Guest Post : How Movies Have Influenced Fashion

One of the things so great about movies is the costume or clothes wear by the actors. It’s so much fun to see the presentation of a character by his/her wardrobe. Now you probably have seen my monthly feature Fashion From Movies. Considering my hectic schedule, I’m giving this chance for a guest post related about the topic. Hope you enjoy the reading!

How Movies Have Influenced Fashion

Fashion has been influenced from a variety of mediums such as music, TV, celebrity culture and even movies. Movies could play a huge part in the influencing the viewers; they give people the chance to see outfits in many situations and even after they have bought the outfit they will think they are even more like that character. These famous films are the example :

Saturday Night Fever (1977)

  Known for its outrageous suits and iconic fashion, along with it’s killer soundtrack and dominance of the 1970s, Saturday Night Fever has influenced fashion in a multitude of ways. If you ask anyone what they remember most about the film, a large percentage will say John Travolta’s white suit. However, for most of the film, he wears large-collared bold coloured outfits. His standard dress is black pants, red shirt and black leather jacket.

His large collars, leather jacket and flares made it in the 1970s and, now, are iconic to that time period. If you asked someone to draw two outfits from the 1970s at least one of them will include a large collar, leather jacket or flared trousers.

Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

The red jacket, white shirt and jeans that James Dean wears on a regular basis has become one of the most iconic jeans and T-shirt combinations in film history, which has been pastiched in various other productions including the main character of Futurama, Philip J. Fry, who is a spitting image of James Dean in cartoon form.

The outfit redefined the term ‘cool’, it turned dressing down into a more favorable attire. The outfit is still considered cool to this day with many people emulating it and companies even selling the look as a complete set.

The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

There are many points of fashion which you can take from the film The Devil Wears Prada. Classic red lips are great for the night life especially coupled with some mascara; not too much though. The combination of stockings and beret is great for not only the colder weather, but also for Autumn and even Spring.

Don’t bother about wearing big brands and labels, some of the best pieces of clothing come from small boutiques and individual sales outlets. Heels or flats are great for every occasion, especially when flats are so cheap, comfortable and can easily slip into any outfit.

Finally, it’s okay to be a Plain Jane, don’t be ashamed of what you’re wearing, 80 per cent of fashion is how you wear it and how confident you are in the outfit.

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

Wes Anderson has a style of his own, yet it’s one that pays homage to 1970’s suede jackets, bowties or garish fur goats. Whether you watch The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic (my personal favourite) or even Fantastic Mr Fox, each of his films has a stylized quality that emanates from his films. They really are a photographer’s, an interior designers and a fashion designers perfect movies.

Almost Famous (2000)

A film set in 1973 about a young Rolling Stone Magazine reporter writing about a rock band on their tour, need I say more? This movie captures the look and feel of the 1970’s perfectly, so much so that it’s not surprising that it sparked a fashion revival when it was released in 2000.

All in all, films are very influential to popular culture, whether that be the latest technology, what’s cool or what you should be wearing this season. What do you think about the outfits mentioned in this blog, have you worn any? Do you any other outfits from these films? Tell us what you love to wear out of films and which film it’s out of.

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This post was written by Adam Stevens, a film lover and fashion guru as well as a writer for Jonathan Trumbull, contemporary fashion specialist and designer.