Film can be a great influencer, and this is perhaps most evident when it comes to fashion. Clothes are written about, talked about and often copied. So influential can fashion be in movies that some films are remembered more for a particular outfit a star wore than the storyline.
Iconic fashion
This is not just a modern trend, either. Almost from the very beginnings of film, female stars have worn costumes that moviegoers have particularly noticed and wanted to emulate. It could be argued that the wardrobe staple, the little black dress, was inspired by the outfit Anita Ekberg wore in the film La Dolce Vita as she emerged like Venus from Rome’s Trevi fountain. Audrey Hepburn embodies the typical 50s look with her espadrilles, dirndl skirt, crisp short-sleeved white shirt and neckerchief in another Rome-based Hollywood classic, Roman Holiday, and who could forget that billowing white dress worn by Marilyn Monroe as she stood over a street grate in The Seven Year Itch? Moving into the 60s, Jane Fonda made a dramatic and memorable fashion statement in the cult hit, Barbarella, wearing thigh-length white boots and open-necked leotard; the epitome of the sex kitten. In the 80s, Madonna influenced millions of teenagers through her costume in Desperately Seeking Susan, which combined charity shop clothes with outlandish accessories.
This century, though, it is not just clothing that is inspiring fashion, but also hair. For example, the heroine of The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen, sports an eye-catching plait that wraps around her head, and which many female fans are keen to emulate. Of course, one needs to have a suitable length of hair to achieve this style, but short-haired fans are not letting this stop them. With the help of hair extensions from a supplier such as Hair Planet, fans are able to affix false hair into their own and create the body and length needed to achieve this popular plaited look. Fans will be pleased to know that this is often how their favourite movie stars achieve their iconic looks.
Of course, some of these costumes were so unique to their time that to wear something similar today would look a little odd. Imagine walking down the street in a Barbarella outfit, or emulating Madonna of the 80s? Others, however, have stood the test of time. For example, there are few images more elegant than Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, with her large sunglasses, immaculately coiffured hair and tailored pencil skirt suit, and this is a look that will only get admiring glances today. The casual style worn by Diane Keaton in Annie Hall may be a little too masculine to copy entirely, but it cannot be denied that trousers and shirts became a staple in many women’s wardrobes from the release of this film onwards.
Movie fans can recreate the looks of their favourite actors in particular films or scenes by copying specific elements of the costumes and completing the style with clever hairdressing techniques.
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