By Annie Brown
Fashion and film have long been entwined. Sometimes it's because famous fashion designers have lent their sartorial style to the costumes, such as Coco Chanel's chic black dresses and brocade suits in Alain Resnais's 1961 French New Wave film Last Year at Marienbad.
On other occasions it's simply because the costumes are so intrinsic to the movie and definitive of the characters, such as Ali MacGraw's preppy aesthetic in the 1970 classic Love Story. Fashion can also serve as a visual time capsule of the way we once dressed; see any John Hughes movie as an example.
Here are nine films in which the on-screen fashion not only defined the character and the era in which they were set, but also showed their stars at their most chic.
BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S
Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's.Credit: Alamy
Keira Knightley in Atonement. Credit: Archive
Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) in an early '60s Givenchy gown and pearls, nibbling a croissant and clutching a coffee in front of Tiffany & Co., is one of film's most famous fashion moments. Hepburn once said of Hubert de Givenchy's designs, "[His] clothes are the only ones I feel myself in."
ATONEMENT
There are few screen dresses as jaw-dropping as the slinky bias-cut silk number worn by Keira Knightley in the film adaptation of Ian McEwan's novel. Created by Jacqueline Durran, it nods to the 1935 setting, while the colour serves as a motif for the film's themes of jealousy, deceit and lust.
PRETTY WOMAN
One of the many iconic looks worn by Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.Credit: Alamy
This 1990 flick is a fashion feast, albeit one with a slightly problematic plot. There's the scene in which Vivian (Julia Roberts) matches a man's white shirt with a denim skirt and makes it look effortless. The thigh-high boots … and, of course, the brown polka-dot dress she wears to the charity polo event.
THE GREAT GATSBY
Carey Mulligan in the 2013 take of the Great Gatsby.Credit: Archive
Baz Luhrmann's 2013 take on the glittering 1920s features Carey Mulligan as the beautiful, careless Daisy Buchanan. Here she wears a gown designed by Miuccia Prada, who adapted 40 dresses from the Prada and Miu Miu archives in collaboration with costume designer Catherine Martin.
Jane Fonda performs in the 1968 film Barbarella.Credit: AAP
BARBARELLA
Jane Fonda's costumes for the 1968 sci-fi spoof (thigh-high silver boots, body suits, chainmail bra!), were designed by '60s space cadet Paco Rabanne. They remain a source of fashion inspiration to this day, referenced by Jean Paul Gaultier, US label Rodarte and, most recently, Chanel.
THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY
Set in Italy in the late 1950s, the film shines a spotlight on period holiday fare. There are the dashing linen separates and polos worn by Jude Law and Matt Damon, but the real dolce vita comes from Gwyneth Paltrow in her knotted white shirts, printed A-line midi-skirts and va-va-voom swimsuits.
Gwyneth Paltrow shows her 1950s flare in The Talented Mr Ripley Credit: Alamy
ANNIE HALL
Diane Keaton showed how to 'borrow from the boys' in Annie Hall. Credit: Alamy
Put aside the "can you separate the art and the artist?" debate around Woody Allen for a moment, and Diane Keaton's title character remains a trailblazer in the art of borrowing from the boys. No surprise this mid-'70s aesthetic has been referenced ever since by fashion houses including Céline and Vetements.
CLUELESS
90s minimalism is always coming back around thanks to Clueless.Credit: Alamy
Teenage dream Cher (Alicia Silverstone, above right) takes fashion extremely seriously in this 1996 coming-of-age film. Of all her memorable outfits, including the pure '90s minimalism of a Calvin Klein slip, the most instantly recognisable is the plaid Dolce & Gabbana suit worn in the opening scene.
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
Anne Hathaway during one of the many iconic moments from The Devil Wears Prada.Credit: Alamy
This much-quoted 2006 film is fashion catnip. Meryl Streep's Miranda Priestly, allegedly based on US Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, delivers the ultimate movie makeover montage, as rookie journalist Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway, above) makes her transition from frumpy to bona fide fashion plate.
This article appears in Sunday Life magazine within the Sun-Herald and the Sunday Age on sale March 24.