Fashion Film Faves

There's always something to be said about big screen fashion. This week, Ask Bronny looks at history's most fashionable female film characters.

Fashion and film stars go together like peas and carrots. You'd be naive to think that people watch the Oscars to listen to the everlasting sentimental speeches. Baby, it's all about the fashion. But, while ethereal real-life beauties like Charlize Theron and Hilary Swank go all out to look basically hideous to vie for a little gold statuette, the films that most savvy film-going fashionites remember are the ones where fashion was at least a minor priority.

There have been several films made about the fashion industry in recent history – from Prêt-a-Porter, to The Devil Wears Prada and even Zoolander. But what about those surprising hits, where fashion was supposed to be just an innocent bystander? Where we love the heroine and love her clothes even more, despite the fact that we can’t hope to afford them (and sometimes, in reality, neither could she).

The romantics amongst us fashion-lovers simply adore any films with My Fair Lady style transformations, where a mousy ne'er-do-well is reinvented as a modern Cinderella. Think of Muriel’s Wedding, Clueless and even Princess Diaries. And, while we all want the prince, secretly you know that you wouldn’t mind just keeping the shoes instead.

The following is a list of my five favourite fashionable female film characters:

TIP: Click on the title's for a piccy of our fabulous film fashionista!

Lorelei, Gentleman Prefer Blondes
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes brought the charms of the ultimate bombshell to the world: Ms Marilyn Monroe. Lorelei was the consummate man-eater, a scheming temptress with the original 'ditzy blonde' personality to boot. The film follows a simple tale of a Gold-digging glamour girl, who takes a cruise ship with her friend Dorothy (Jane Russell) to the first fashion capital, Paris. As events unfold and money sources deplete, Lorelei and Dorothy are forced to make ends meet as – you guessed it - showgirls.

Queue the infamous musical number: 'Diamonds are a girl's best friend.' Here Marilyn owns the stage, her buxom goddess figure clad in a strapless red satin gown, with matching gloves and the requisite load of sparkly diamonds. The unforgettable number launched Marilyn’s career and boosted that of another famous fashion icon decades later: Madonna's Material Girl is an unabashed rip-off of 'Diamonds,' a worthy tribute to the most ambitious blonde of them all.

Some critics now view Lorelei's character as perpetuating 'feminist' ideals; a strong, manipulative woman who knows exactly what she wants. What the film also did for women in the 1950s was fuel an obsession for glamour, peroxide, cleavage and – of course – diamonds.

Holly, Breakfast at Tiffany’s
We talk about Audrey Hepburn a lot on AskBronny and with good reason. She is a true film and fashion icon. And never has fashion played a more stylish role then in the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany's. Okay, in the film she might have been a whiney, willowy, waifish failed-actress-come-call-girl, but Holly Golightly did have amazing fashion sense. Which is, perhaps, inevitable when Givenchy is your costume designer! Of course, we all remember that black dress, those pearls, that beehive. Imagine the shock when Audrey strode on out in her black capris! She even made smoking look sexy – [but it's not, it's yucky, unhealthy, expensive and anti-social…].

Sandy, Grease
Never before has a pair of uber figure-hugging black spandex leggings caused such a furore as the pair worn by good-girl-turned-rebel Sandy in Grease (1978). Olivia Newton John spends most of the film sporting a coy Doris Day look in her twin set, hair ribbon and sad puppy-dog eyes. Enter the Bum-chinned wonder boy, Danny (John Travolta) and poor Sandy is fraught because, sigh, it seems he's just too cool for her. With the help of her beauty school drop-out friend and a generous amount of hair spray, Sandy is transformed into a 1950s rock chick. Demonstrating that, underneath every good Aussie girl, is a cheeky little booty shaker.

Vivian, Pretty Woman
Okay, so most of us know that the body on the poster wasn’t even Julia Robert's, but who cares? Pretty Woman (1990) is the story of Vivian, a flame haired hooker from the wrong side of the tracks with a bad blonde wig and thigh-high PVC boots. Suddenly she is 'rescued' by the dashing lawyer Edward (Richard Gere at his steely best) and given free range with an AmEx. First there was that awful episode, where the woman in the stuffy boutique makes her feel small and insignificant. But solace comes in the form of a helpful effeminate bald man, who flicks his fingers and turns her into a real lady.

Remember Vivian in that gorgeous red dress with the unreasonably expensive diamond necklace? What about that brown polka-dot dress with the big white hat that she wore to the races? But the best moment of all, where she went, all-glammed up and unrecognisable, back to that stuffy store where the woman is now just falling over backwards to be of some assistance. Vivian proceeds to tell them about the huge commission they lost by being rude to her: "Big Mistake." Ha Ha!  Justice for all ignored and abused shoppers.

Amelie, Amelie
Amelie (Audrey Tatou) was the slightly strange French waitress who tried to play cupid with other people's hearts, while playing 'Zorro' with her own romantic interest. With her bohemian, red and green hues, amazing décolletage and porcelain skin, Amelie won our hearts and inspired our wardrobes to let in a little more colour. Then there was the Best Bob on the planet, a haircut that suited approximately two people.  

Amelie (2001) might be the only sub-titled chick- flick that your boyfriend will watch, purely because Tatou is in it. Unfortunately she then went on to look like a dowdy dishcloth in the overwhelmingly dull Da Vinci Code. Oh well, we still remember her riding off into the Montmarte sunset on her little scooter, oozing French chic.
      
There are thousands of other fabulous fashion moments in film history and will continue to be, if directors like Sofia Coppola keep making well-dressed epics. And, even if a glamorous girl can't act to save herself, at least there will still be something worth watching for future wardrobe reference.