Since the dawn of Hollywood, fashion and film have been intricately intertwined. Outrageous outfits and creative costumes will add symbolism and visual splendour to any piece of cinema. In turn, the big screen’s best clothing has influenced shoppers across the globe. From Afrofuturistic tribal designs to Shakespearean characters decked in designer clothing, these films are a feast for the eyes.

Marie Antoinette (2006)

Sofia Coppola’s ode to the controversial final Queen of France lives up to the titular heroine’s reputation as the first fashionable celebrity. Each dress designed by Milena Canonero steals the scene and relays Marie Antoinette’s rise from a naive Austrian princess to outlandish levels of nobility. With the protagonist’s growth in confidence, we watch her wigs expand, with one even accurately featuring a model boat to celebrate France’s naval power. Marie Antoinette even stayed true to the queen’s “cottagecore” phase as we see Kirsten Dunst escaping to the country in a dainty white chemise.

Canonero refuses to adhere to militant historical accuracy which compliments the film’s tongue-in-cheek aura, also evident in the film’s pop soundtrack. Amidst the anachronistic use of ‘I Want Candy’, we see piles of candy-coloured Manolo Blahnik shoes (with the brief glimpse of a Converse) that remind the viewer to revel in the sumptuous scenes and never take the film too seriously.

Black Panther (2018)

Ruth E. Carter’s costumes perfectly encompass Black Panther’s pressing theme of Afrofuturism. Throughout the film’s creation, Carter diligently studied and incorporated traditional pieces from across the continent. No scene embodies this as much as T’Challa’s initiation ceremony into his regal role, when Wakanda’s tribes line the cliffs of Warrior Falls; each character is adorned with purposefully chosen African clothing such as Basotho blankets and a ​​Maasai headdress.

“Carter balanced traditionalism with cutting-edge fashion design”

To promote the MCU’s brand of superheroes, Carter balanced traditionalism with cutting-edge fashion design, such as 3D printing and interweaving the fictional metal of vibranium into myriad costumes. An ensemble that captures this is when a River Tribe elder (Isaach de Bankolé) wears a modern suit by Ghanian-British designer Ozwald Boateng paired with an African lip plate. By balancing African tradition with current Black couture, Carter’s costumes are essential to promoting the film’s message.

Belle de Jour (2018)

For Luis Buñuel’s 1967 film, Belle de Jour, the costuming works to help tell the story of a young, married bourgeois woman, who spends her days as a high-class sex worker while her husband is at work. Catherine Deneuve, who plays Séverine Serizy, is dressed head to toe in Yves Saint Laurent, the couturier responsible for her entire wardrobe. Vogue has described this film as YSL’s “most outstanding contribution to cinema”.

Adapted from the 1928 novel by Joseph Kessel, the costumes capture the duality of the character, who is all at once prudish, erotic, seductive and alluring. The vinyl, black trench coat has now become a cult classic, making its way into mainstream fashion; we still see it on the catwalk today. Even the shoes that Deneuve wore for the film, which were part of YSL’s 1965 Spring-Summer collection, were eventually named after the film. Deneuve herself says, “the character’s style really owes a lot to the image that Saint Laurent created”. Though, perhaps it is not only Séverine that should be thanking the Paris designer, but fashion as we know it.

Romeo + Juliet (1996)

Take a closer look at Baz Luhrmann’s reimagining of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. You’ll notice that it’s not all gangsters and glitterati running around fair Verona — well, Venice Beach — but that there are some pretty ostentatious outfits knocking about too.

“There are some pretty ostentatious outfits knocking about too”

For this, we can thank Australian costume designer Kym Barrett, a contemporary of Luhrmann’s wife and two-time Academy Award-winning costumier, Catherine Martin. Initially joining the couple as a wardrobe assistant in Luhrmann’s Strictly Ballroom (1992), Barrett shared the director’s radical vision, as Head of Wardrobe, as they dared to take on — or rather take-over — Shakespeare’s classic romance. From the simple Hawaiian shirt worn by Romeo in the film’s opening scenes, to Tybalt adorned with devil horns at the Capulet Ball. From Mercutio’s sparkling lingerie set, to Juliet’s more modest angel wings. Collaborating with the likes of Prada, Yves Saint Laurent and Dolce & Gabbana, Barrett brings Luhrmann’s screenplay to life, marking his film not only in cinema history, but in fashion history too.

