Any list of the most stylish celebrities in Hollywood history would be incomplete without Greta Garbo. The cinematic icon didn’t follow trends; she created them, influencing generations of women. She could often be seen browsing French fashion magazines in Manhattan’s Rizzoli bookstore, looking for fresh ideas to make her own.

What made Garbo such an original was actually a very simple concept: she insisted on practicality and comfort. At the time of her U.S. movie debut in 1926, style-conscious American women were raising their hemlines, rolling their stockings and strapping their feet into high-heeled Mary Janes. The entrenched style they were bucking was an even more feminine one, centering on voluminous dresses, waist-cinching corsets and plenty of chemises and petticoats underneath it all. Garbo, on the other hand, favored trousers, flats and turtlenecks to skin-baring flapper dresses. Hers was a comfortable and androgynous style.

Below, we explore four elements of the star’s aesthetic.

Ballet Flats

Don’t think for a moment that Garbo came off as stodgy in her menswear-inspired wardrobe. In fact, she was anything but, exuding effortless glamor. She eschewed high heels, preferring the comfort of flats or a low heel and stating “there’s nothing attractive about the suffering face of a girl with ill-fitting shoes,” but she made ballet flats positively captivating when she paired them with silky lounge pants. She looked charming whether she was sporting trousers or dripping with jewels – and she was one icon who could pull off either look with ease.

PHOTO unique bridesmaid dresses

The Chic Trenchcoat

Garbo’s glamorous spin on menswear was often topped off by a trench coat. She wore a tartan-lined trench in an early film, 1928’s A Woman of Affairs, sparking a trend for trenches that continues to be revived regularly over the decades. She cinched a trench again in 1931’s Mata Hari, when she played the notoriously sexy spy… but for Garbo, the trench probably wasn’t chosen for its sex appeal. Garbo was well-known as the star who had no interest in stardom, and her Grand Hotel quote, ”I want to be alone,” was reflected in her personal life (though she preferred to state it ”I want to be left alone” in the real world). The mysterious trench coat, hiding much in its yards of fabric, was the perfect accessory for reclusiveness.

The Glam Turtleneck

The trench coat wasn’t the only article of clothing that became popular thanks to Garbo. She also made the turtleneck into a high-fashion item, pulling it from the depths of sport-uniform drudgery. She and Marlene Dietrich, another star who went against trends by dressing in menswear, wore turtlenecks with their trousers, showing off the garment’s body-skimming silhouette. The turtleneck became so popularly associated with Garbo that the Hungarian word for it is garbó.

A Relaxed Silhouette

Garbo’s timeless silhouette is as apropos today as it was in the 1930s. If you try it out for yourself, you may find that her comfort-forward style is as pleasing to wear as it is to behold. Tailored trousers with a wide leg, a turtleneck or men’s button-down, and ballet flats are the building blocks of a Garbo-inspired look, with hair either sleekly pulled back or floating loosely around the shoulders. Top it with a trench, choose a pair of big sunglasses to slip on when you step outside and don’t forget to practice your best continental accent.

READ MORE junior bridesmaid

PERHAPS AFTER a few seasons of letting their hair down with 1970s silhouettes, designers were craving some constraints. Or maybe it was simply that everyone was watching a lot of “Penny Dreadful.” But when the lights came up on the fall collections, many looks arrived courtesy of the buttoned-up 19th century.

Models swished along in floor-skimming skirts and fitted coats at Marc Jacobs. They were poised in delicately lacy and ruffled, almost doll-like dresses at Alexander McQueen. They promenaded in moody silk jacquard and jeweled velvet at Givenchy. And at Comme des Garçons, a label whose collections are never easily defined, designer Rei Kawakubo enveloped models in yards of black and white lace for a voluminous and avant-garde take on Victoriana that surely never existed circa 1865.

New York-based designer Joseph Altuzarra used a light touch in his iteration of the look, a collection he called “Dandies and Swans.” Working a push-pull tension, he paired prudish blouses that had high, ruffled pie-crust collars with skirts slit un-priggishingly up the thigh. His lace-up boots—pointy and teetering with a single white frill peeking out at the top—exhibited a similar blend of the sexy and the demure.

But that delicious tension has always defined the Victorian aesthetic. It’s covered-up but form-fitting, sober in palette but often sensually opulent. “There’s an allure but it’s not overt,” said Tomoko Ogura, senior fashion director at Barneys New York. “It’s a departure from the body-conscious look.”

PHOTO allure bridesmaid dresses

Its subtlety allows elements like an elegant cut and rich fabrics to shine. Take the quiet drama of Givenchy’s elegant, dark floral jacquard jacket with a nipped waist and flaring peplum hem. Or Marc Jacobs’s navy-and-gray pleated maxi skirt, glinting with silver thread. A daring woman could pull this skirt off as day wear, subduing it with a white shirt and flats. Paired with a thin-gauge black crew neck sweater, it makes for an understated evening ensemble.

The trend is one that celebrity stylist Elizabeth Stewart, whose clients include Julia Roberts and Jessica Chastain, can particularly get behind. “It’s dark but still luxe,” said Ms. Stewart. “Everyone loves to wear dark clothes, but the incredible fabrics, like the brocade at Givenchy, just add an extra layer.” She recently put Ms. Chastain in a sapphire-blue velvet Givenchy dress for the Toronto International Film Festival. “There’s a teeny bit of transparency to the top,” Ms. Stewart explained. “That and the color offset any heaviness. It’s really beautiful and wearable.”

Tempering the heft of a Victorian motif—to avoid the impression that your outfit comes with a well-thumbed copy of “Jane Eyre”—is a crucial step in making the trend work. Matches Fashion’s buying director Natalie Kingham suggested combining a pale, high-necked lace or ruffled blouse from Sonia Rykiel or Chloé with trousers or jeans and a blazer. “Everything should have an element of modernity,” she said. “The romantic gothic look shouldn’t look literal.” Stylist Ms. Stewart, meanwhile, discourages severe beauty statements. Loose hair and natural makeup, she said, keep things buoyant.

Simply wearing something in either black or jewel-toned velvet, whether one of Valentino’s fall dresses or a design that’s a bit less dramatic, is another way to try on the trend without too much commitment. A velvet blazer, said Ms. Kingham, never goes out of style, while velvet shoes are much more resilient than you might expect. “A velvet shoe or clutch evokes that glamour and can be worn in an easy way,” she said. “It’s one of my favorite fabrics—and it doesn’t date.”

READ MORE long black bridesmaid dresses