Ask Fashion Girl

Dear Movie Fashion Buff,

The fashions you see in movies often reflect what is currently popular in the real fashion world. Also, fashion stereotypes show up on the big screen all the time to help the audience identify with the characters by what they are wearing in the movie. The fashions in movies look so good thanks to the work of people like the art director and costume designer. Movies have such a huge influence on fashion that the two have become almost inseparable! Who can imagine the fashions of the 1970's without John Travolta's white polyester suit from Saturday Night Fever coming to mind?

An excellent resource for tracking down movie fashions is It's A Wrap! Production Sales, the world's only retail store that sells wardrobe in volume directly off the sets of films, television shows, commercials and the fashion runway. The store is located in Burbank, California, close in proximity to major movie studios and filming locations. If you can't make it to their store, try visiting their website at www.movieclothes.com where you can browse through and buy wardrobe pieces from movies. It's A Wrap even sends a letter of authenticity along with each item you purchase. You can call It's A Wrap! at 818.567.7366 to get help with locating particular fashions used in movies.

Fashion designers often look to movies for help in predicting future fashion trends. They incorporate popular culture into their designs to make them appealing. For example, the "sci-fi" look is showing up in collections by designers like Fendi and Alexander McQueen, as futuristic themes in movies like Men in Black and The Matrix have become popular. Now you can find these styles in department stores at affordable prices along with more great movie-inspired fashions.

Department stores often set up movie-inspired clothing displays of the their latest fashions. With the recent Elizabethan movies Shakespeare in Love and Elizabeth nominated for Academy Awards, even corsets and brocades are showing up in clothing stores. So go shopping! You can put together movie fashions yourself with a little creativity. Study your favorite movie, paying special attention to the fashions that you love. Sketch out the styles and colors, then take these shopping with you. Piece by piece, you can create the entire look yourself.

Read through the credits of your favorite movies for the names of the designers and stores who provided the fashions. For more elaborate movie fashions like those in period films, try searching in costume shops and ask about special ordering your costume.

Good luck searching for those fashions and see you at the movies!