Part 3, My fashion inspriation - Iris Apfel

 

So far, I've noticed my style inspiration has abeen women who we would consider clsssically beautiful. - Marilyn Monroe and Kate Moss are considered some of the most beautiful women of their time. However,  style and classic beauty don't necessarily go hand in hand. You can be the most stylish person in the room and not be classically beautiful. Beauty isn't always about the golden ratio and the 'perfect face'. Beauty comes from knowing yourself, being comfortable in your skin. However, great style is certainly about aesthetics. While 'ugly fashion' is certainly a thing, (think crocs, socks and sandals, geek chic, mum jeans and dad trainers), fashion in general, is about the beautiful and looking good. And style is no different.

Part 3 of my style inspo series is going to look at one woman who might not have Kate Moss's bone structure, or Marilyn Monroe's sexy vulnerability and classic beauty, But Iris Apfel has more style than all the women on my list put together. For me, Iris Apfel's style radiates it's own perfection. One of the main reasons I love Iris's style, is that she loves a good accessory as much as I do. Sure, her clothes are bold and she puts things together in a way I could never imagine doing - she's one of those people who can clash prints perfectly, in that Miu Miu way that I seem to struggle with = but Iris clearly loves her jewellery and her glasses - and as such, is a woman after my own heart. If I could spend a day poking around Iris's jewellery collection, I would be one happy, shiny magpie.  Just don't ask her what her favourite accessory is. When one fashion journalist dared raise the subject, she was rebuffed immediately, "Why do you fashion people always ask that question? I have several accessories, I couldn’t pick just one! It’s like asking me ‘Who is your favourite child?’

In a paean to Iris on her 99th birthday, journalist Kettj Talon wrote: "Mrs Apfel's style is unconventional, eccentric, excessive, bold, layered, coloruful, baroque. Dressing for Iris is a process of jazz improvisation. Following only her rhythm and attitude, Iris is a master at mixing pieces found in flea markets with others of haute couture. Her outfits are a free combination of eras, cultures, made of everything she loves: bracelets, bright colours, bold prints, Balenciaga, Dries Van Noten, Oscar de la Renta, marabou feathers, furs, plastic jewellery, ethnic garments, denim,  Her motto? "Forget the rules, if you like it wear it.""

Iris celebrating her 99th birthday. She is due to celebrate her 100th this month

Iris Apfel turns 100 next month and is considered one of the most stylish women in the world. Unconventional, eccentric, excessive, Iris has subverted every rule, destroying stereotypes and taboos about age, showing that to become an 'It girl' you don't need to be in your twenties, but, above all, that getting old doesn't necessarily mean mortifying yourself and dressing frumpily. Quite the opposite. The only important thing is to stay true to yourself - a mantra Iris repeats over and over.

Whereas most 'It' girls have faded into obscurity well before their first wrinkle (largely because, sadly, the media has little interest in women of a certain age),. but Iris has her own view on the subject, commenting, “If you can’t be pretty, you have to learn to make yourself attractive. I found that all the pretty girls I went to high school with came to middle age as frumps, because they just got by with their pretty faces, so they never developed anything. They never learned how to be interesting. But if you are bereft of certain things, you have to make up for them in certain ways. Don’t you think?”

Iris's style is immediately recognisable. Although a fashion icon, she is no fashion victim. Iris has always dressed in her own style and to her own taste. With her shock of white hair, ginormous black round rimmed glasses and bold lipstick and nails her beauty regime appears as the only constant, because  her outfits take in everything from the baroque to renaissance art, bright bold clashing colours are common and then there's the jewellery I already mentioned. With her more is more attitude, Jewish New Yorker Iris style manages to look perfectly styled even though her outfits are usually utterly extravagant and completely mad. Iris looks like she's rolled naked around every floor in MoMA, clothing herself in every great genre of art from contemporary to ethnic to classical , and then dived headfirst into Aladdins Cave and come up trumps. Her outfits are truly inspirational.

Iris and her hustand, Carl, in 1947

But from the beginning, who is she, and how did the fame start?

Iris worked her life as an Interior Designer with her husband, Carl, the love of her life and partner for over 70 years til the day he died. They set up their own successful textile company and designing for the Kennedy's as well as a contract with the White House that spanned 9 presidencies. She did not become famous til her mid 80s, when when the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art showed her wardrobe in an exhibit called Rara Avid (Rare Bird): The Irreverent Iris Apfel.  Self deprecatingly, she calls herself a "geriatric starlet". But really she is also a world-famous fashion icon, a regular front-row guest at fashion shows. She has over a million followers on Instagram where she shows off her different outfits in her extravagantly styled apartment. - an apartment that's chock-full of European antiques she's collected on her travels, clashing fabrics, eclectic artwork and racks and racks of her extensive clothing and accessory collections. Architectural Digest's peek inside her home is nothing short of fascinating.

