Fashions News

Keira Knightley as Cecelia Tallis in Atonement (2007)The greatest movie costume of all time? That seems a precipitous judgment for a movie that came out a few months before the voting. But there's no question that Knightley's green satin halter gown, gathered and wrapped at the waist and ending in a long train, has a rapturous effect — both on the young man (James McAvoy) who sees her in it and on the movie audience. Jacqueline Durran, who also clothed Knightley in Pride and Prejudice, is the costume designer here.

Marilyn Monroe as the Girl in The Seven Year Itch (1955)The billowy skirt of Monroe's white halter dress didn't ride up quite so high in the movie as it did in this famous production still. The scene, with Tom Ewell admiring his dream girl's pleasure at a blast of air through the subway grate, was originally shot near Grand Central Terminal, then reshot on a soundstage. The 20th Century Fox costume designer, William Travilla, dressed Monroe in eight of her movies, but never more memorably than here. Note Marilyn's high heels. Any Manhattan woman would tell you to avoid grates while wearing them.


Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)They were a perfect match: Audrey Hepburn and Hubert de Givenchy, the Paris couturier who dressed that slim figure, framed that gorgeous face, in high fashion throughout her unique movie career. In Tiffany's, set in New York City, Givenchy poured her into a basic black dress with long black gloves, draped her with five rows of jewels and topped it off with a mini-tiara. An ideal ensemble for the movies' perfect princess.

Olivia Newton-John as Sandy Olsson in Grease (1978)Rock and roll is here to stay! The sweet little girl at Rydell High busts out of her prudishness and into a low-cut top and skin-tight Lycra pants with a jeweled buckle. The costumes for this 50-set retro-musical were by Albert Wolsky who won Oscars for All That Jazz and Bugsy. In this photo, Olivia may be a doll who could incite any rumble, but, really, don't your eyes fasten on the young John Travolta, that angel in black?

Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt in Titanic (1997)In the meeting of the plutocracy and the common folks, first-class passenger Rose visits third-class Jack (Leonard DiCaprio) to kick off her shoes and kick up her heels. Costume designer Deborah L. Scott came up with a gown that crossed class boundaries, the flair of the orange underskirt upstaging the dark dress with subtle paillette ornamental work. Later, the movie would jettison all couture distinctions as the Titanic began its long, slow sinking.


Diane Keaton as Annie Hall from Annie Hall (1977)In a man's shirt, tie, vest and khaki chinos, Diane Keaton counts on the femininity of her face and long hair to announce that she still enjoys being a girl. The costume designer for this Woody Allen Oscar winner was Ruth Morley, but we believe that Annie's outfit came from Keaton's own wardrobe.

Nicole Kidman as Satine in Moulin Rouge! (2001)Star of the Moulin Rouge night club, the dancer-prostitute Satine lounges on a swing above the crowd. Her circus-aerialist bustier is fronted with a bow-tie bodice; a top hat frames her pale face. Production and costume designer Catherine Martin, the wife of director Baz Luhrmann, gorgeously realized this dream of love and lust set to pop music.

Liza Minnelli as Sally Bowles in Cabaret (1972)The stark drama of this bisexual ensemble — a bowler hat and vest (with no shirt) atop hot pants, garters, stockings and boots — was heightened by its blackness against Minnelli's ultra-white skin and siren-red lipstick. To achieve the authentic look of pre-Hitler Berlin's "divine decadence," director-choreographer Bob Fosse chose a German production designer and costumer. Charlotte Flemming had grown up in the Weimer Berlin of the movie's setting and spent her entire career in the German film industry. She never "went Hollywood." Minnelli, of course, was born there, the daughter of Judy Garland and director Vincente Minnelli.

Cate Blanchett as Queen Elizabeth in Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)Part mannequin, part bird, Elizabeth lords it over the Court in her brocaded brilliance, her powdered white face topped by egret plumes. Costume designer Alexandra Byrne often revives glamorous golden ages: old Denmark in Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet, 19th century England in the BBC adaptation of Jane Austen's Persuasion and the sepulchral Paris of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera.

Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind (1939)In one of her many sexual debates with Clark Gable's Rhett Butler, Scarlett's dialogue says 'No no', but her dress says 'Come here, you great brute!' A lot of period research, and even more glamour, went into this red velvet robe with a scoop neckline and black belt accentuating Leigh's slim waist. The GWTW costumes were by Walter Plunkett, who took full advantage of the rich tones in the new Technicolor process. This gown has a sultry palette no man could resist. Certainly not Rhett, who takes one look, sweeps Scarlett into his arms and carries her upstairs for some magnificent lovemaking.