Melissa Joan Hart poses in decades-old eagle dress on 4th of July: 'Decorated my always changing shape for 21 years now'
Long live Melissa Joan Hart's eagle dress!
The actress and producer, 46, recently shared a series of photos chronicling the long history of one of her favorite dresses: a sleeveless red piece with a bald eagle image, which she’s worn on the Fourth of July every year since 2008.
“The eagle dress has landed,” Hart wrote to caption the photos of herself wearing the dress — including when she was pregnant with one of her children.
Hart shares three boys — Mason, 16, Braydon, 14, and Tucker, 9 — with husband Mark Wilkerson.
“A little history about the dress that has decorated my always changing shape for 21 years now,” she continued. “Purchased in 2000 in Melbourne, Australia. I wore it on the #LateShow with #JayLeno in [2001] after 9/11 when I only wore red, white and blue for the better part of a year. It became a July 4th staple in my Tahoe closet in about 2008 and I have since worn it every year minus 2019 when I spent Independence Day on the east coast.
Hart also included “some doctored up [photos]” of herself wearing the outfit while hanging with Bryan Cranston and Hilary Duff, which she claims “never actually happened in my memory.”
"Happy July 4th to my fellow Americans," she concluded the post, which welcomed a slew of supportive messages from fans who, like Hart, also enjoy recycling fashion.
“I love this!” one fan wrote. “I’ve been known to keep and re-wear fave clothes for MANY years. Happy 4th to you and your family.”
“This is sooo beautiful and memorable!! How nostalgic ??????????,” another added. “I love the difference in the years that went by ! You are giving us positive nostalgic vibes and I am loving it.”
“So cool to pull that one item for an annual outing and capture it over the years. Pregnant momma and all ??,” one comment read.
“This made me happy to see this morning! Still looking great in it too!” read another.
Hart was clearly relieved to be sporting her favorite dress in public again this year, given the last two were spent in lockdown. In a recent interview with Yahoo Life, the actress opened up about what it was like home-schooling her three children during the pandemic's early days.
"It was freaky at first, but the kids knew they were safe at home," she said at the time. "We tried to make it [feel] like a very long vacation."
"At the beginning, school was the most difficult part of the whole thing," she added. "I was not meant to be a school teacher. There's a reason I'm not a school teacher. To be honest, trying to get my first grader to sit down and do his schoolwork was the toughest thing. And then you find out later that the middle schoolers just didn't do it. So, that was exciting news to get in the report card."
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