In a recent interview, Iris gave her own take on beauty and style, commenting they were all about individuality and confidence:

“Nothing exists in a vacuum, so of course style and beauty are connected. There's all kinds of beauty – savage beauty, sweet beauty, artificial beauty, even sexy beauty. But it’s all about point of view. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder – every culture has its standards of beauty, and those standards change with time. What some tribes consider beautiful we would consider hideous, and vice versa. And when we look back on styles from the past, sometimes we think “ugh, awful,” and at other times we think “how beautiful.” If everybody thought the same thing was beautiful all the time, it would be pretty awful!

“Beauty is largely in your head. When you’re somebody who’s not a natural beauty, but you're attractive, it’s about smoke and mirrors in a way. There are certain things I know look more attractive on me than others, and certain ways that my hair looks better. If you spend a little time on yourself, you usually get results. And confidence is very important. No matter how pretty you are, if you look ill at ease in your own skin, then you're not going to look so beautiful. I think serenity can be a large part of someone’s beauty.

When it comes to clothes, Iris stauncly beleives style has nothing to do with money:

When asked if it is possible to buy style, Iris responded "Style has nothing to do with money. It's a matter of attitude. The most stylish people I ever saw were in Naples right after the Second World War. They were really threadbare but put themselves together with so much dash, like placing a flower in the buttonhole of a tattered suit."

"I like simple, architectural clothes. With accessories, you can make 50 outfits. I learned that from my mother because I was a child of the Depression."

Most importantly Style is not about what you wear, but how you wear it:

“Style is not about wearing expensive clothes. You can have all kinds of money and have no style at all. You can be dressed in the latest couture, shod in ten-thousand-dollar shoes and be baubled to the nines, and look like a Christmas tree. It’s not what you wear but how you wear it.

Iris Apfel immortalised at 96 with her own image Barbie weraing a copy of her green Gucci suit and oversized glasses

“I’m just as happy to wear bangles that cost me three dollars as I am to wear valuable pieces — and I like to mix high and low, putting things together to wear as the spirit moves me. When you try to hard to have style, you look uncomfortable, like you’re wearing a costume, like the clothes are entering the room before you do. If you’re uptight, you won’t be able to carry off even a seemingly perfect outfit. If that’s happening, I say abandon the whole thing. It’s better to be happy than well dressed.”

While I admire Iris' ability to clash patterns and colours, she would be a pretty difficult style inspiration for someone who lives in black - you would think. But Iris does do black. we have witnessed many occasions where the style star chooses black instead. She, of course, has a range of jet-black jewellery to throw on, but when it comes to wearing darker clothes, her outlook revolves around texture, texture and more texture. Think embroidery, Mongolian lambswool, beading, fur, leather and silks.

Similarly, one might consider such a conoisseur of fashion, too high-brow to wear jeans. Not Iris. In fact, Iris counts herself as one of the first women to interpret the humble worker's trouser into her wardrobe.Iris had a lot to say about the garment when talking to Architectural Digest in 2011: "Have you seen the prices? Scandalous. I mean, yes, if they are embroidered or beaded or made special in some divine way, but honestly, jeans are jeans. I live in them most of the time, but I had a helluva time getting a pair of jeans around 1940, when I was at the University of Wisconsin. I thought I'd wear jeans, a turban, and some old earrings. So I went to an Army-Navy store, but you have to remember, back in those days, all the men in Wisconsin were the size of Paul Bunyan. Then the salesman told me, 'young ladies don't wear jeans.' He wouldn't sell me any or have them cut down. So I kept going back to the store, and they kept throwing me out, so to get rid of me, they finally ordered me some boys' jeans. I love men's jeans; they fit me better."

On style today Apfel had this to say. “In New York you can almost tell a person’s zip code by the way they dress. People say they want to look different but they all want to be in a pack… God put you on the earth as an individual, not as a pack-member.”

So who does the World's Greatest Style Icon consider stylish? No-one young today, according to one interview, but she did profess to admire several ladies once. Iris has never followed the rules of fashion and always dressed following only her instinct and personal taste, but, besides her mother, there are three muses that have influenced Apfel's style with their unique and unconventional attitude: Pauline de Rothschild, Millicent Rogers and Elsie de Wolfe aka Lady Mendl, socialite and the first woman interior designer in history.

Speaking on how to develope your own personal style, she says the key is to put in effort. “First of all it’s work. You have to know who you are. You have to know yourself,” she says. “You have to know what you can pull off, what you feel comfortable with, what you can afford; all of that and work accordingly,” adding that doing your research is crucial. “Look at a lot of magazines, shops, other people, hone your eye and decide what you like.”

Ultimately Iris's attitude is to keep your youthful wonder and not take yourself or fashion too seriously:

"When you get older, as I often paraphrase an old family friend, if you have two of anything, chances are one of them is going to hurt when you get up in the morning. But you have to get up and move beyond the pain. If you want to stay young, you have to think young. Having a sense of wonder, a sense of humour, and a sense of curiosity — these are my tonic.

