FashionIt is 25 years since Pretty Woman was released, but think its fashion lessons are stuck in the 1990s? Big mistake. Huge
The retail up yours
Any discussion about the best fashion moments in this 1990 classic has to begin with the “Big mistake. Huge” scene in which a triumphant Vivian Ward returns to the nameless designer store on Rodeo Drive that had previously snubbed her. She is now carrying several massive, stiff paper bags, and it is clear that she has spend loads of cash elsewhere. Cue faces of missed-out-on commission percentages from the sales assistants who had snubbed her. The sense of unworthiness on entering a posh shop with money to spend when you don’t do it every day is one most women can identify with. Consequently, the “huge mistake” line is a collective feel-good moment for anyone who has felt intimidated by a thick-carpeted fashion boutique.
The prescient Paris Vogue look
Long before Emmanuelle Alt slunk into her front-row seat as editor of Paris Vogue wearing a navy blazer, Vivian was owning the look. In the “she rescues him right back” scene, when Julia Roberts and Richard Gere embrace on the fire escape, the reformed working girl is wearing a black blazer, high-waisted , straight-leg jeans and a tucked-in white T-shirt. It is a slightly off-kilter version of a timeless look that could easily be seen on street-style blogs this month.
The sound of the zip
The opening scene, when Vivian is getting ready to go out to work, is unforgettable from a wardrobe point of view. The bubble-padded Lycra minidress, so familiar to anyone who shopped in Miss Selfridge in the late 1980s; the Beatles cap; the multiple trashy bangles; and the red blazer with its black lapels and rolled-up sleeves. And, of course, the PVC thigh boots. The best bit is when she colours in the scuffed heels with a black marker pen (an actual fashion tip there) and we hear the inside leg being zipped up – the single best piece of wardrobe noise in any film ever. The foley artist deserved an Oscar for that alone.
The wardrobe palate cleanser
When Vivian’s look is in transition – she’s lost the blond wig, but hasn’t yet gone for the full “Princess Diana in Tatler” look of later scenes – her use of the white shirt belonging to Edward Lewis is masterful. She styles it knotted over the working-girl dress with the sleeves rolled up. It is a sartorial palate cleanser of a look. It also signifies a morning-after wardrobe loan, long before Carrie Bradshaw wore Big’s white shirt with a belt and a pair of heels in Sex and the City.
Kit de Luca’s unsubtle but fabulous wardrobe
Cropped leopard tops, hooped earrings, miniskirts. The sidekick wardrobe is pretty much a love letter to the 1980s (although the film came out in 1990, the impact of the decade before weighs heavily on its costumes). But the piece of clothing that Kit wears the best is her stonewashed, blouson-sleeved, cropped denim jacket. It is a self-conscious tough-girl protective layer, which masks a gentler soul. Plus, it’s present in the Cinderfuckingrella scene. What more could you ask from a denim jacket?
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