Ali Hazelwood’s The Love Hypothesis, dropping this September 23 on the streaming platform. The actress is on full-on promotion of the movie, and Lili Reinhart’s The Love Hypothesis fashion is worth paying attention to!
I love a good romantic comedy film, and in the 90s and early 2000s, there were plenty of memorable romcoms to choose from. While the plot and the chemistry of the leads ultimately define how good a film is, the leading woman’s outfits are worth noting, too. Long after we forget the plot, we somehow remember the dress. The yellow gown. The little pink cardigan. The emerald green moment. The outfit that made a fictional heroine feel instantly iconic.
As she promotes her upcoming Prime Video movie, Reinhart has been doing something much more fun than simply showing up in pretty clothes. Her press-tour wardrobe has become a love letter to some of the most memorable romantic movies and their leading ladies.
And as someone who grew up watching these movies, I am very much here for it.
The yellow dress from How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
Let’s start with the one that immediately made me stop scrolling. It’s my favorite look on her too.
For the film’s press tour in Brazil, Reinhart wore a butter-yellow silk dress that looked very familiar to anyone who has watched How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days approximately a million times.
It was a nod to Kate Hudson’s unforgettable Andie Anderson look from the 2003 romantic comedy – also one of my ultimate favorite films. Reinhart’s dress was actually a 2000s-era Caché piece similar to the original Carolina Herrera gown created for Hudson and the film. Even the styling and setting helped sell the throwback.
It was not just “yellow dress inspired by a romcom.” It was very clearly a wink to that yellow dress.
And honestly, this is exactly the kind of fashion reference I love: recognizable enough for fans to catch, but still wearable as its own look.
13 Going on 30 gets its moment
Then came another fashion flashback, and this one felt especially perfect.
Reinhart was photographed in New York wearing a lace-trimmed slip dress layered under a polka-dot trench coat—the exact archival Nanette Lepore coat that Jennifer Garner wore as Jenna Rink in 13 Going on 30.
The timing made the reference even more fun because Reinhart turned 30 on September 13.
I mean, if you’re going to turn 30 while promoting a romantic comedy, you might as well give us a 13 Going on 30 fashion moment.
The outfit recreated the early-2000s rom-com energy without looking like a costume, which seems to be the secret to Reinhart’s entire press-tour wardrobe. Girl looks fabulous in this outfit!
Channeling Drew Barrymore in Ever After
Reinhart’s fashion references aren’t limited to romcoms either.
For another appearance, she wore a custom Rodarte gown inspired by Drew Barrymore’s costume in Ever After: A Cinderella Story, the 1998 period romance.
With its empire waist, crystal embellishments, and sheer sleeves, the look leaned into the romantic, almost fairytale quality of the original.
I love that she’s pulling from the broader world of romance movies.
And then there’s Atonement
One of the more unexpected references was Reinhart’s deep green Tory Burch gown, which called back to Keira Knightley’s famous emerald dress from Atonement.
Like Ever After, Atonement isn’t the fluffy romantic comedy category of 13 Going on 30 or How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. But it is absolutely part of that larger cinematic romance wardrobe history.
And that makes this press tour even more interesting.
Rather than dressing exclusively like Olive Smith, Reinhart seems to be building a visual conversation between her new romantic comedy and the women who came before her.
From Jawbreaker to Uptown Girls: Y2K Fashion Easter Eggs
Lili Reinhart’s The Love Hypothesis fashion references also dipped into the late-’90s and early-2000s pop-culture fashion archive—and this is where things get especially fun for anyone who remembers these movies.
One of the looks paid homage to Jawbreaker, with Reinhart stepping out in a very Y2K combination of pink and floral details. The styling immediately brought to mind the candy-colored fashion of the 1999 cult teen movie, where fashion was practically another character.
Photo credit: Getty Images
It’s a small detail, but that’s what makes these references work. Reinhart isn’t dressing up as a specific character or recreating an entire movie costume. She’s taking inspiration and putting her own style to it.
A Blumarine Dress Straight Out of Uptown Girls
One of my favorite fashion Easter eggs from Lili Reinhart’s press tour has to be the vintage Blumarine dress she wore as a nod to Uptown Girls, the 2003 comedy-drama starring Brittany Murphy and Dakota Fanning.
The dress itself is unmistakably early-2000s Blumarine: feminine, playful and unapologetically pretty. Seeing Reinhart bring it back for The Love Hypothesis feels like a particularly lovely tribute to Brittany Murphy’s effortless charm in the film—and another reminder of just how influential the fashion of that era remains.
It’s the kind of fashion reference that makes you want to pause the scroll, recognize the look, and immediately revisit the movie that inspired it.
For a movie about falling in love, fake dating, and all the romantic chaos in between, it feels fitting that Reinhart’s wardrobe is having its own flirtation with the pop culture that shaped our idea of what a rom-com heroine should look like.
Basically, Lili Reinhart is not just promoting The Love Hypothesis.
She’s taking us on a very stylish trip down memory lane.
It’s giving rom-com heroine—and I’m not mad about it
The whole thing is being done with the help of stylist Ib Abdel Nasser, who has deliberately incorporated references to beloved romance films throughout Reinhart’s press tour. In an interview, Reinhart said she wanted to pay homage to romcom classics with her The Love Hypothesis wardrobe.
And because she also wore archival pieces from designers like Emanuel Ungaro and Elie Saab, Lilli Reinhart’s The Love Hypothesis fashion feels less like a collection of costumes and more like a curated trip through rom-com fashion history.
I especially like that the references aren’t always screaming for attention. Some are obvious once you see them. Others are little Easter eggs for people who know the movies.
Which, really, is part of the fun.
A fitting wardrobe for The Love Hypothesis
In The Love Hypothesis, Reinhart plays Olive Smith, a brilliant Ph.D. candidate whose attempt to help her best friend leads to an impulsive kiss with intimidating professor Adam Carlsen, played by Tom Bateman. One fake relationship later, the arrangement starts becoming considerably more complicated than either of them expected.
The film is based on Ali Hazelwood’s bestselling romance novel and arrives on Prime Video on September 23.
And while I haven’t even watched Olive and Adam’s love story unfold on screen yet, Reinhart’s press tour is already giving me a little taste of the movie’s romantic comedy spirit.
There is something wonderfully nostalgic about seeing today’s stars acknowledge the movies that shaped the genre before them. For those of us who remember watching 13 Going on 30, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Ever After and Atonement, these aren’t just fashion references. They are little blasts from the past.
And perhaps that’s why Lili Reinhart’s The Love Hypothesis fashion has been so much fun to follow.
Because sometimes, the best way to introduce a new romcom is to remind us why we fell in love with the genre in the first place.
Now, excuse me while I revisit my early-2000s romcom watchlist.