They keep you young, childlike, open to new people and things, ready for another adventure. I never want to be an old fuddy-duddy; I hold the self-proclaimed record for being the World’s Oldest Living Teenager and I intend to keep it that way.”

Iris also maintains a healthy perspective, not one to starve herself into the latest fashions : “I think being happy is much more important. I mean, if you’re plump and you like willowy-looking clothes then…starving yourself is not pleasant. Just forget about those clothes. Clothes are not the most important thing in the world,” Apfel says. “Dressing up should be a joyful, fun experience for yourself… for some people it’s an easy job and for other people it’s a chore. And if you look up-tight and you’re unhappy with it then I think it’s better to look like everybody else than be unhappy.” 

When asked what style mantra she lived by, Iris answered, 

I don’t live by style, I have a lot of other things to live by. I don’t have any mantras, I don’t have any rules, I dress the way I please and I do what I please and I do everything for my good. I don’t intellectualise it or make up rules and regulations.

Spoken like a true style icon. Happy Birthday Iris!!!

The People Who Inspired My Style; From My Mother to Madonna (Part 2)

 In my last few posts I have been looking at fashion inspiration and thinking about who, over the years, has inspired me. Over the years my own personal style has remained relatively steady, in that I've not swung from being a goth to dressing like I work in a bank. There are definitely items in my wardrobe, that are 30 years old, and if they still fitted me, I'd still be wearing them! I've always loved the fashions of the '60s and '70s, and other than a brief interest in 1950s Americana when I was about 11 (think full circle skirts, ballet pumps and tight tops - I blame it on watching too many episodes of Happy Days), my style has always gone back to a love of those two decades, with a hefty pinch of whatever decade I'm passing through at the time. But how do we come to dress like we do? What informs our style?

1950s Happy Days style

When I was in the sixth form, I had a friend who would come in every day dressed in a completely different style. One day, she'd be full on decked out in hip hop gear - adidas tracksuits and big gold hoops, the next day she'd come in dressed as a Chelsea Queen in preppie Ralph Lauren with a jumper slung over her shoulders. Whatever style she chose she always perfected it to the minutest detail, and I always thought she rocked her looks. There was a lot of sniggering behind her back though - that she was 'inauthentic', 'dressing up' 'didn't know who she was'.  But when you think about it - isn't that part of growing up? We'll call her 'Alex' - Alex's experimentation to me was just her getting to know what she liked and expressing that through her fashion. Any anyway, isn't fashion meant to be fun?

And whose personality is that staid? One day you might wake up and feel like a rock star and dig out your PVC trousers and a t-shirt. Another day if the sun is shining and your serotonin flowing, you might want to wear something floaty and flowery. Equally eclectic and divergent are the style icons who influenced and informed my own style over the years. 

In part 1, I looked at 90s fashion icon Kate Moss and 60s rock god and his muse, Jim Morrison and Pamela Courson whose laid back rock'n'roll vibes influenced a generation. In Part 2, I will go back to the '80s, when Marilyn Monroe and Madonna were the strong female that inspired this young girl. And in the case of Marilyn Monroe, it's proof that it's not all about the clothes, but the unique and irreplaceable aura that she imbued.

Marilyn Monroe

When I say that Marilyn Monroe inspired my style, I don't mean that at age 12 I started bleaching my hair and wearing evening dresses to school, what I mean is that I was fascinated by her glamour, her aura, her iconic and immediately recognisable style. I would watch all her movies  - Some Like It Hot and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes being favourites - devour books on her, collect memorabilia - I even had an album of her songs. And it wasn't just me - many of my friends were equally obsessed. Marilyn Monroe is a right of passage for many young girls (and boys) growing up. She is a pop culture phenomenon. But she was also a fashion revolutionary in her time that still inspires today.

The influence she has had on popular culture is simply immeasurable. Like other legends of her time, such as James Dean and Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe fascinated the masses with her sensuous, glamorous good looks, and her classic movie star appeal.

Marilyn's at home style was much more laid back and classix

Whether it was due to her tragically young death,, her beauty, her work or her charisma, Marilyn’s legend extended far beyond the time of her passing, at the early age of 36. Films such as Gentleman Prefer Blondes, The Seven Year Itch, and How to Marry a Millionaire were among her most mainstream film roles, and they were also her most famous. She later appeared in hits like Some Like it Hot and Let’s Make Love and the Misfits, which further secured her historical spot on the Hollywood starlet map.

Marilyn essentially invented the bombshell. In the 1950’s when her career exploded, her image was viewed as vulgar and offensive by many. Her barely-there outfits, her breathy voice and blatant sexuality were seen as highly improper.

Monroe used it to her advantage, knowing full well that it would set her apart and get her more work. Little did she know it would totally transform American culture. Marilyn Monroe single-handedly made it OK to be sexually attractive. Her image has since become an icon of femininity and sexuality.

