Since the beginning of movies, the
clothes that characters wear have been part of the draw and thrill.
Well-designed costumes not only concealed the physical flaws of actors
and actresses, they delineated character and added texture to a scene.
Because Hollywood designers kept abreast of Paris couture, audiences
were able to see la mode in action. And yet, just because a movie
is up on the current fashions doesn’t make it “fashionable.” What does?
Films about the fashion industry leap to mind. Funny Face, for example, is a musical set in the world of glossy magazines and Paris collections; the cerebral Blow-Up takes us into a fashion photographer’s studio.
More often, however, one thinks of movies that evoke a time (The Best of Everything) or a place (Wall Street). Movies set in high society, café society, or on the cutting edge of respectability are by definition fashionable, as are the wardrobes of characters who draw complexity from their clothing: Diane Keaton’s Annie Hall or Richard Gere’s American gigolo.
The presence of models and beauties doesn’t necessarily make a film fashionable: neither Lauren Bacall nor Elizabeth Taylor is in any of the movies on this list. But almost every movie starring Audrey Hepburn or Grace Kelly is a fashion classic. Both women were ballet-trained and knew how to stand, walk, and speak with exquisite finish. And both brought a transfiguring refinement, a sense of culture—Hepburn, Old World; Kelly, New World—to the screen.
Finally, there are those movies distinguished by a totemic piece of clothing—a tweed riding coat, a slate-gray suit. Of Rebel Without a Cause the poet William Carlos Williams might have written: “So much depends / upon / a red wind / breaker.”
More often, however, one thinks of movies that evoke a time (The Best of Everything) or a place (Wall Street). Movies set in high society, café society, or on the cutting edge of respectability are by definition fashionable, as are the wardrobes of characters who draw complexity from their clothing: Diane Keaton’s Annie Hall or Richard Gere’s American gigolo.
The presence of models and beauties doesn’t necessarily make a film fashionable: neither Lauren Bacall nor Elizabeth Taylor is in any of the movies on this list. But almost every movie starring Audrey Hepburn or Grace Kelly is a fashion classic. Both women were ballet-trained and knew how to stand, walk, and speak with exquisite finish. And both brought a transfiguring refinement, a sense of culture—Hepburn, Old World; Kelly, New World—to the screen.
Finally, there are those movies distinguished by a totemic piece of clothing—a tweed riding coat, a slate-gray suit. Of Rebel Without a Cause the poet William Carlos Williams might have written: “So much depends / upon / a red wind / breaker.”
http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2012/09/photos-the-25-most-fashionable-films?mbid=social_facebook#slide=1
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