The Most iconic fashion moments in film (Pulp Fiction, Blade Runner etc)

Not too long ago I created a post that specifically looked at the fashion in iconic 90's films and TV shows such as Clueless, Romeo and Juliet and Empire Records. It's unquestionable that the 90's was truly one of the best decades for film fashion however, I thought for this post I would explore a lot further and look at the film industry on a whole at some of the best outfits of all time across the different decades. Obviously some of these films were still created in the 90's so I do apologise for slightly going into that era again but with fashion moments like Mia Wallace's dance scene with Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction and Julia Robert's unforgettable fashion in Pretty Woman, the 90's topic is unavoidable!


Mia Wallace in Pulp Fiction
The outfit worn my Mia Wallace completely and utterly symbolises her character in the film and I am pretty sure is one that you may or may not have contemplated stealing for your Halloween costume. Although Wallace is a fierce, bold character which is represented by her combination of a masculine tailored blouse and black cropped pants, the costumer designer Betsy Heimann also wanted to communicate a vision of Wallace being a 'do not touch' item since her husband was not the man to mess with in the film. However, with the suppressed waist and harsh unbuttoned design Heimann was able to translate an essence of seduction sex appeal and a bad girl vibe Wallace's look. Arguably, you could even suggest that Wallace was the true Femme Fatale of the 90's film industry due to her hypnotic connection with John Travolta's character Vincent Vega.




Pretty Woman
Julia Robert's style in the 1990 film 'Pretty Woman' simply embraces everything the title intended to represent. From her polka dot dress to this stunning blushing red ball gown, Robert's wardrobe signifies the image of a young girl embracing her femininity and becoming a woman in a far fetched manner ofcourse because what other plot could turn prostitution into a fairy-tale storyline. Some may argue that certain choices of outfits were hideous and some may say that Vivian's attire was truly spectacular. One thing is for sure is that it was memorable in its own way and definitely counts as one of the most iconic fashion moments in film history and a role that put Robert's on Hollywood's A List for life.


Blade Runner

Ridley Scott's Blade Runner epitomizes the concept of the dystopian future and cult noir film fashion in a weirdly wonderful way. Sean Young who plays Rachael wears this iconic fur coat on the streets of LA which is set in the year 0f 2019.  However, one thing that is clear is that although the fashion is meant to be set in the future, there is a key mash up of 80's style which communicate a sort of retro-futuristic look. Even the power suit worn by Rachael represents an element of retrospective fashion due to the bold large shoulder pads and tailoring which in 2016 and three years away from 2019, we are yet to see the return of.

Atonement

If there is one dress that has sparked a craze within the world of fashion and film, it is this emerald green dress worn by Keira Knightly in the 2007 film 'Atonement'. Although the dress which was infamously worn in the library scene of the 1930's set film, missed out on winning an academy award, it was voted the best costume of all times by Sky Movies. Not only is this dress designed by the costumer designer Jacqueline Durran a complete work of art, but it is also so fittingly to the narrative of the film with an element of old Hollywood fashion at the same time. The colour green arguably symbolises both Cecilia’s mood at the onset of the dinner party and her sister Briony’s envy which ultimately led to others and her downfall in life. The colour also arguably represents Cecilia’s cursed existence later on in the film.

Lolita
Although the plot of Lolita, just like Pretty Woman, was insanely far fetched and in this specific films case a little uncomfortable, the fashion worn by the main character, Lolita is memorable for it's symbolism of young girls aspiring to be older and throwing away their youth. Although the film caused quite a lot of controversy due to its sexualisation of a young girl which was based on the original 1955 novel by Vladimir Nabokov, the movie has since had great influence in forming the Lolita style movement in Japan. This Japanese style consists of grown women taking on board a child-like hyperreal style and gives connotations of inappropriate child adult relationships. However, deviation away from such serious themes, realistically in Japan, the Lolita style is more about covering up than exposing inappropriate flesh to others. It is also about escapism and self-determination in the Japanese society where gender codes are arguably stricter than other western societies. Therefore, the Lolita style represents a more 'dressing up box' style rather than the expected outrageous, unfitting style for an underage girl that we seen in the film.



Annie Hall

As for 'Annie Hall', the fashion in this 1977 film is a real representation of the formation of androgynous gender fashion in the seventies and women becoming more assertive and expressive over their lifestyle, attitudes and choices of clothing which the character of Annie signifies extremely well. It was even believed that the role of Annie Hall was created specifically for Keaton to play as they both shared traits of being articulate, serious career goals of being a singer and she even the clothing worn in the film were outfits from her own wardrobe. Her eccentric menswear style consisting of vintage men's clothing, baggy trousers, pantsuits and fedora hat's which became a huge trend for women after the films release.



The Great Gatsby
If there is one film that was able to translate the glamour, fabulousness and art décor style of the 1920's onto our screens, it was definitely Baz Luhrmann's 2013 adaptation of F.Scott Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby'. With eccentric pearl embellishments, flapper girl style and rich fabrics of velvets, silk, satins, the film exemplifies everything about American society before the great depression of the 30's when individuals had disposable income that they could by material goods to express themselves with to indicate their levels of prosperity.