She embraced her curvaceous figure, highlighted her assets and minimised her flaws. In using her body as a tool, she mixed sex and fashion yielding the image we know today.

Marilyn Monroe’s style lessons extend further than how to wear figure-hugging gowns and platinum-blonde hair. The actress’s beguiling take on fashion altered Hollywood as she knew it: in an era of prim Peter Pan collars and stiff petticoats, she made it acceptable for women to embrace their own sexuality.

Monroe in her green Pucci dress

”She knew exactly how to get the effect she wanted with black jersey, fine silk-crepe or a solid nimbus of skintight sequins’‘ according to Meredith Etherington-Smith, ex-editor of Paris Vogue. She worked closely with some of the costume designers from her films to create looks for herself off-camera. She found little known designers and propelled them to fame by wearing their designs (Ferragamo, Gucci, Oleg Cassini, Emilio Pucci, etc.) She even stole ideas from other milieus and used them to her advantage, such as wearing a thong under a dress to eliminate panty-lines, after having seen the garments at a burlesque show.

She was a fashion visionary who brought body-conscious clothing to the masses. We owe her much more than we think, her influence is immeasurable.

Traces of her signature aesthetic can be glimpsed throughout the history of pop culture, with fans as illustrious as Madonna having imitated Monroe's style. For the singer’s Material Girl music video in 1984, she even replicated the strapless satin pink sheath and evening gloves worn by the starlet in the 1953 film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

Whether it’s a shade of platinum, a bold red lip or a plunging neckline, countless celebrities continue to mimic Marilyn Monroe’s fashion, heightening their own sensuality in the process.

Marilyn’s ability to spot up-and-coming designers made her a fashion visionary.

Before they were household names, she wore Ferragamo pumps, carried Louis Vuitton bags, and donned the designs of Norman Norell, and Lanvin. On film, Marilyn was dressed exquisitely by Oscar-winning designers Jean Louis, Orry Kelly and William Travilla, who dressed Monroe in eight of her films.

Monroe’s eye for fashion was innate. She often adapted dresses to suit her shape, as well as to enhance her effervescent persona. After choosing an emerald green Norman Norell dress for the 1962 Golden Globes, she had a halter-neck strap attached to give her silhouette maximum impact.

“She [always] knew exactly how to get the effect she wanted with black jersey, fine silk crepe or a solid nimbus of skintight sequins’’, said Meredith Etherington-Smith, Paris Vogue’s former London Editor. 

Although Monroe sang about diamonds being a girl’s best friend, she rarely adorned herself in ostentatious jewellery, opting instead to let her dresses – and her shape – command the spotlight.

Renowned for favouring Emilio Pucci dresses and blouses, Monroe was often photographed in the label’s striking prints and shades. Yet it was a much-adored apple-green shift that exemplified her relationship with the fashion house.She even left explicit instructions to her long time make-up artist and friend, Allan 'Whitey' Snyder, to ensure she be buried in the dress and that he do her make-up as only he knew how.

 Travilla created some of the most recognisable movie costumes of all time for her. She became his muse and even for a brief time, his lover. “Marilyn has the most fantastically perfect figure in the world,” he told Screen Life in 1954. “No matter how you dress her, she looks sexy.”

Monroe in her knife pleat gold lame Travilla dress

Marilyn wore another creation by William Travilla at an awards reception when she was named ‘Fastest Rising Star of 1952’. As has happened in the past, her choice of attire overshadowed the event. The dress was made from knife-pleated gold lamé, with a halter neckline and style lines that are somewhat Egyptian.

The entire gown was created from ‘one complete circle of fabric’. The authors of Marilyn in Fashion, Christopher Nickens and George Zeno, write: “By twenty-first century standards, the dress seems tame (especially since the neckline had been altered upwards several inches for this event), but it was so tight Monroe had to be sewn into it. That, combined with her sexy walk, created pandemonium at the award presentation.”

“When she wiggled through the audience to come to the podium,” wrote columnist James Bacon, “her derriere looked like two puppies fighting under a silk sheet.”

One of her most recognisable looks is from a scene she shot in the film The Seven Year Itch. The famous image of Marilyn Monroe from the ‘subway’ scene, when the subway rattles beneath her, Marilyn stands over a vent that swirls her skirt around her waist. In Marilyn in Fashion, the authors write: “The photographic images from that night continue to be some of the most reproduced in history. The white halter dress she wore became an instant iconic fashion symbol. 

Monroe in her famous 'subway' dress

Paired with her blonde curls, bright red lipstick, dramatic eyelashes, and high-arched brows, Marilyn created a signature look all on her own, which she is still recognised for today. It is both classic and unique, and will forever be identified as “the” Monroe style.

The images from the subway shoot struck a nerve immediately upon publication and signalled Monroe’s ascension to pop culture queen. Even in the midst of the buttoned-down 1950s, few could resist the unique combination of creamy beauty, sexual allure, and playfulness that Monroe conveyed so naturally in this scene and the photographs it generated. (This shoot was one of the first in which a major star’s exposed panties were showing in mainstream studio publicity).”

