Catherine Zeta-Jones Loaned Her Daughter an Iconic Ungaro Dress from 1999 to Celebrate Her 21st Birthday

The pink slip dress is older than Carys herself.

Catherine Zeta-Jones and Carys Douglas
(Image credit: Getty/Instagram)

What do you wear for your 21st birthday if your mom is an actress with a closet full of designer clothes? A slinky pink dress that’s older than you are, naturally. For her recent milestone birthday, Carys Douglas—daughter of Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas—dipped into her mom’s closet for a look from 25 years ago, a pink Ungaro slip dress that Zeta-Jones wore to the 1999 MTV Movie Awards.

Catherine Zeta-Jones

Zeta-Jones originally wore the Ungaro look to the MTV Movie Awards in 1999.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Catherine Zeta-Jones

She won the award for Best Breakthrough Performance for her role in "The Mask of Zorro" at the ceremony.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Catherine Zeta-Jones

The pink slip dress apparently maintained a permanent position in her closet, and was pulled out a full quarter century later for a special occasion.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The dress—a pink satin midi dress with beaded straps, white lace around the bust, and floral embroidery—no doubt helped make Carys’ birthday “The most perfect 21st I could ask for!” she wrote on Instagram. Zeta-Jones wrote in the comments of the post “You deserve it sweetheart.”

In a separate post, Zeta-Jones wished her daughter a happy birthday by writing “You are the joy of my life. 21 years of watching you blossom into the most incredible woman you are today is a God given gift that I never take for granted and cherish every day of my life. Thank you for being you. I love you with all my heart.” She signed off the post with “Mama.” Douglas wrote in the comments, sweetly, “Thank you for everything—I am so proud to be your daughter.”

Carys Douglas

Douglas is the daughter of Zeta-Jones and husband Michael Douglas.

(Image credit: Instagram)

Carys Douglas

She wore the dress to celebrate her 21st birthday over the weekend.

(Image credit: Instagram)

Zeta-Jones wore the Ungaro dress on the red carpet when she attended the awards as a nominee for Best Breakthrough Performance for her role in The Mask of Zorro—which she won.

Zeta-Jones and Douglas are both into fashion and have starred in a Fendi campaign together, have attended several New York Fashion Week shows, and have graced the cover of Vanity Fair. “Fashion has been so important in my life, because my mom is like a fashion icon to me,” Douglas told Town & Country in 2018. “I’m always looking through her closet.”

Rachel Burchfield
Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor

Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.