Gabrielle Union Converts Her Beach Cover-Up Into a Glamorous Party Outfit

(Image credit: @gabunion)

published 22 August 2024

Gabrielle Union showed off her preppy side earlier this month at the Paris Olympics. Her enviable spectator wardrobe included preppy-sporty essentials like tennis skirts, exercise dresses, striped button-up shirts, and white jeans. Now, as August nears its end, Union is switching up her style to celebrate the dog days of summer—and bringing a touch of the naked dressing trend into the mix.

The star extended her French getaway, now vacationing with her family on the island of Ile Sainte Marguerite in Cannes. She shared photos on Instagram yesterday featuring two glamorous seaside looks. The first: a bright purple, textured bandeau bikini. The second outfit: a cover-up that screamed Grecian goddess meets beach babe.

Gabrielle Union wearing a white bikini bathing suit and cream crochet set — Gabrielle Union in a white bikini suit and cream crochet set adorned with sparkly pearls.

Union wore a metallic gold knit crochet set from Retrofete—a matching maxi skirt and cropped off-the-shoulder long-sleeve top—that was patterned, see-through, and embellished with small pearls. She layered a simple white bikini underneath and accessorized with minimal brown sandals and a beige raffia hobo bag, letting her cover-up be the centerpiece of the look.

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The "cover-up as evening attire" trend has taken off this summer. Just this week, Dua Lipa furthered the cover-up agenda by wearing one as her birthday outfit. Lipa shared a photo sitting poolside in a $850 tangerine Gucci logo-dotted string bikini that she layered underneath a mesh mini dress covered in sparkly gold crystals.

dua lipa wears an orange swimsuit and gold crystal mesh dress and pink balloons — Dua Lipa wears an orange swimsuit and a crystal mesh tank for her 29th birthday.

Earlier this summer, Jennifer Lopez transformed a sheer crochet beach maxi into a date-night look, pairing it with her rare crocodile Birkin bag and crushed velvet peep-toe platform heels from Elie Saab. Back in June, Kaia Gerber wore a little black vacation dress to watch the sunset over the ocean alongside Camila Morrone, who was clad in a skin-baring, cream-colored knit set.

With how celebrities are styling their glammed-up cover-ups, it's a sign to hold onto them even as summer bleeds into fall. A mesh or macrame beach dress works just as well for cocktails on a warm, early September night.

Scroll down to shop dressy cover-ups and crochet knit sets, inspired by Gabrielle Union.

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Julia Gray is a contributing fashion writer at Marie Claire, where she covers runway trends, celebrity style, and shopping. In her six years as a journalist, Julia’s reporting has ranged across style, music, Internet culture, art, retail, tech, and more. In addition to Marie Claire, Julia writes for outlets like the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Ringer, New York Magazine, Pitchfork, Nylon, and Vice, among others. Julia's fashion reporting is led by curiosity. Julia is not only interested in critiquing and covering pop culture, but in understanding what our pop culture says about how we live and modern values. When she’s not writing, Julia hosts a podcast called Girls Room, where she and her co-host revisit shows like Girls and Gossip Girl from the beginning with guests like comedian Cat Cohen and writer Hunter Harris. Girls Room was recently cited in the New York Times.