Nowadays, overt sexuality in Hollywood and throughout pop culture is barely new nor exciting. But in the early 1950s, it was revolutionary for a woman to celebrate and accentuate her feminine shape. Without Marilyn Monroe’s style lessons, the landscapes of contemporary fashion and film wouldn't be the same.

Madonna's early 80s look was accessible and easily copied

Early Madonna

When it comes to stylish pop culture icons, few come close to Madonna. After all, if there could be one word to describe the singer, it would be “chameleon.” With a career that spans four decades, Madonna’s style has constantly changed with the times. In the process, she has created an endless list of trends among her loyal fans.

Madonna has packaged and repackaged herself many times during her lengthy and illustrious career. Her influence as a fashion leader has been consistent from the very beginning of her career. Her style has been watched and followed from the first moment she appeared on MTV. In my case, it was Top of the Pops.

Madonna incorporated punk-influenced styles, such as the heavy makeup, fishnet tights and rubber bracelets, which blurred the line between pop and rebellion, one of the keys to her phenomenal success. In 1984 Madonna blurred this line further as she shocked audiences by wearing a punked-up bridal ensemble with her signature 'Boy Toy' belt and writhed on stage to 'Like A Virgin'.

Madonna in Desperately Seeking Susan

In her videos for 'Lucky Star' and 'Borderline' she wore her own version of punk-black miniskirt rolled down to expose her navel, mesh knit tank tops with her bra peeking through, black lace gloves, stiletto heeled boots, a 'Boy Toy' belt, armfuls of rubber bracelets, black leggings, crucifixes, teased hair with an oversized bow and heavy makeup. Madonna's look spawned 'Madonna wannabes' - of which I was one. Legions of mostly young girls who copied her accessible, fun, punk-but-girly style. The craze for the look was only heightened with her appearance in the Johnathan Demme movie she starred in with Rosanna Arquette - Madonna pretty much playing herself - 'Desperately Seeking Susan'. She spent most of the film wearing a lacy bra top under a beautiful black and gold embellished jacket (that I have spent nearly 40 years trying to find a replica of) , wildly accessorised with stacks of bracelets, lace gloves, a thick black hair bow, and strands upon strands of necklaces.

Madonna's Like a Virgin look

 Her bridal look from the 'Like a Virgin' video was similarly copied and a dressed down version of the look worn at the 1984 MTV Music Awards ceremony. She wore a white lace corset and 'bridal' ensemble accessorised with her 'Boy Toy' belt and strands of pearls. It was a controversial look at the time, but the song was so good, and accompanied with just the right amount of 'girly' and 'fun' that like her idol Marilyn Monroe before her, she countered the negativity with her charisma, and just the right amount of tongue in cheek to silence her critics .Her look permeated street styles of the mid-1980s. Her influence and the popularity of this 'early Madonna' look was  even copied two decades later when Britney Spears and Christina Aguillera paid homage to her look onstage, highlighting her legacy as an artist both musically and in fashion.

To a young girl in 1984, learning about fashion and clothes, Madonna's early style was a perfect introduction. This iconic, easily accessible, rebellious look created by Madonna was quick to catch on amongst teenagers across the world: Macy's created a 'Madonnaland' selling Madonna-licensed and -inspired fashion and Madonna-themed boutiques cropped up across the world causing the look to become a high street staple throughout the 1980s. Even other artists, such as Banarama, adopted this 'Madonna' style. 

 

Note the graffiti jean jacket, hair bow, trainers and stacked-up bangles in the picture above– just a few of her style staples, and for a young girl with no money, easy to copy. Her style early on was not the high end, cone bra, Jean Paul Gaultier designs of the 90s Madonna, but instead involved items that could be homemade, thrifted, crafted. It was a marketing coup, because her fanbase were able to emulate her look easily and cheaply, creating an army of dedicated young clones. Her early success wasn’t simply a result of her hit pop songs, it was also achieved through her bold, easily recreated fashion choices. Madonna's style was an eclectic, colourful, seemingly thrown-together urban look -  it was a look that would make her an icon for a new generation of youngsters.

Today, although her style is constantly changing, Madonna continues to both shock and inspire: she once said “I am my own experiment. I am my own work of art.” Her iconic ‘80s look however, remains amongst her most recognisable and influential.

Part 3 available next week

The 12 Movie Characters That Inspired My Style (part 2)

9 Dorothy Gale, The Wizard Of Oz

Costume Designer, Adrian Adolph Greenberg

The most perfect shoe ever to grace the silver screen? Dorothy Gale's ruby slippers.

When I was seven years old I wanted to be Judy Garland. Or rather, I wanted to be Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz. And in order to be Dorothy Gale, I needed three things: french plaits, a blue gingham pinafore dress, and a pair of ruby red slippers...

