Here at Empire we pride ourselves on our dress sense - with very few exceptions, we always remember to do it - but while the odd covetous glance gets thrown at, say, Joseph Gordon-Levitt's waistcoated elegance in Inception or Colin Firth's immaculation suits in A Single Man, we dress a lot more like Scott Pilgrim. We really couldn't tell a pince-nez from a pizza, so we've enrolled Stephanie Wood, Assistant Editor of Stylist.co.uk, to catwalk us though 2010's big-screen couture highlights. If Milan is out of range, here's where to go for the hottest looks of the year.
Tom Ford – the former creative director of both YSL and Gucci - made his first foray into film with an adaptation of Christopher Isherwood’s 1964 novel of the same name. Renowned for being more than a bit of a perfectionist, it’s rumoured Tom filled all the cupboards and drawers on-set with props for authenticity. An absolute visual feast, from the stylish 60s décor to Colin Firth’s impeccable suits (with Julianne Moore playing a glamorous housewife thrown in for good measure), I spent the entire film afraid to blink in case I missed something shiny. Just stunning.
Although the second film to follow the hugely successful TV show took a universal critical panning - my personal low-point (as a journalist) was seeing an apostrophe in the phrase ‘the terrible twos' - SATC2 certainly delivered on the fashion front. Designer Patricia Field was on hand once again with sequinned harem pants, printed kaftans and turban headpieces (sparking a mini-trend in the process) for the girls’ glamorous Abu Dhabi escape.
Back in 1987, Wall Street’s Gordon Gekko sparked a look that would come to define the money-driven era – think power suits, contrast-collar shirts and slicked-back hair. Fast forward 23 years and the highly-anticipated sequel finds Mr Gekko – and his daughter’s boyfriend, played by Shia LaBeouf – looking just as slick but with a modern update.
This British-made film charts the true life battle of 300 Ford factory seamstresses whose tireless protests and strikes led to the Equal Pay Act of 1970. Set in the 1960s, it features the finest of the era’s style staples – shift dresses, A-line skirts and flower-power hotpants galore. Star turns from Sally Hawkins, Rosamund Pike and Jaime Winstone make this one hot home-grown film.
One of the blockbusters of the year was also one of the most stylish, featuring Leonardo DiCaprio and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in an array of sharp suits and shirts. If you’ve been wondering where to get your hands on them yourself, then I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you – Oscar-nominated costume designer Jeffrey Kurland had each and every one of the outfits designed just for the film.
Angelina Jolie always brings a certain amount of glamour to her films (even when she was scrambling through Egyptian crypts in Tomb Raider), but the glam-factor was ramped up for her turn in The Tourist. Playing an English woman travelling through Europe, the look is perfectly polished. Throw in Johnny Depp and the stunning backdrop of Venice and this is one seriously stylish film.
Ballet is tipped to be the on-trend art form of next year, and this film has a lot to do with that. Starring the fantastic Natalie Portman as a veteran ballerina struggling with competition from a rival dancer, the film centres on a production of Swan Lake. With Kate and Laura Mulleavy, the sisters behind fashion label Rodarte, providing most of the stage costumes, it’s unsurprisingly a dramatic fashion feast featuring lots of pinks, greys and white. Time to dig out your tutu...
The film that sparked a plethora of fashion and beauty capsule collections, including a jewellery line from Tom Binns for Disney Couture, a selection of nail polish colours from OPI and a range of clothing from Uniqlo. Academy Award winning costume designer Colleen Atwood headed up the wardrobe department, bringing Tim Burton’s vision to life with clothing.
A tale of teenage rebellion, The Runaways saw Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning portraying Joan Jett and Cherie Currie, members of the legendary '70s girl band of the same name. Paying homage to the era, the film has two distinct looks – the leather-clad, heavily-eyelinered rock chick glam of Stewart’s Jett and the glamorous Californian cool of Fanning’s Currie.
Famed fashion designer Halston enjoyed a bit of a renaissance in 2010: first Sarah Jessica Parker took the role of creative director at hip diffusion label Halston Heritage, then this film premiered at New York’s Tribeca Film Festival in April. Featuring interviews with the likes of Liza Minnelli and US Vogue’s André Leon Talley, it’s an interesting portrait of a man who epitomises the decadence and glamour of the 1970s.