Katie Holmes Tricks Out Her Sweatshirt and Barrel-Leg Pants Like a Cool Girl

Katie Holmes walking in New York City wearing a sweatshirt and scarf with barrel-leg pants

(Image credit: The Image Direct)

published 28 February 2025

Katie Holmes took a three-week hiatus from her daily street style strolls after fashion month, but I'm pleased to say the Broadway star has at last returned to her duties.

On Feb. 27, the Dawson's Creek alum stepped out in New York City for an afternoon stroll featuring her signature outfit formula: a cozy sweatshirt, barrel-leg pants, a great sneaker, and a tote bag.

Her casual errand-running ensemble starts with a gray crewneck as her not-so-simple base layer. Finding a pullover that offers the right amount of blousy-ness is harder than you might think: Kaia Gerber is a big fan of Skims Classic Crewneck in Heather Gray, and wore it on at least two separate occasions—a Community Goods matcha run and a post-breakup spa day—in January alone. The sweatshirt Holmes is wearing here, however, seems to be a bit darker and thinner, like the Nova Crew from AG Jeans. In a stroke of styling genius, she accessorized the staple piece with a navy blue and white printed neckerchief tied around her neck, Brooklyn cool-girl style.

A photo of Katie Holmes accessorizing her gray crewneck sweatshirt with a navy neckerchief, black pants, and white sneakers. — Katie Holmes accessorizes her gray crewneck sweatshirt with a navy neckerchief, black pants, and white sneakers.

AG Jeans Nova Crew

Although denim will always be her first love, Holmes gave her beloved barrel-leg jeans a break in favor of a black pull-on style in the same silhouette. She topped them off with white sneakers, a black leather tote bag, and black oversized sunglasses from Isabel Marant. I would call it further proof that boho-chic is back, but I have a feeling Holmes never stopped wearing the nostalgic French brand in the first place.

Isabel Marant Niby Sunglasses

Let her look serve as a reminder of a styling hack that Marie Claire editor-in-chief Nikki Ogunnaike also swears by. Any piece in your wardrobe can be made to feel fresh again with a little extra accessorizing—even a basic like a sweatshirt.

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Hanna Lustig is a staff writer at Marie Claire, where she gets to gab every day about the topics she holds most dear: fashion, beauty, and celebrity. Hanna’s editorial journey began with formative internships at Elle and InStyle, where she was lucky enough to work for some of the smartest women in media while she was still in college at the University of Tennessee. Hanna then accepted a digital culture reporting fellowship at Insider, where she helped carve out a new beat dedicated to covering influencers. Those experiences later served her well as a staff writer at Glamour, where she developed a knack for spinning quick turnaround celebrity news and trend reporting into juicy feature stories. Some of her greatest hits include an earnest ode to the no-pants trend, this meticulously reported feature exploring the rise of endoscopic facelifts, this snappy take on the Chanel-designed fantasy of Sofia Richie’s wedding, this tribute to WAGs past and present, and this timeline of Katie Holmes’s life and career as told through her denim collection.

Diane Keaton once hung up on Hanna during an interview, but thankfully that mishap did not derail what has otherwise been a deeply fulfilling career writing for and about women. As one of Marie Claire's resident experts on style and culture, her current coverage ranges from exploring TikTok's contrast makeup theory and the return of the boat shoe trend to interviews with costume designers for hit shows like Nobody Wants This and The Penguin. When she’s not at work, Hanna can probably be found listening to pop music, talking to her dog, and gossiping with her best friends. For more of Hanna’s perfect opinions on pop culture, you can follow her on Instagram and X.

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