In the days before CGI, costumes had to work. While Judy Garland only had to put up with corsetry to flatten her chest, it’s hard to say which of her pals had the more uncomfortable costume: the scarecrow’s rubber mask left a woven-cloth pattern on Ray Bolger’s skin which took forever to fade (he didn’t appear in another film for two years), and the Tin Man costume was so rigid that Jack Haley couldn’t sit down. Bert Lahr’s lion costume was as heavy as a small child and soaked in sweat by the end of the day. (It was dried overnight and very occasionally dry-cleaned. eeww.)

The lesson here is that while it’s fun to look at spectacular costumes, it’s probably best if we don’t think too much about the blood, sweat and tears involved.

Although the first Technicolor film was released in 1935, "The Wizard of Oz" paid homage to Hollywood's transition from black and white into colour as Dorothy (Judy Garland) stepped from Kansas into the colorful land of Oz. Dorothy's outfit was a centerpiece of the film, with her blue and white gingham pinafore dress and ruby red slippers.

Dorothy’s ruby slippers are undoubtedly the most iconic shoes ever to grace the screen – yet they would have been silver if it hadn’t been for the whim of Louis B. Mayer, who wanted them to stand out in vivid technicolour against the famed yellow brick road.

 The slippers are so emblematic that today they are hailed as treasures of American history by the Smithsonian Institute. 

Dorothy's checkered blue and white pinafore marked the character's innocence, and was, of course, clothing appropriate to the time.  She looks so sweet and summery with her apron dress. And the shoes? Her ruby red slippers define the film entirely, and are the key to Dorothy's safe passage back home.

Dorothy's slippers are probably the most magical shoes of all film history - throughout the film, they never leave her feet - as good witch Glinda reminds her "... remember, never let those Ruby Slippers off your feet for a moment, or you will be at the mercy of the Wicked Witch of the West. "

I must have watched The Wizard of Oz 100 times, and seven year old me never wanted a pair of shoes as badly as I wanted Dorothy's ruby red slippers. One summers afternoon, I made my mother take me to every shoe shop on Camden High Street, looking for a pair of ruby slippers. Unsurprisingly, the mission was unsuccessful. The closest I came was a weird disco/Morris dancing sandal hybrid - a wooden clog sole, sandal strap across the toes which was covered in red glitter ( the nod to Dorothy's slippers) and red laces which wrapped all up the leg to the knee. Not quite a slider, a clog or a ballet shoe, but somehow all three. The shoes had red glitter as part of its make up though, and that was enough for me to fulfil my Dorothy fantasy. My mum reluctantly bought them for me, and I wore these weird little shoes all summer long. 

10 Lorelei Lee, Gentleman Prefer Blondes (specifically the 'Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend' gown.

Costume Designer: William Travilla

Marilyn Monroe as Lorelei Lee, singing 'Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend'.

One of Marilyn Monroe's most famous looks (of many) was in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. During her rendition of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend," the actress—dripping in diamonds, of course—rocked a hot-pink strapless evening gown with matching gloves. As a young girl I was a massive Marilyn Monroe fan. And this was one of my favourite Marilyn dresses. That pink. So pink. The pinkest shocking pink. And the diamonds. So many diamonds. I was mesmerised.

This fuschia pink dress was created by Marilyn's personal costume designer, William Travilla, My favourite aspect of this stunning bold dress is the oversized bow on the back. Oh, and the decadent matching gloves, of course. It is probably one of the most referenced musical numbers of all time and the dress, (other than Travilla's other famed look of Marilyn in a white dress on the subway grate) one of the most iconic images of Marilyn.

The song itself has been touted as a feminist anthem of sorts. 

One can interpret the number as about control - her control. It's about a woman who recognises what the world does to women like her and resolves to take charge of the situation in order to obtain the greatest and longest-lasting advantage for herself. The film itself is a classic buddy movie - Monroe and Jane Russell strut their way through the film promoting sisterhood with a confidence and a power not generally seen in movies, particularly musicals, of it's day. They are two women who are confident, in control and know what they want out of life. Men are an aside.

The pink satin gown has become an iconic look not just because it looks great on so many women and never goes out of style, but also because it has remained a symbol of female control and empowerment for nearly seventy years (who can forget Madonna's homage to the famous song where she re-enacted the scene wearing a replica of the dress, whilst singing about being a Material Girl), while also fully embracing classic feminine glamour and presentation. The gowns shocking pink hue is not accidental. Pink has always denoted feminine power. And this gown demonstrates that a woman truly can have it all – if "all" is defined as lifetime financial stability, a never-ending stream of admirers, and the opportunity to appear fabulous at all times.

11  Elvira Hancock, Scarface

Costume Designer Patricia Norris

Michelle Pfeiffer as Elvira Hancock

One element of Brian De Palma's Scarface has always been universally admired: Michelle Pfeiffer, aka Elvira Hancock, her style, her cool, are utterly beguiling. Michelle Pfeiffer's breakthrough role as Elvira Hancock, is an example of how minimalism can still be glamorous.Throughout the film Elvira steals the spotlight in her range of elegant and sleek satin slip dresses in jewel hues and her iconic bob hairstyle.