West Side Story (2021)

There is one word that can describe Paul Tazewell’s designs in Spielberg’s remake of the 1961 classic: bursting. The characters burst out of their costumes and the costumes burst off the screen. One might imagine that the best dressed would be the character who presents the most obvious sex appeal, Anita, in her lemon dress lined with blood-red frills. This outfit is present in the film’s most exuberant and carefree number, America, where Tazewell has snuck in an homage to the past, with an ensemble dancer dressed in the famous lilac frock Anita wore in 1961.

Respectful of history, he is not shackled by it. He confidently reverses the colour scheme that represented the warring gangs in 1961, yellow and purple. Now, the latter wear rusty copper waistcoats and it is the former who stroll the streets in a darker palette. Their muscles almost burst out of torn, oil-stained vests. One has the impression that youthful energy might explode at any moment from those fabric confines.

The Incredibles (2004, 2018)

On the surface, it may seem there is little to appreciate in Ralph Egleston and Deanna Marsigliese’s costume designs for the 2004 and 2018 iterations of The Incredibles, at least beyond those incredible (pun-intended) form fitting suits. Yet it’s unsurprising that a film that features such a sassy bite-sized fashion designer as Edna Mode would boast a wealth of fashion secrets. Were you aware that Edna is based on real-life Edith Head, eight-time Oscar winner for her 1950s styles? Egleston took inspiration from Head’s mid-century forms by making the characters’ pieces simple and elegant — you can almost feel Frozone’s smooth periwinkle turtleneck!

“Edna is an ode to fashion, the real heroine dressed to kill”

In animation, there is an unwritten rule that a character must not change appearance too often, lest the changes shatter the audience’s suspension of disbelief. As a result, each costume must pack a punch, and this could not be more true than for the crowning jewels of the films: Edna’s very own outfits. She appears in a dripping satin kimono and a squeaky black beetle suit, among others. Edna is an ode to fashion, the real heroine dressed to kill.

The Great Gatsby (2013)

Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin strike gold again in this film adaptation of The Great Gatsby, again starring Leonardo DiCaprio, alongside Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire, and Joel Edgerton. Winning an Academy Award for Best Costume Design, Martin owes many of her iconic outfits to Prada, Brooks Brothers, and Tiffany & Co. These brands alone symbolise the glitz and glam of both the film and its era.

“Martin’s goal was to modernise and sexualise the roaring twenties”

From Gatsby’s pink suit to Daisy’s diamonds, costumes are essential in differentiating the “old money” from the new. Tom Buchanan (Edgerton) even snidely remarks that the “man in the pink suit went to Oxford”, indicating that an “Oxford man” would never sport such a non-traditional ensemble. While costume historians argue over the lack of authenticity, Martin’s goal was to modernise and sexualise the roaring twenties and the characters who lived them. The costumes perfectly complement the contemporary soundtrack, featuring Lana Del Rey’s ‘Young and Beautiful’, Beyonce’s haunting version of ‘Back to Black’, and Jack White’s equally ethereal cover of ‘Love Is Blindness’.

Back to the Future (1985)

Not many movies cover two distinct decades’ worth of fashion; Back to the Future is a rare find in this regard. When Marty McFly time-travels from 1985 to 1955, he’s wearing Nike trainers, a red puffer vest, and a pair of Levi 501s, all beneath a yellow hazmat suit. Immediately he sticks out, mistaken for a space invader during his first ’50s encounter. When Marty’s mother, Lorraine, meets him, she keeps calling him Calvin because Calvin Klein is “written all over [his] underwear”.

The film’s climax occurs during the Enchantment Under the Sea school dance, where Marty’s parents famously have their first kiss. Lorraine sports a strapless pastel pink dress with a ’50s-style swing skirt, and George, Marty’s father, wears an all-white suit with a black bow tie. Meanwhile, Marty dons a grey blazer and a burgundy tie but accidentally exposes himself as an outsider while playing ‘Johnny B. Goode’. While Back to the Future is not about fashion per se, costuming plays an essential and often-overlooked role in the film’s successful depiction of culture clash.