Not since Carrie Bradshaw hauled her collection of Manolos to the big screen has a film’s wardrobe received as much hype as Daisy Buchanan’s Prada-designed dresses and Jay Gatsby’s Brooks Brothers suits have. So as “The Great Gatsby” finally hits theaters, we’re revisiting our favorite fashion movies of all time — because the runways might give birth to the trends, but it’s the movies that determine which ones will become iconic.
1. ‘Grey Gardens’
“It’s very difficult to keep the line between the past and the present, awfully difficult,” Little Edie says in the film, ironically predicting how she’d impact the fashion world. Depending on who you ask, “Grey Gardens” is not so much a documentary about two recluses related to Jackie O. as it is a 100-minute trend machine. Little Edie’s head scarves, Big Edie’s sorbet-colored house coats, the long furs, the wacky layering, the wild print-mixing: It’s all in style right now. And these women — not Anna Wintour — created the look.
2. ‘Rear Window’
It’s hard to overstate Alfred Hitchcock’s influence on fashion. Alexander McQueen famously built a collection around his movies. And you see hints of Grace Kelly’s Edith Head-designed costumes in “Mad Men.” In “Rear Window,” Kelly only wears five outfits, each one memorable and relentlessly copied.
3. ‘Funny Face’
“Take the picture!” Hubert de Givenchy and Audrey Hepburn sealed their relationship as one of the movie world’s greatest duos with a single scene: Audrey running down a staircase in the Louvre, her red sash floating above her mimicking Winged Victory. Givenchy created costumes for four of Hepburn’s movies, all of which we were tempted to put on this list.
4. ‘Bonnie and Clyde’
Faye Dunaway’s mid-length skirt suits, knit tops, berets and silk scarves are iconic, making this the second most referenced movie in fashion history.
5. ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’
Coco Chanel is credited with creating the Little Black Dress, but Audrey Hepburn popularized it. The satin Givenchy sheath she wore as Holly Golightly was undisputedly the most famous LBD of all time.
