Comedian Mary Beth Barone knows exactly how to make a fashion statement… and offer up some serious nostalgia for millennials.
While appearing on Late Night with Seth Meyers on Wednesday, July 29, to promote her debut Netflix stand-up special Galaxy Brain, Barone stepped onto the stage wearing one of television’s most recognizable dresses: the shimmering Missoni knit dress made famous by Mischa Barton’s Marissa Cooper on The O.C. back in 2003.
During the interview, Barone spoke with Meyers about her first hour-long comedy special, joked about finding herself in a public-relations relationship, and even introduced viewers to her dog, Pinky, who made an adorable late-night television debut alongside Barone’s close friend and Overcompensating star Benito Skinner. But for fashion lovers, it was her outfit that immediately stole the spotlight.
The sleeveless, V-neck metallic knit midi dress that Barone wore is from Missoni’s spring/summer 2003 ready-to-wear collection. Woven with the Italian fashion house’s signature zigzag-inspired knit construction and subtle multicoloured metallic lamé threads, the body-skimming dress has become one of the most coveted fashion pieces from The O.C. (2003 – 2007), thanks to costume designer Alexandra Welker.
Mischa Barton famously wore the dress as Marissa Cooper in “The Perfect Couple,” the tenth episode of the show’s first season, which originally aired on November 12, 2003. The episode finds Marissa attending an upscale yacht party, where the glamorous Missoni dress perfectly captured the aspirational, early-2000s California luxury aesthetic that became synonymous with the series. (It’s the episode where Ryan and Marissa try to have their first real, planned Saturday night date, but Marissa bails because her parents hint at getting back together.)
More than 20 years later, the look remains one of Marissa Cooper’s most iconic fashion moments. The dress regularly appears in retrospectives celebrating The O.C.‘s influence on Y2K style and has become a grail piece among vintage collectors, with original versions commanding big bucks on the resale market whenever they surface.
Barone clearly knew exactly what she was referencing—and so did her fans.
Among those reacting was her best friend and Overcompensating co-star Benito Skinner, who summed up the nostalgic fashion callback by commenting simply, “The revenge dress…” on Barone’s Instagram post.
Whether it was a deliberate nod to one of television’s most fashionable “It girls” (it was) or simply an appreciation for an unforgettable vintage designer piece, Barone’s choice proves that Marissa Cooper’s wardrobe continues to resonate with a new generation of viewers—and remains just as influential today as it was in 2003.
Galaxy Brain, Mary Beth Barone’s first hour-long stand-up special, is now streaming on Netflix.
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