Renée Zellweger turned heads last night at the London premiere of Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, wearing a vintage strapless satin gown from Balmain’s 2000 collection, compared to one of Marilyn’s most famous movie costumes – the ‘diamond dress‘ by Travilla (although the fuschia-pink number has also been described as ‘Barbiecore.’)
“The actress was channelling another blonde screen icon as she posed for photos at the premiere on the night. Renée’s dress was in the brightest shade of pink and a major departure from her tradition of wearing black gowns to Bridget Jones premieres. It was strapless and in a column style that suited her to a tee with a statement train to the hem.
The 55-year-old wisely kept her accessories to a minimum, tying her hair back in a simple ponytail and avoiding statement jewellery, preferring to let the dress do the talking and if there’s something familiar about her dress there might just be a reason. Her dress is a 2025-era tribute to Marilyn Monroe’s pink gown from her iconic ‘Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend’ performance.
The famous scene of course features in the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) and could be a nod to Mad About The Boy which sees Bridget torn between two potential love interests.”
– Claire Hyland, EVOKE
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is Zellweger’s fourth screen outing as the perpetually lovelorn diarist, based on the bestselling series by novelist Helen Fielding. As rom-com heroines go, however, Bridget is closer to a British Doris Day character than Lorelei Lee, the ditzy yet cunning showgirl played by MM in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
Incidentally, Zellweger was previously mooted to play Marilyn in a film about Hollywood photographer Bruno Bernard, proposed by his daughter Susan back in 2003. That biopic was never made, although the Texan-born actress would go on to win an Academy Award for her performance as another movie legend, Judy Garland, in 2020.
And finally, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes also spawned a sequel, Gentlemen Marry Brunettes (1955.) Although Jane Russell was keen to reprise her role as Dorothy Shaw, Marilyn declined. Redhead Jeanne Crain took her place, and the protagonists were renamed as sisters Connie and Bonnie Jones – but while the storyline of two Broadway showgirls in Paris aped the original, the sequel was deemed lacklustre.
The Marilyn Report 
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