In her near-uniform numbers, the backless halternecks in silk or satin with plunging necklines, Elvira – first the love interest, and then the wife of Al Pacino’s Tony Montana, one of Castro’s criminals fled from Cuba, who rapidly stakes claim on the drug trade in Miami – is a sullen coat hanger, showing nothing but boredom, insolence and contempt – feeling trapped without escape, “Elvira wards off boredom with cocaine and cynicism,” wrote film journalist Steffen Haubner.

From her show-stopping entrance gown, a shimmery sea-green chemise dress trimmed in gold appliqué, backless and with a huge slit up the right leg, to the crimson-rose pink satin dress and the brown sequined dress  Elvira Hancock doesn’t look like anything but a femme fatale.

But one element of the film has always been unmistakably admired: Michelle Pfeiffer, aka Elvira Hancock, in a blue silk dress complete with a rhinestone -embroidered neckline

 Draped in the sapphire silk dress, Michelle Pfeiffer reveals a slender figure underneath an outfit that is truly unforgettable. Part of the reason the character stood out in Brian de Palma's film was because of her Patricia Norris style. With a plunging neckline, an open back, and a dizzying slit from the top of the thigh to the ankle, Elvira Hancock's dress has become a movie icon of its own.

If you ever want a template for how to look chic while on the arm of a gangster, then Elvira Hancock is it. But Patricia Norris had more in mind when she constructed this legendary dress. The fabric used by the costume designer says a lot about Elvira Hancock's character. Firstly, Brian de Palma's Scarface was a remake of Howard Hawk's film released in 1932 and we see several subtle nods to the original film in the costumes of Elvira. Rather than a garment with frills and colourful prints as was often done in the 1980s, Patricia Norris opted for an outfit inspired by the Hollywood glamour of the 1930s. The slit on the thigh, the V-shaped neckline, and the shimmering material of Elvira Hancock's dress are all reminiscent of Jean Harlow's outfits in William A. Wellman's The Public Enemy. The minimalism of the dress in no way detracts from Elvira's fatal charm. On the contrary, for Patricia Norris, less is more. Michelle Pfeiffer's simple yet sultry dress contrasts with Tony Montana's flashy outfits. The two characters are not from the same class - not cut from the same cloth, if you will,  and it shows in their sense of style. Surrounded by money, Elvira Hancock dresses in luxury but could go unnoticed alongside the extravagant trends of the era. What makes her unforgettable is the charm and allure of the actress who embodies her. Elvira is all elegance to Tony's flashiness, however, they are both driven to walk the same path through their addiction to drugs and money. Patricia Norris will maintain this silhouette throughout the film, giving the actress a wardrobe full of plunging necklines, sultry outfits, made in silky materials. 

Like Marilyn Monroe's shocking pink gown in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes or Keira Knightley's emerald dress in Atonement, Michelle Pfeiffer's blue silk slip dress continues to inspire, even nearly forty years after the release of Scarface. Patricia Norris truly created a timeless outfit. There is no doubt that the sleek silky dress of the 1930s/70s will still be in vogue in fifty years.

Although her dress acknowledges some 1930s roots, it is clearly a dress which personifies the disco couture era.  The costumes were designed by Patricia Norris, but each one of them carries the undeniable mark of Halston. Roy Halston was the designer who had the strongest influence on the American fashion early in the 70s/60s, when he was instrumental in burying the flowery hippie chick of the 60’s and introduced the virtually opposed minimal, utterly simple, modern clothes that women were ready for. He was a master of the art and one of the names who helped draft in the American wave of designers whose fresh clean lines dominated the 80s runways.

His designs included both slinky dresses worn by the ladies of Studio 54 and smartly tailored, linear, refined suits – all presided over by a glamourous, simple, sleek, minimal quality. HAlston's simple lines eschewed buttons and zips. There is no button or zipper on any of the dresses Elvira is wearing either, and even the white suit jacket is a tie waist jacket. Her make-up is very 70’s, too: smoky eyes and a highly saturated lip colour, and the jewellery is glitzy, but not excessive, as it mainly consists of drop earrings – the only type of jewellery a low-cut dress calls for.

Anytime you see a simple backless silky dress with spaghetti straps in a vibrant hue and minimalist jewells, you can guarantee that Elvira Hancock was on that designers mood board somewhere.

12  Rosemary Woodhouse, Roesmary's Baby 

Costume Designer, Anthea Sylbert

The psychological horror film, directed by Roman Polanski, follows Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow), a pregnant lady living on New York's Upper West Side who believes her husband has pledged to deliver her unborn child to their super-creepy neighbours for a peculiar ritual sacrifice in a weird Faustian deal to bolster his ailing acting career. Despite her stomach aches, strange vitamin beverages, and terrible nightmares, Rosemary maintains her sartorial flair throughout the movie. Her style is authentically 1960s, with everything from Peter Pan collars and Breton caps to stylish leather satchels and patterned shift dresses. 

