When you ask someone why they like to watch Christmas movies during the holidays, they'll likely credit the warm and fuzzy feeling they give us around the themes of love, family and the joys of the festive season. Christmas movies more often than not teach us startlingly profound lessons about life, make us laugh (or cry), and are generally just one of those nostalgic feel-good instruments that bring delight to our December nights. But here at Vogue, with our ever-discerning eyes for fashion, certain Christmas movies do more than make us feel good—they give us ultimate holiday style inspiration.

From Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett in Carol, to Cameron Diaz in The Holiday and Michelle Yeoh in Last Christmas, Christmas style icons fill a wardrobe shaped hole in our hearts during the latter part of the year, and, for the fashion inclined, can make a bad Christmas movie good, and a good Christmas movie an even better one. Of course, some of these characters give us so much more than Christmas outfit ideas, instead ranging from everyday wear to bridal looks and even chic fancy dress costumes we can emulate all throughout the year.

Ahead, Vogue rounds up the best Christmas style icons of all time for ultimate sartorial inspiration, for the holidays and beyond.

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Image credits: Universal Pictures

Kiera Knightley in Love Actually (2003)

Hands down the most stylish character in the iconic Christmas movie Love Actually, a young Kiera Knightley plays Juliet, and gives us the best of early naughts playful yet chic British style. From her first scene, in which she completely and utterly dazzled wearing what is one of the most culturally important wedding looks to ever grace the screen—the feathers, the lace, the delicate sheer overcoat!—to her super ’00s denim cap moment and finally, the chic off-the-shoulder white knitted sweater top and jeans combo, Knightley in this movie will forever be one of our very top Christmas style icons of all time.

Image credits: Universal Pictures

Cameron Diaz in The Holiday (2006)

In another festive season rom-com classic, Cameron Diaz's performance and her character's on-screen wardrobe in The Holiday are top tier. Playing an uptight, wealthy movie producer from Los Angeles on a Christmas vacation in England, Diaz's character Amanda learns to unwind, let go and fall in love over the course of the movie—but while her demeanour may relax and her polished L.A. facade drops, her wardrobe certainly does not. Wearing an array of glamorous woollen coats and pencil skirts, chic blouses and sweaters, designer bags and elegant stilettos, Diaz in this role gives us all the elevated, designer, California-meets-London Christmas style inspiration we'll ever need.

Image credits: StudioCanal

Rooney Mara in Carol (2015)

A tender and heartbreaking story of love set over Christmas in the 1950s, Carol gives us not one, but two incredible style icons, the first being Rooney Mara. While the other lead character in Carol, played by Cate Blanchett, is the epitome of '50s glamour—more on Blanchett momentarily—Mara's character Therese has a elegant yet youthful, preppy and more homely style, that Mara wears impeccable coolly to the point of imitability. With a wardrobe full of black headbands, lots of plaid, simple yet chic blouses, sweaters and adorable turtlenecks, Mara's ultra-cool yet unassuming bob and micro-fringe completes the fashionable picture.

Image credits: Universal Pictures

Christine Baranski in How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

It may be fantastical and a little out there, but of course, Christine Baranski still manages to look as gorgeous and glamorous as ever in How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Set in the wild and abstract world of Dr. Seuss, Baranski's character Martha May Whovier is the most glamorous and stylish of all the Who's. From her old-Hollywood style blue and white fluffy robe, to her rather sultry Santa interpretation, her red velvet gloves and strapless red and green Christmas dress, only Baranski could make all of these festive-kitsch looks so completely fabulous.

Image credits: Universal Pictures

Michelle Yeoh in Last Christmas (2019)

She may not be the main female lead in Last Christmas—and special mention must go out to Emilia Clarke's cool-girl rocker-grunge look in this film—but Michelle Yeoh really stole the show sartorially. Playing an owner of a Christmas decorations store who goes by the name Santa, Yeoh once again nails the role of the older, wiser woman—and she does it in style. We see her in a stunning blue long-sleeved cheongsam, and later in a red velvet one with feathered wrist cuffs and silver floral details, as well as other robes adorned with more feathers, embroidery and embellishments. Bold, festive and with a healthy dose of fluffy decoration earrings, Yeoh has never looked cooler and more Christmas-y.

Image credits: Universal Pictures

Kate Winslet in The Holiday (2006)

Alongside Diaz, Kate Winslet takes up the mantle of the second female lead in The Holiday, and equally stakes her claim as one of the most stylish Christmas icons out there, albeit a more pared-back, accessible one. Mirroring the emotional evolution of her character Iris throughout the film, Winslet's looks go from frazzled (and heartbroken) British woman to a more sophisticated and confident version of herself. Thanks to a number of minimalist and elevated blouses, casual-chic blazers, a skinny scarf and two gorgeous LBDs to boot, Winslet's look in this film is injected with a touch of Californian sophistication into her classic British wardrobe, and it definitely suits her.

