Films Where Fashion Became the Star
For the most part, the costuming in films is just another facet of the movie. The actors appear in the scene in their character garb, they say their lines, and the film progresses along on its merry way. The clothes, like the sets or the props, usually go unnoticed; they are only there to enhance the plot or the character.
Films About Fashion
There are movies that changed fashion, and then there are movies about fashion. Every scene being a designer moment, you can call these movies little guilty pleasures of the chick-flick class. Whatever. They are fun to watch even if they aren’t necessarily highbrow. Got a Sunday afternoon with nothing to do? These are the films to hunker down to while dreaming of being a fashionista.
Left to right: Sex and the City (2008); The Devil Wears Prada (2006); and Clueless (1995).
Every once in a while though, a film comes along where these secondary elements actually stand out, making the audience pay more attention to them than they would normally. That’s when you have scene stealers. As follows on these pages is a selection of films where the clothes really stole the show.