Elle Fanning

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“I’ve always really liked fashion, because my mom is really into fashion,” Dakota Fanning recently told FabSugar. “It’s always kind of been a part of our lives, both Elle and I.”

Because of that, the sisters are generally out in designer duds — looks by Miu Miu, Marc Jacobs and Rodarte to name a few — but it does cause some closet confusion at home. “I’ve influenced [Elle's] style because she’s stolen my clothes!” Dakota joked.

Speaking at the Cosmopolitan Fun Fearless Female Awards in New York City, Dakota said her sister actually has a “completely different” style from her own. But she still looks to her for advice sometimes. “I’ve found myself having to go to the little sister, asking her, ‘Oh do you like this outfit?’” Dakota admitted. “It’s kind of a sad day for a big sister when you have to ask your little sister’s opinion.”

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Courtesy Elle UK

Dakota Fanning, who recently confessed that she and 13-year-old sister Elle are “fashion equals,” strikes a seductive pose on the February cover of Elle UK — just don’t call her out for it.

“You can’t worry about what other people think, especially if you’re a known person, or sometimes you won’t be able to get out of bed,” she tells the mag. Case in point: her very first day at NYU, where she is a freshman, the 17-year-old selected a pleated skirt, velvet Marni shoes, black knee socks and an asymmetrical Alexander Wang sweater.

And while studying may take precedence over red carpet preening these days, Dakota doesn’t mind sharing the spotlight with her little sis (though she does mind sharing closets). “Usually it’s her sitting in pajamas waving goodbye as I go off someplace,” she says. “But this last year it’s been me home by myself in sweatpants, saying ‘Bye Elle’ as she goes off somewhere all dressed up.”

–Justine Harman

DO YOU DARE? MORE STYLE RISKS IN ‘WOULD YOU WEAR THESE TRENDS?’

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Patrick Rideaux/Picture Perfect/Rex USA

“If people say something [I wear] is sort of weird, I’m like, Oh, that’s a great compliment,” Elle Fanning chirps in the latest issue of Teen Vogue. The 13-year-old, who’s starred in campaigns for Marc Jacobs, went to Paris with Karl Lagerfeld and recently modeled Rodarte, spends her free time on style.com and street-style blogs, saving her favorite looks on her computer.

“She’s the go-to fashion person in the family,” big sis Dakota tells the magazine. “Elle knows every single model, every single collection, every single piece from every collection. She has a real passion. She genuinely appreciates the workmanship and creativity.”

Elle, who has a bulletin board in her bedroom covered with magazine tear sheets, even offers style tips to family. “I remember the first time Dakota asked me for fashion advice about what to put with what,” she says. “I was like, My big sister is asking me?” “It’s funny, ’cause when you’re an older sister, you try to be the leader and example,” Dakota adds. “I’ve recently had to accept that we’re equals.”

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Mario Sorrenti for W

“Before Somewhere, they asked me if I was Dakota Fanning, because we looked alike,” Elle Fanning recalls in the December issue of W. “I’d say, ‘No, I’m her younger sister.’ And they’d say, ‘Oh, okay.’ But now I think they are starting to realize I’m my own person.”

It’s true: Elle has had quite the year, with a breakout role in Super 8 and a fashion star that’s on the rise. She even met Chanel creative director Karl Lagerfeld during Paris Haute Couture Week in July on her first-ever trip to the City of Light. “When I found out that I was invited to the Chanel show — that was the loudest I’ve ever screamed in my life,” she says. “That was the best day of my life.”

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