If you’re like us, you have already caught up on your favorite series and could use a dose of fashion inspiration to escape from the day-to-day challenges created by the coronavirus pandemic.
Here are 5 of our all-time favorite fashion movies and why we love them. They are all easy to find and download on various devices. May they help take your mind off the current state of affairs and escape into the magical world of fashion, beauty and cinematography. Enjoy!
#1 The Devil Wears Prada
Is there anyone among us here who has not seen this epically entertaining movie (or doesn’t recall who they were with when they first watched it after its release in 2006?) It’s now a yearly watch for all of us. Meryl Strep is simply amazing as powerful magazine editor Miranda Priestly, and the transformation of Anne Hathaway who plays Miranda’s at first lowly and then can’t-do-without assistant Andy is as awe-inspiring as Melanie Griffith’s total make-over in Working Girl. This is our number one fave fashion flick of all time!
#2 Coco Before Chanel
Told with subtitles, this 2009 biographical drama chronicles the early and complicated life of Coco Chanel before her rise to the top of the fashion world. We suggest reading “15 Things You Didn’t Know About Coco Chanel” before watching it. It is also a beautifully filmed period piece that transports you to a time when women like Chanel were not always celebrated or appreciated. She was certainly ahead of her time. We highly recommend this movie for so many reasons, including to pay homage to the designer credited for introducing pants for women!
#3 Prêt-à-Porter
If you like satire, this one is for you. It was released in America as “Ready to Wear” in 1994 after its French distributor realized that few people in the US understood what prêt-à-porter meant. From our perspective, this film delivers more with its all-star cast (Sophia Loren, Julia Roberts, Lyle Lovett, Kim Basinger and Lauren Bacall to name a few) than the “murder-mystery at Paris fashion week” storyline itself. We all agreed that we could have watched without sound and got what we came for – a glimpse of ‘90s fashion, big shoulder pads and all, waltzing down the catwalk throughout the film.
#4 The September Issue
A documentary about Anna Wintour and the team who work to bring American Vogue to life month-after-month and year-after-year. While the film specifically focuses on the production of the September 2007 issue of the magazine (and showcases plenty of models dressed in clothes and accessories that are beyond breathtaking), what Anna and her team wear in and out of their NYC office and internationally proved even more interesting to us. Fashion as art, theatre (and power!) for sure. It offers a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse of the often-misunderstood business of fashion. If you are a true fashion enthusiast, this is a film you will likely reflect on for a long time.
#5 Sex and the City Movies
Finally, not sure we can put together a favorite fashion film list without including this series. The fab four (Carrie, Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte) deliver big scene after scene, with their clothing and accessories often becoming the story reel after reel. This guilty pleasure binge provides a big dose of eye candy, laughter and girlfriend appreciation at a time when many of us can really use all three. Hooray for Carrie and the girls!
Last Word
We hope you enjoy this list (and can carve out some time to watch those that appeal to you) as much as we enjoyed compiling it. Please share your favorite fashion movies with us below. We’re looking for a few more to get us through the days ahead. We are all in this together – thank you!