Jennifer Aniston Wore Another Vintage Dior Dress at Last Night’s Emmys

At January’s SAG Awards, Jennifer Aniston stole the show for two reasons. 1) Thatreunion with Brad Pitt. 2) Her vintage silk gown by John Galliano for Dior. She stuck to her winning formula for last night’s Emmys. There was a miniFriendsreunion and she wore another vintage gown by John Galliano, this time a sleek black slip dress with a waterfall hemline.

Presenting the award for lead actress in a comedy series, Aniston managed to put out a fire onstage with Jimmy Kimmel (yes, really), all while bringing a relaxed vibe (wavy hair + slip dress-style) to proceedings. But where did she source the vintage number from? Casting your mind back to January - and that snow white moment at the SAG Awards - might give you a clue.

The 1999 Dior gown Jennifer Aniston wore to steal the show at the SAG Awards was sourced from legendary vintage fashion boutique LILY et Cie in Beverly Hills. She’s not the only one who’s turned to LILY et Cie, owned by Rita Watnick, for her big night. ‘I get to work with the most beautiful quality, luxury items created by the greatest talents of the 20th and 21st Century,’ Watnick told Grazia.

For over 40 years the great and good of Hollywood have turned to Watnick’s expert edit for their red carpet moments. It was from here that this year’s Best Actress frontrunner, Renée Zellweger, sourced the sherbet lemon 1950's Jean Dessès dress she wore to the ceremony in 2001. In 2009, Penelope Cruz picked up her Best Supporting Actress Oscar wearing a 1950's strapless white Pierre Balmain couture gown from LILY et Cie. Ashley and Mary Kate Olsen, arbiters of impeccable taste, have also chosen to wear pieces sourced from the boutique for several Met Galas.

‘I purchased this dress at Dior in 1999,’ Watnick said. ‘At the time, it was from John Galliano for Dior’s latest Spring/Summer 1999 collection. Part of our strategy here is to order and buy clothes from important collections and important designers, and allow them to become infinitely rarer and more valuable. I archive and store these finds for roughly 20 years before I present them to my clients.'

Luckily for Jen, the bias cut luxe silk satin dress was finally ready to enjoy its moment in the limelight. ‘Virtually all of the pieces from John’s tenure at Dior are special, but this piece in particular channeled qualities found in some of the most important pieces found in our collection,’ said Watnick. ‘It draws from detailing and silhouettes from the 1930's by designers like Vionnet, Madame Gres and Chanel. John Galliano was able to interpret this in an essentially modern yet classic way with meticulous details and quality.'

So, was she surprised to see Aniston in the dress? ‘We have a long-standing relationship with Jennifer and her team, and they’ve looked to LILY et Cie for special moments in the past,’ said Watnick, who knew ahead of time that she would either wear the Dior gown or a different dress the LILY et Cie team had prepared for The Morning Show star. ‘I am happy to know that people responded so positively to Jennifer’s gown. I love influencing taste and culture. Our archive is truly extraordinary and the pieces that have been worn on the red carpet have garnered a lot of attention. To me, this is affirmation of a job well done. It is the beauty and benefit of collaborating with wonderful artistic individuals like Jennifer Aniston, [her stylists] Nina and Clare Hallworth and [her hairstylist and creator of ‘the Rachel cut’] Chris McMillan.'

And what about the rest of us? What advice would Watnick impart if we too were looking to try vintage for a big event? Make sure the garment is clean and in perfect condition, buy from influential designers and avoid what everyone else is looking for. ‘Look into places where other people are not looking, and for what other people are currently not interested in and not wearing,’ she says. ’That makes your purchase unique. Be individual!’

Watnick also advises you to avoid complicated alterations and only make them ‘with respect to the way the garment was originally made.' And finally, even A-listers need to know a good dry cleaner: ‘Make sure you have a really good dry cleaner that is experienced. We only use Brown’s in Santa Monica. They only clean 500 pieces each week!’

We can’t promise you’ll be nominated for an Oscar anytime soon, but a trip to LILY et Cie might be the next best thing.

READ MORE: Jennifer Aniston Wore A Vintage Dress To The Sag Awards That Was The Opposite Of Her Usual Style