Both women have spoken previously about how they lean on one another for fashion and beauty advice, too. “If I have to do my makeup for a dinner or something, I’ll be like, ‘Ava, can you fix my eyeshadow? I can’t remember what goes in the crease,’ because she has this intense knowledge about how to shade. It’s crazy,” Witherspoon said in 2019. While in 2022 Phillippe told People magazine: “When we’re separated, we’re like, ‘What are you wearing? Oh! That’s weirdly similar.’”
Loading
Besides, for many mothers and their daughters, it feels old fashioned to get caught up on generation gaps. When my mum and I were both vying to buy the same pair of trousers recently, I wasn’t put off, just thrilled that I could save my money and borrow them from her instead of shelling out myself.
“For a daughter to be told their mother is stylish – as I often am – is a badge of honour and certainly something to be proud of,” agrees Fullerton. “Women don’t want to be put in boxes determined by a number, which doesn’t let them wear certain things anymore. Plus, having more options to shop from (hello, internet) helps women of any age find their own fashion niche, and not be restricted to the high street as we were in previous decades.”
Fullerton can see a Witherspoon-Phillippe approach emerging with her own daughter. “She’s nine and definitely has her own style, but she loves to go out in matching looks… If I say I’m wearing a dress, she’ll want to wear one too, and as long as they’re not both the same print or pattern, it’s lovely.“
