Fashion’s starring roles in the movies
Published 10:07 am Friday, May 28, 2010
Camels? Abu Dhabi? Carrie randomly runs into Aidan? Really? What is this, “Road to Morocco” with Dorothy Lamour?
The plot of “Sex and the City 2” is, well, beside the point.
No, the real point is … Shoe porn! Clothes! Sparkles! Pretty!
“SATC” follows in the fine tradition of movies, good and bad, where fashion is the main event.
Here are our top five fashionable films, none of which, incidentally, involves camels.
1. The Devil Wears Prada (2006): Any movie based on the politics of Vogue is going to assault our eyes with awesome. Patricia Field, the brain behind “Sex and the City’s” fashion, styled this movie.
Anne Hathaway morphs from dowdy journalism nerd in a faded sweater to a bona-fide couture snob. She rocks a Chanel prep-school jacket, logo pearls, a vintage green coat with leopard cuffs and a cocktail dress by, who else? Prada.
2. Troop Beverly Hills (1989): Because we can! Because we can! “Troop Beverly Hills” was our fondest childhood romp into ridiculous fashion.
Shelley Long wears a white fur coat to the Girl Scout campgrounds! She lines her uniform with emerald satin! She wears a sequined bird on her shoulder!
3. Rear Window (1954): This movie, though awesome, starts unfashionably with crusty Jimmy Stewart in a wheelchair. Bah. But Grace Kelly saves the day, modeling mind-blowing outfits and accessories.
Styled by the legendary Edith Head, Kelly is effortlessly elegant in a runway of Christian Dior dresses, from poufy and belted to sleek and narrow and backless. The showstopper? A massive pearl charm bracelet that steals focus from anyone in the shot.
4. Factory Girl (2006): If you’re laid up with the flu, search the on-demand cable channels. You’re bound to come across this blight of cinema that tells the story of Edie Sedgwick and Andy Warhol.
It’s hard to watch “Factory Girl” if not for the glorious outfits.
Sienna Miller, who plays Sedgwick, sports amazing minidresses, opaque tights, huge earrings, geometric prints and fake eyelashes out the wazoo.
5. Clueless (1995): The gold standard. This movie inspired legions of young girls to run out and buy plaid miniskirts, knee-high tights and Mary Janes.
Who can forget Cher’s Jazzercise outfit? Her angora sweaters? And you have to admire a girl who tells a gun-wielding robber she can’t get on the ground because it might ruin her Azzedine Alaia.
