Campus Runway: How Hollywood Cinemas Impact Your Wardrobe

Come springtime, we might all be dressed in futuristic draping neutrals – a blend of modern and medieval – suitable for the futuristic, sci-fi setting of the recently released film “Dune.” There is nothing like a lavish and extraordinary costume design to jump-start the next greatest trends in fashion.

Movies have influenced fashion since the beginning, and vice versa. Hollywood cinema carves powerful avenues into the fashion world, taking notes on classics and observing trends in the present.

The pattern of on-screen to in-wardrobe only continues with the timeless trends from films such as John Hugh’s “The Breakfast Club” to groundbreaking looks in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” and Dexter Fletcher’s “Rocketman.” Here are how these films impacted their present fashion scene and how fashion will only continue to evolve through cinematic costume design. 

1. The Great Gatsby (2013)

Fashion has been in desperate need of an early-20th-century revival even before the film adaptation of “The Great Gatsby,” which won an Oscar for Best Costume Design and brought the Roaring Twenties back to the silver screen and consequently, back to our wardrobes. 

This film featured Prada and Tiffany, only for brands such as Ralph Lauren and Marc Jacobs to produce collections filled with drop-waist dresses loaded with fringe and beads in spring 2013. 

2. The Breakfast Club (1985)

Like a time capsule, fashion in movies often reflects its era or, as in this case, impacts its future. 

“The Breakfast Club” is the perfect source of 80s fashion inspiration for those old school days. A brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a bad boy — each falling seamlessly into place with their high school stereotype.  

From the edge of a classic loose-fitting jean jacket to the class of a chocolate brown midi skirt, these fits were simultaneously with their time and ahead of it. 

3. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)

Tarantino’s take on an ode to the eventful 1969 Hollywood scene and mainly, the Manson murders, takes us through a fashion timeline of hippie garments, go-go boots and western flare. 

If you have seen the film, your mind may be drawn to the iconic Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate — the beaming, bright and unforgettable California girl. Yes, she certainly snapped in her classic, white pencil skirt and go-go boots that is now a well-recognized Halloween costume. The fashion impact I am referring to, however, is Brad Pitt’s stuntman character (Cliff Booth): specifically, the casual Champion shirt he wears underneath an opened Hawaiian one and the Canadian tuxedo. 

This was unarguably a fashion moment win for the film, sitting up in the ranks with Leonardo DiCaprio’s (Rick Dalton’s) western frill jacket and cowboy boots. This duo took the cake, expressing the limbo between old school Hollywood and its return to the 21st-century fashion scene. 

4. Rocketman (2019)

It is no wonder that “Rocketman,” a film based on the life Elton John, lived up to its full style potential. The singer is, as he should be, a key inspiration for fashion’s maximalist and pioneer Gucci Alessandro Michele. 

This costume set must have been a fashion designer’s dream as rhinestones, feathers, sequins, wings and colors come together in one visual performance. Elton John had extravagant style; it is engraved in his legacy. I give my deepest thanks to the 70s — that time era gave us everything wild and iconic and acted as a pointer into the future of liveliness. 

Who knows what is next? Selfishly, I am hoping the masses look to “Dune” — its color pallet, its flare and its blending of eras. 

Green is the feature editor. Follow her on Twitter.