Film and fashion go together like Breton stripes and denim – two well-loved concepts that, married together, are more than the sum of their parts. They say clothes maketh the man, and it’s certainly true that costumes maketh the character. After all, what would Sandy do without her skin-tight leather trousers to fall back on in Grease? More often than not, it’s not the finer plot points but the on-screen outfits that linger in our memories – like these, still-iconic fashion moments in film.

Keira Knightley’s green silk dress in Atonement

Regularly topping polls of most iconic on-screen dresses, Knightley’s smouldering impact in this backless satin gown made us all forget that mere mortals can’t pull off a slip dress. Especially in that shade of green. It didn’t just impress the audience though. Pinned up against the library wall by James McAvoy’s Robbie, it also led to one of the most fan-yourself-ladies sex scenes of this millennium.

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Alicia Silverstone’s mini skirts and pop socks in Clueless

Who can forget Cher Horowitz, the spoiled yet charming California blonde, whose computer-automated wardrobe we’re still waiting for to revolutionise our closets twenty years on? An expert in ”like, totally important designers” like Azzedine Alaia and Calvin Klein, Cher’s signature school girl style of tiny checked mini kilts and knee-high white socks summed up her superficial but somehow utterly winsome naivety, while still making sure she looked like ”a total Betty.”

Madonnas’s gloves, hair bow and leather jacket in Desperately Seeking Susan

If you think of 80’s Madonna, you think of this look, and a flick back through anyone’s home photo albums from that decade will unearth a million mini-Madges sporting that perm, that hair bow and that leather jacket. Ostensibly playing ”Susan” but really just being herself, Madonna becomes an obsession for a bored and unfulfilled housewife who tracks her down for thrills, and this more-is-more look sums up ”free-spirited, mega-magnetic cool girl” in a whirl of bangles, necklaces and curls. Madonna still has a penchant for wearing gloves (fingerless) three decades later.

Patricia Arquette as Alabama Whiteman’s shoulderless blue top in True Romance

Alabama seems like just a dumb blonde with a slow toffee drawl, but underneath her bubblegum exterior lies a heart of gold, whose love and loyalty to Elvis fan Clarence (Christian Slater) is unshaken by teeth-clenching violence at the hands of pimps, drug dealers and gun-wielding cops. Her shoulderless top incorporates sugar-sweet chiffon ruffles and kitschy turquoise blue to perfectly symbolise oversaturated Miami style, and no doubt features heavily on Lana del Rey, Ashish and Ryan Lo’s moodboards. Her saccharine style shows girliness should not be underestimated – plastic may look fun and a little cheap, but it is surprisingly tough when you need it to be.

Diane Keaton as Annie Hall’s menswear in Annie Hall

The go-to reference for ”borrowing from the boys”, Keaton’s loose-fitting slouchy waistcoat and slacks, polka dot tie and rumpled white shirt has been copied hundreds, if not thousands, of times on catwalks, in editorials, and in every day style. Annie Hall is the effortless, carefree and openhearted counterpart to Woody Allen’s neurotic, made all the more apparent by her wide strides and nonchalant take on what, in someone else’s hands, would have been boring office wear. No wonder Woody’s in love with her when she looks this good.

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