Image credits: Universal Pictures

Heike Makatsch in Love Actually (2003)

Okay, we couldn't stand her and we were all deeply rooting for Emma Thompson's character in stark contrast, but we have to admit, that Heike Makatsch as Mia in Love Actually had the best early '00s style. Mini pencil skirts, knee-high boots, patterned tops, camis and sweater vests, and, of course, that literally devilish red Christmas party outfit, Makatsch's characters' singularly redeeming quality was her cool, youthful, very "London in 2003" style. Complete with chunky rings and a red leather watch, this is a style icon we love to hate and hate to love.

Image credits: StudioCanal

Cate Blanchett in Carol (2015)

Cate Blanchett's aforementioned style in Carol as Carol herself is so glamorous and simply fabulous that it's almost impossible to sum up it's sartorial gravity. From her signature fur coat, to her incredible selection of '50s millinery, the gold brooches and bracelets, and the ultra-chic suits and period dresses, Blanchett defines and embodies the stylish luxury of that time. Complete with a bright red lip and nail set, and a silk scarf tied around her neck or handle of her designer handbag, Blanchett as Carol gives not only an incredible and haunting performance, but style inspiration that we'll never be able to shake off.

Image credits: Netflix

Vanessa Hudgens in The Princess Switch series (2018—2021)

It may not be considered much of a Christmas classic (and resides somewhere in that, "It's so bad it's good" category) but the fact that Vanessa Hudgens gets to play not two but three doppelgängers in The Princess Switch series gives us a wealthy source of fashionable moments. From her preppy, royal character to her down-to-earth baker (turned second royal) and a glamorous and wild cousin, Hudgens channels a number of different styles, each of note in their own way. The Chanel inspired suits, bold sequinned dresses and, of course, a plethora of stunning royal ballgowns, Hudgens gives us no end of style inspiration across three very different yet equally charming aesthetics.

Image credits: Hulu

Kristen Stewart in Happiest Season (2020)

In an aesthetic that feels very well aligned to the real life wardrobe of the actor herself, Kristen Stewart gives us effortlessly-cool, sharp and ever-so-slightly grungy style in the queer Christmas rom-com Happiest Season. Suits and open business shirts, well-cut blazers, a strategically cool beanie and a number of trendy sneakers, Stewart gives us the perfect laid-back, street-style meets sultry aesthetic that all the cool kids want to channel at Christmas. As well as working alongside other style icons like Aubrey Plaza and Alison Brie in this film, Stewart is in her fashion element, and we're taking notes.

Image credits: 20th Century Studios

Catherine O’Hara in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)

Catherine O'Hara in the cult-classic Home Alone movie series gives both a brilliant performance as Mrs. McCallister, but in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York especially, O'Hara fulfils our elevated, fashionable '90s mum style dreams. Wearing classic early '90s patterned dresses and oversized blazers, sumptuous coats and sweaters, designer bags and sleek leather gloves, paired with chunky gold statement earrings and silk neck scarves, O'Hara has never looked so classy. In combination with her very classic, effortlessly chic pixie cut that she rocked in this film, Mrs. McCallister is and always has been one for the style books.

Image credits: Amazon MGM Studios

Shay Mitchell in Something from Tiffany’s (2022)

Shay Mitchell might not have a huge role in this modern Christmas flick, nor does she "get the guy" at the end of it, but her elegant and luxurious wardrobe had us from hello. Effusing typical New York contemporary glamour, Mitchell's stylish character Vanessa wears silk pyjama sets, cashmere sweaters and coats, knee-high leather boots and a slouchy white turtleneck jumper that the quiet luxury crowds would swoon over. Along with a number of incredibly chic designer bags and those soft, sweeping waves in her hair at all times, Mitchell wears Vanessa's amazing wardrobe like it was made for her.

Image credits: Warner Bros.

Zooey Deschanel in Elf (2003)

She might have been most notably dressed as an elf in a department store in this movie, but Zooey Deschanel in Elf had a quirky sense of style that we have to appreciate. Beyond the elf costume, the glimpses we got of Deschanel in this movie, sporting a very cute blonde flippy bob, were very New York and very early 2000s. Not necessarily glamorous or modish by definition, it was Deschanel's off-beat portrayal in combination with the unassuming, accessible naughties American-girl wardrobe that stole our hearts. Special mentions must go to her very adorable woollen floral bucket hat and fur-trimmed jacket.

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