Inspired by our favorite fall movies, their iconic wardrobes, and the art of bringing them into your everyday style.
All too often, great costume design goes underappreciated in movies and TV. Often, great stories not only propel actors to stardom and capture the hearts of the public, but they also send shockwaves through the world of fashion. They inspire mass adoption of patterns like plaid and animal print, give us more layering than we knew what to do with, and make sure that Wednesdays always have us reaching for our pinks.
So, this week we thought it only right to give out some flowers. These movies told much of their story by how they dressed their cast, unintentionally birthing trends and styling their fans in the process. Let’s look into what some of our favorite characters were able to say through sequins and not sentences, and how we can apply it to our own wardrobes.
Our Favorite Fashion Movies
This week we are focusing on the fashion of five movies, Clueless — 1995, Mean Girls — 2004, Edward Scissorhands — 1990, The Cheetah Girls — 2003, and B.A.P.S. — 1997. These movies tell a story through their fashion and stand out for fall styling tips. Keeping your wardrobe interesting in the fall becomes hard, everything needs a jacket or maybe a couple of layers. Using these movies we are going to translate the costume design from these iconic movies to your everyday fall wardrobe.
Clueless — 1995
Set in Beverly Hills, 1995’s Clueless feels as good a place as any to start. An adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma, the movie follows Cher Horowitz as she navigates Bronson Alcott High School. And while Cher and her matchmaking schemes drive the movie, someone else stole the show for us: her best friend, Ms. Dionne Davenport. Played by Stacey Dash, Dionne serves as Cher's right-hand woman through most of the film. Their coordinated outfits showcase some of the best work of costume designer Mona May. The pair always match in their preppy schoolgirl plaids and pleats. But for this movie we really want to focus on the power of a good accessory. Because, I mean, look at Dionne’s Hat!
Constructed by KOKIN, Dionne’s black, red, and white flower hat is a showstopper unto itself. Stark colors top a vinyl brim (matching her blazer’s lapels), and the hat is just as courageous as its wearer. Dionne who could have easily fallen into the shadow of being the token black sidekick, but through opening the movie with that bold styling choice Dionne's character identity becomes just as recognizable as her counterpart Cher. She told us as much with the hat: She is bold and not afraid to make a scene.
A good accessory should work to function within the outfit as a whole. From their colors to their materials, the accessory and outfit mirror one another, building their cohesiveness and strengthening the look overall. So, when choosing your own accessories, consider them in terms of what they do for everything else you’re wearing.
Mean Girls — 2004
Of course, we all knew I’d eventually bring up Mean Girls, the article's title is inspired by it. Written by theTina Fey and starring Lindsay Lohan, the movie released in late spring 2004. Through her and her team’s work, costume lead Mary Jane Fort helped define how an entire generation dressed. To create a foundation for the cast’s look, Fort and her team scraped countless high school yearbooks and teen magazines to predict future trends, while also looking back to older eras when dressing your best for school was expected. The result was timeless costuming that communicates the high school experience no matter when you watch the film or when you graduated.
And if we’re talking about iconic fashion and hallmarks of high school, we have to talk about Queen Bee, Regina George. Regina has maintained her reign over North Shore High School. This is reflected in her ability to constantly turn out the best looks in school while always returning to her comfort color of pink.
The major styling pull we took from mean girls is styling different shades of pink with fall plaids. It's seen throughout the movie and is honestly a lot more effective to an outfit than it sounds. Fall fashion always seems to go mute when it comes to color, but the plastics choice to keep pink in the rotation no matter what season shows that you can create trends, not just follow the ones already set in place. We want to see everybody wearing color with their fall plaids this season.
Edward Scissorhands — 1990
And while we’re on the topic of doing the most with a single color, let's look into the doom and gloom of Edward Scissorhands for what bright nuggets we can find. The 1990s main character, courtesy of Tim Burton, was costumed and brought to life by designer Colleen Atwood. There are plenty of reasons why the movie is so memorable throughout generations, one reason being Johnny Depp with blades for fingers. At GCA our most memorable aspect of the movie was the monochromatic palette of the neighborhood characters. In essence it was encapsulating the sheep like mentality of modern day suburbia but also it was striking and dominating. . Using a single color throughout an outfit can give it a certain confidence—more presence through a lack of variation. In denying the eye a break from a single color, monochromatic outfits can draw attention to virtues besides color.
Much like Edward himself, the all-black outfit demands that you look past your initial impression to receive all that it has to offer. Add this to your styling pantry! Fall reds, oranges, and browns pair beautifully with themselves.
Cheetah Girls — 2003
Continuing forward on our movie timeline, we can’t pass 2003 without mentioning The Cheetah Girls. The aforementioned movie became the highest-rated premiere for a Disney Channel Original Movie at the time, and its soundtrack went double platinum.
So how did this mesh of song, script, and style come together?
In the same way Cheetah Girls songwriter, Galleria, comes up with her outfits. By being resourceful. It is by no means new ground to say the group, and by extension the movie, were heavily influenced by Destiny’s Child. From their sound to their personal dynamics, they served as spiritual older sisters for our girls in cheetah print. And like all younger sisters, the Cheetah Girls “borrowed” what they liked from their closet. Their penchant for mixing patterns and distributing proportions across the group is almost a direct homage to the original four women from Houston, Texas.
The Cheetah Girls took these concepts and expanded on them. They used different proportions to individualize each member, while spreading unique (usually animal-printed) patterning across all four girls, making them look like they belong together. Their outfits are strong on their own, but together the effect is incredible because the patterns play off one another, producing stunning four-person looks.
Add to this their rainbow of velour tracksuits, some furs just because, and the Cheetah girl’s aesthetic is born. And luckily for us, faux animal print is timeless, our Cheetah sisters just gave us ways to think outside of the box when styling them. When deciding what to wear, you don’t need to stay loyal to one aesthetic. Most good art is inspired by tons of different places, and you can do the same with the way you dress.
B.A.P.S. — 1997
Can we be honest with you real quick? One movie’s worth of cheetah print isn’t enough. It’s just not and we don't feel like that statement needs to be explained further . Luckily, the movie B.A.P.S. will let us stick to that animal style. Featuring Halle Berry and Natalie Desselle-Reid, dressed by two-time Academy Award-winning Ruth E. Carter, BAPS is over the top and stays that way through its hour-and-a-half runtime. Huge hair, out-of-pocket jokes, and hijinks; one of these three is on screen at any given moment. And to round it out, you’ve got the outfits. This movie tells you what it is immediately.
B.A.P.S. which stands for Black American Princesses features the two main actresses on the cover wearing our favorite outfits from the whole movie. Nisi in her creamsicle orange and Mickey in her yellow and cheetah. And, no, I did not forget the cheetah print. Mickey’s yellow out encapsulates the movie's core themes. In the midst of high society’s pressure to conform, she is not afraid to rock what looks great. The print adds texture; it is timeless, and it lends confidence to the wearer. Not to mention, they go great with any color, which Mickey clearly knows, pairing the bright yellow trim with bright yellow pumps.
Your Turn
Now that we’ve taken a look at some of the most memorable movie wardrobes, we want to hear from you.
Which of these movies has your favorite wardrobe styling? And what iconic movies come to mind when you think of fall fashion?
Head over to the GCA Instagram page and drop your answers in the comments on our October 4th post. We want to know what movies are shaping your fall mood board.
@GemCulturalAgency
Co-Writers & Editors
Moremi Gbayisomore & Brian King
Written and edited by the GCA team.