Anna Nicole Smith's 17-year-old daughter, Dannielynn Birkhead, is growing up to be quite the fashionista like her mom.
For the Kentucky Derby, which she attended with her father, Larry Birkhead, as part of their annual tradition, Dannielynn wore a bright red dress with puffy sleeves and a matching feathered headpiece.
Birkhead shared a picture of him and Dannielynn together at the event and reflected on all the "quality time" they've been spending together.
Dannielynn got a "quick morning haircut" the day of the event, Birkhead said in the caption.
"Dannielynn’s dress was inspired by her favorite character Hino Eiji, Kamen Rider OOO TaJaDor combo - she made me write that - because that character had the same shoulders as the design of the dress she found !" he added in the caption. "Hey whatever works, just trying to spend a little quality time as this weekend of traditions come to a close…"
Anna Nicole Smith (whose real name was Vickie Lynn Hogan) was a former exotic dancer turned model, most famous for her “GUESS” campaign and her controversial marriage to oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II, who was 63 years her senior. Marshall’s 1995 death sparked a battle over his fortune between Smith and his family.
In 2006, Smith gave birth to Dannielynn, shortly before her 20-year-old son Daniel died from ingesting methadone and antidepressants. Smith died in 2007 at age 39 from an accidental overdose.
When Dannielynn was born, Smith’s then-partner, lawyer Howard K. Stern, was listed on her birth certificate, though a paternity test showed that Birkhead was the father.
Birkhead has raised Dannielynn, who looks practically identical to her mom, and the two are close.
Read on for more about Dannielynn.
Larry and Dannielynn Birkhead have a tradition of attending the Kentucky Derby
One of the family's favorite activities is attending the Kentucky Derby each year.
“It’s our ‘one day a year’ outing that we do publicly,” Birkhead told the Courier Journal in 2022. “And I think you guys probably can take pictures and watch her grow from just this event ... there’s a lot of people that are interested in things because of her mother and I don’t let her fall into that. I just say, ‘Hey, let’s do one thing a year (and) let people see how you are.”
The night before the 2024 Kentucky Derby, the father-daughter duo also attended the Barnstable Brown Gala together and shared some photos.
In the pics, they smiled side by side as Dannielynn posed in a stunning black outfit previously worn by Janet Jackson. As for Birkhead, he wore a gray suit with a white button-down shirt and black tie.
“Dannielynn is wearing her second @janetjackson outfit to the party that I got from Janet’s @juliens_auctions -charity auction,” he noted in the caption. “Looking forward to a fun Derby weekend with the newly graduated high school student! 🐎 👩🎓.”
Like her late mother, Dannielynn has an eye for fashion. The outfit she chose from the “All for You” singer is a Gianfranco Ferre dress that is “knee-length in the front and floor-length in the back and features zippers all around,” per Julien’s.
Dannielynn tested out her driving skills with dad at Disney
In January, Birkhead posted a fun video of Dannielynn driving him around on a Disney attraction.
"Dannielynn trying to show me her 'driving skills' at ... Autotopia," he captioned the video. "After a year of telling her to study for her driver’s test and then her just being too lazy and 'busy' while at the same time telling me that she 'doesn’t want to drive,' she decided to show me what she’s got at Disney."
In the video shared by Birkhead, Dannielynn laughs as they careen around a racetrack. "Keep it in the middle!" the dad tells the teen.
"You don't understand — it's going on its own!" she exclaims. "Oh my god, you're going to get pulled over ..." he responds. "My insurance is going to go crazy!"
Birkhead explained in his caption: "She said she thought she had what it takes to pass her test, because she has been 'playing Mario Kart for years.' As you can see here, she needs a little help. Despite her claims of a 'riggedy' car, and not being able to find the brake, she said she’s 'ready.'"
He added, "I told her when she can pass a quiz at home, then I would take her to get driver's lessons, because it makes me too nervous. Surely, you parents out there understand that! In her defense, the car was in need of some power steering fluid."
Birkhead is clearly proud of his daughter.
"All jokes aside, we always have a great time at Disney," he wrote in his Instagram caption. "Dannielynn has turned into a daredevil since the shock on her face of going down her first time on Splash Mountain."