The mix of bold colours and timeless designs deem Mia Farrow's character, Rosemary Woodhouse, a style icon. 

Baby blues, pastel yellows Peter Pan collars and Mary Janes, Rosemary's style is classic and feminine with voluminous shapes. What makes Rosemary's clothing so iconic is its girly without being fussy or complicated. 

Farrow's fragile portrayal as Rosemary is flawless, and as the film's momentum mounts, the atmosphere becomes increasingly oppressive as Rosemary's options dwindle. 

Rosemary is shown as a sweet and innocent young woman who maintains her innocence in the face of adversity. Her style effectively reflects this. 

Throughout the film, Rosemary wears short babydoll-style dresses, which enhance her already young appearance. Her dresses are composed of light pastel hues, mainly blue and yellow, which were not only prominent fashion colours at the time, but also popular colours for newborn baby boys clothes at the time.   

 One great aspect about the film, fashion-wise, is that it spans all four seasons, which means it's packed with '60s styles that are appropriate throughout the year.  Rosemary's winter ensembles are particularly timeless. 

When Ira Levin wrote the novel Rosemary's Baby in 1967, he had no idea the influence it would have on the world of fashion. A truly frightening thriller that explores the occult and gender stereotypes of the age, Roman Polanski transformed it into a film in 1968 — and his subsequent sartorial success has impacted designers ranging from Miuccia Prada to Marc Jacobs. Rather than succumb to the gothic, witchy look prevalent in so many horror films, he enlisted costume designer Anthea Sylbert to, as she stated, put viewers at their ease, thus making the impact of the storytelling more frightening. 

""Roman said to me, 'Let's make 'em think we're doing a Doris Day movie," Sylbert remembered in Designing Movies: Portrait of a Hollywood Artist. "He wanted everything to look ordinary. People are put at ease by ordinary, and in fact, are put at ease by garish. He didn't want anything in the film to seem sinister. " Thus, protagonist Mia Farrow was dressed in sweet 1960s garb, while her villainous neighbours wore gaudy decorations, and the result was undeniably spectacular. 

Costume designer Anthea Sylbert created Mia's clothes herself – presumably easier than repurchasing three-year-old cutting-edge couture – to evocatively portray this revolutionary fashion era. Rosemary's hemlines purposefully rise throughout the film, paralleling her futile attempts to express her independence from the witch coven that surrounds her. 

When we first meet Rosemary, she is dressed in a white shift dress and carrying a matching quilted bag as she visits the apartment she and her husband would eventually move into. She embodies girlish charm, doe-eyed and naive. Throughout the film's first act, she maintains clothing in subdued pastels - light blue coupled with white (the Virgin Mary's colours) becomes an especially recognisable combination. Later in the film, right before she is raped and pregnant with the devil's offspring, she wears an oversized crimson trousersuit that engulfs her fragile body. The colour is a marked contrast from her previous selections — and its significance is difficult to overlook. 

The Devil red hue alludes to Mia's imminent demonic encounter, but the loose fit emphasises her delicate, body and innocence. The shoes are a more sophisticated nighttime version of Mia's omnipresent ballet pumps, which she wears in practically every scene. 

This costume is reminiscent of something Ossie Clark might have designed. It incorporates several of his characteristic motifs, including a deep v-neck, bell sleeves, waist layering, and extensive use of chiffon; it is fashioned in a light, gracefully feminine manner. The sleek, no-waist tailoring also has a Mary Quant feel to it, since it is a typical aspect of her signature front-zipped shift dresses. 

When a pregnant Rosemary gets home, she proudly displays her new pixie cut to her husband, declaring it "Vidal Sassoon. Very in." . He later tells her, "If you want the truth, honey, that was the worst mistake you ever made" – her attempt to reclaim control over a body that is slipping further and further out of her control (not only due to her pregnancy, but also due to her evil obstetrician and the assortment of "herbal" concoctions her neighbour is pressuring her into drinking) is abruptly condemned. 

When Rosemary's buddy Hutch dies mysteriously, she attends his funeral dressed in what can only be regarded as the finest mourning suit ever. In a monochrome cross-hatched babydoll with billowing chiffon sleeves and a Peter Pan neckline. This is her last moment of innocence before she realises the horrible fate about to befall her. The innocence of the style contrasting with the foreboding of the black . 

Rosemary's Baby (1968) is the ideal fashion film set in the mid-1960s. John Cassavetes, her co-star, also wears some fantastic outfits, including vibrant turtlenecks, sports coats, and even a groovy blue Penguin polo shirt. Unsurprisingly, Mia owns all the nicest outfits — and the chiffon trouser suit in brilliant blood red is one of my favourites.