Katie Holmes revives the cord necklace, bringing minimalist '90s style back
Katie Holmes turned a leather cord and gold pendant into the easiest quiet-luxury move in sight, pairing it with jeans, a cardigan, and a croc tote.
Katie Holmes just made the cord necklace feel like a wardrobe habit again, not a trend piece. In New York City on Thursday, May 7, she wore a simple leather cord with a gold pendant and let it do the work against a black midriff-baring cardigan, purple ankle-length spring jeans, gum-sole sneakers, and a croc-embossed tote. Nothing about it shouted. That was the point.
The look lands because Holmes knows restraint. A cord necklace reads classic when the pendant is small, polished, and centered, the kind of thing that looks collected over time rather than bought for one outfit. It starts looking overly ’90s costume when the cord gets chunky, the charm gets busy, or the neckline fights the jewelry. Her version stayed clean: one slim line at the throat, one glint of gold, and enough skin showing at the cardigan to keep the pendant visible without turning the whole outfit into nostalgia theater.
That balance is exactly why Holmes keeps getting pulled into this conversation. She has long been treated as a ’90s and early-2000s style reference point, and her street style still has that offhand New York polish people trust. The cord necklace revival is also lining up with a broader Spring 2026 runway push. Versions of the look turned up at Ralph Lauren and Michael Kors, with Gabriela Hearst tied to the same wave, but the current mood is much sharper than the beaded, playful cords of the ’90s. This version is pared back, usually built around a single pendant, and it feels more heirloom than souvenir.
There is history under the whole thing, too. Tiffany & Co. says Elsa Peretti joined the house in 1974, and her work helped turn sterling silver and everyday diamonds into modern staples. That is the lane Holmes is working in here: accessible, polished, and quietly assured. The croc-embossed tote matters as much as the necklace. It keeps the outfit in old-money territory, because the bag looks textured and composed, not flashy. Paired with jeans and a cardigan, the cord necklace stops being a relic of Dawson’s Creek-era styling and starts reading like the sort of small, disciplined accessory that can make an ordinary outfit feel inherited, not assembled.
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