The Pretty Reckless frontwoman played Cindy Lou Who, the sweet little Whoville girl who helps open the Grinch’s heart.

Taylor Momsen rewears How the Grinch Stole Christmas costume: ‘It still (kind of) fits’

The Pretty Reckless frontwoman played Cindy Lou Who, the sweet little Whoville girl who helps open the Grinch's heart.

By Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2025. Her work has previously appeared on *Entertainment Tonight* and Popsugar.

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December 23, 2025 3:15 p.m. ET

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Taylor Momsen in 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas'; Taylor Momsen rewears her character's dress from the film. Credit:

Universal Pictures; Taylor Momsen/Instagram

Taylor Momsen might still be looking for Christmas 25 years after starring in the 2000 movie version of *How the Grinch Stole Christmas, *but she's sure found something else — her iconic Cindy Lou Who fit!

On Monday, the 32-year-old took to Instagram to show that she not only found the child-size outfit, red-and-green gingham dress with whimsical food embellishments, but could still fit into it. (Sort of.)

Taylor Momsen in 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas'.

Universal Pictures

In the video posted to Momsen's page, the actress is shown attempting to put on the festive costume that she first wore when she was 7 years old for a photo shoot. "Yes...that is my real Cindy costume from the Grinch movie," the *Gossip Girl *alum captioned the post. "25 years later...it still (kind of) fits. What a surreal holiday season."

The star's stylist and costumer, Lindsey Hartman, initially suggested that the dress' sleeves be altered so she can fit the frock over her "jacked" arms, but Momsen is clearly reluctant to tamper with the costume from her childhood debut role. Momsen quickly figures out an alternative when she couldn't fit into the costume the same way she did when she was a kid by making it an off-the-shoulder moment.

Taylor Momsen rewears her character's dress from 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas'.

Taylor Momsen/Instagram

Another clip shows Hartman fixing the sleeves for the minidress before Momsen poses in the dress, a hooded cape, and boots for her wintery photo shoot.

The Pretty Reckless frontwoman has been embracing her Whoville past this holiday season, which marks *The Grinch*'s 25th anniversary.

Earlier this year, Momsen reimagined two of the movie's memorable soundtrack hits by releasing her own renditions of her band's EP, *Taylor Momsen's Pretty Reckless Christmas*, released on Oct. 31. Fans have been raving over her version of "Where Are You Christmas?" the film's modern classic holiday ballad, cowritten by Mariah Carey. The song was first performed by Momsen when she played Cindy.

'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' cast: See Jim Carrey and his costars, then and now

John Stamos jokes that he auditioned for Jim Carrey's Grinch role

Momsen even got the chance to reconnect with her former costar Jim Carrey, who famously played the titular Christmas-hating Dr. Seuss character. The pair reunited at the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony to celebrate their mutual love for Seattle legends Soundgarden.

When looking back on her experience working with Carrey during a recent episode of the *Call Her Daddy* podcast with Alex Cooper, Momsen recalled how she didn't know what the real Carrey looked like under all that makeup and those prosthetics.**

"Jim Carrey is the Grinch." Momsen said of her thinking at the time. "So I didn't know who Jim was until the premiere and someone had to point him out to me and go, 'That's Jim,' and I went, 'Oh, Jim.'"

Taylor Momsen rewears her character's dress from 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas'.

Taylor Momsen/Instagram

It made sense since becoming the Grinch required between three and eight hours in the makeup chair, as well as a costume made out of what Carrey previously described to *Vulture* as "unnervingly itchy yak hair that drove me insane all day long."

The actor wore oversized prosthetic fingers, fake teeth, and full contact lenses that shrank his vision down to what he called "a tiny tunnel." The movie actually received the 2001 Oscar for Best Makeup, so it was worth the hours-long process.

***Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.***

Taylor Momsen and the Pretty Reckless perform on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live'.

Disney/Randy Holmes

"I get asked a lot if he scared me, because I think a lot of kids were scared of the Grinch," said Momsen. "He was never scary to me. To me, he was always Jim, and he was always in makeup. The funny thing is, I never knew what Jim Carrey looked like because I never saw him cause he was there way early doing the prosthetics."

Fans can tap back into the magic of *Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas *by streaming it on Peacock or Prime Video.**

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