Jennifer Aniston has revealed the few wardrobe archives she’s kept in her closet from her Rachel Green era.
The 54-year-old actress hasn’t let go of her famed Friends in the 20 years since the series finale aired. When speaking to The Wall Street Journal for its Fall Women’s Fashion issue, Aniston admitted she’s held on to Rachel, keeping her close inside her personal collection of clothing with two costume pieces from the beloved citcom – a pair of red loafers and one of Courtney Cox’s floral dresses she wore as Monica.
Though the red loafers have yet to be seen on The Morning Show lead since she wore them on-air, Aniston’s showed off the look plucked from Cox’s closet. Last year, she took to Instagram to share a photo of herself in the black lace-lined maxi dress next to her hairstylist Chris MicMillan. “Does the dress look familiar? Still got it,” her Story caption read, tagging Cox and Friends next to two photographs of Monica donning the same piece in a later season episode. Cox responded with a big red heart and wrote: “Cuties.”
Aniston assumed her role as Rachel – the hilarious, fashion-driven, former “Daddy’s girl” who finds independence in the city while living with her childhood best friend – from 1994 to 2004. Since the show finished, Rachel’s effortless elegance has irrevocably impacted fashion fads. From her plaid kilts and baby tees to the delicate silhouette of her thin maxi dresses and mod business wear, Aniston’s character impeded the end of 90s style, allowing it to become a lasting trend.
Aside from the emotional sentiment the Friends wardrobe had on her, the Just Go With It actress confessed she walked away from 10 seasons with life lessons as well. “It taught us everything,” Aniston told The Wall Street Journal in terms of how to handle being in the business.
During their time filming, she, along with Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry, and Matt Le Blanc all pushed for an equal pay raise on the show. All six stars were able to negotiate a deal of $1m per episode for each of them.
Aniston reflected on the struggle of speaking up for herself in an environment she used to consider “male dominated”. There was a time in my world, my career, where I realised it’s not being aggressive or combative or b****y or emotional to stand up for what you deserve and what you want,” she confessed. “It’s a tough muscle to build. And also be loved and respected. It’s hard to achieve.”
But Aniston eventually mirrored her Friends persona by advocating for her career with consideration and intent. Now, she is successfully merging her desire to produce and star in creative projects meant to evoke feelings of empowerment through strong storylines that reflect real-world issues like she has been with Reese Witherspoon on The Morning Show.
“The material that I was interested in or she was interested in wasn’t really being made. And if it was, we weren’t the actresses getting the opportunities,” Aniston noted of her and Witherspoon. “So we were given the wonderful option of being able to create our own material.”
