Wools, Cashmeres, & Plaids
Everyone knows that costumes are great for expressing characters. They showcase a character’s personality, social status, moods, alignment, and other facets. Coats, unlike a shirt or a dress, can conceal or reveal much about the inner workings of a character. Like, actually using it to hide or protecting them from some kind of external threat.
This page ranks the ten best coats worn by women in modern movies. A coat for this list has sleeves and is worn for some layer of protection from the elements. These coats are ranked on aesthetics, memorability and how they reflect the character. Movie Coats worn by women from Period Dramas and from Fantasy/Sci-fi movies have their own ranked lists
List could change.
10. Ilsa Lund from Casablanca (1942)
Designer: Orry-Kel
While the costumes of Casablanca are not the most ornate and ostentatious they are smart and iconic.
This certainly goes for Ilsa’s coat, which she wears in one of the most iconic film scenes ever. At the end of the movie, Rick tells Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) to get on the plane without him. It’s one of those scenes that you know even if you haven’t seen the movie, it’s so ingrained in the collective film memory.
It’s hard to know the exact color but most likely it was a tan brown color. The fabric has a weave texture. The same fabric covers the large buttons. An angular lapel with exposed pockets make up the rest of the details.
9. Amanda from The Holiday (2006)
Designer: Marlene Steward
The Holiday is a Christmas rom-com that sees two women switching houses for The Holiday after the some romantic devastating romantic entanglements.
The two leads could not lead more different lives from each as LA based film edit, Amanda (Cameron Diaz) goes to a English cottage and falls in love.
Her beige suede with white wool trim winter coat retains her mid-2000s LA cool chic style that she exudes only it’s more in keeping with the cold English country winter.
Shout-out to her black and white jacket.
8. Dorothy Shaw from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
Designer: Travilla
Gentlemen Prefers Blondes is a misleading title. The film is really a buddy comedy about two friends of opposing viewpoints about what they look for in relationships. The more romantic woman wants to know that she is financially secure and the no-nonsense seemingly pragmatic woman goes after guys for their looks, a reversal that makes sense in the context of the film.
Dorothy Shaw (Jane Russell) is the sarcastic wise-cracking pragmatic foil to Lorelei (Marilyn Monroe) and her diamond-loving ways. Her style perfectly reflects her cool demeanor.
Dorothy wears this loose trapeze cut coat when she finds Lorelei trying to find a wealthy escort—for Dorothy! The coat has a black and white check pattern that is offset with bright yellow lining. The hemline comes to about the hips. It also has large cuffs, a thick black broader at the edge, and notched collar. Underneath, she wears a black halter jumpsuit with silver jewelry.
The look is effortless, chic, yet fun, bold and timeless.
7. Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
Designer: Givenchy
It’s not hard to understand that Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly is one of the most chic looks in movies. Everything she wears is on point. Holly wears this coat when she walks with Paul down Fifth Avenue to Tiffany’s, to the library and other places.
Her red coat is peak 1960s chic. The collar is high standing with four buttons as the closure and it is double breasted. The sleeves are ¾ in length. The waistline is cinched in ever so slightly, just hinting at a waistline. The hem is knee length. To add to the cool factor, it’s paired with sunglasses and a hat.
Shout out to Holly’s white coat!
6. Gloria Wandrous from BUtterfield 8 (1960)
Designer: Helen Rose
In BUtterfield 8, Elizabeth Taylor plays Gloria, a “party girl” with loose morals who engages in two love triangles.
After spending a night with a married man, Gloria is left feeling insulted as her dress is torn and the man left her some money. She slips on a coat before making her ire known on a mirror with lipstick.
The coat is light beige with ¾ length sleeves, loose fit and no closures. The most dramatic thing is the oversized white and tan fur collar. Its large-scale grandeur gives her a feeling of dominance in the setting.
5. Miranda Priestly from The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
Designer: Patricia Field
If there is a garment in The Devil Wears Prada that is in excess it’s coats, especially for Miranda who has a literal montage of different coats that she throws at her assistant Andy.
There are a lot of gorgeous coats in this movie, most of which were borrowed by a friend of the costume designer. However, it’s the coat that Miranda (Meryl Streep) wears in her introductory scene that is her most memorable and menacing, thus suiting her persona.
We are led to believe that the chaos and panic that follows Miranda into the office is a daily occurrence. As her panicked employees rush around to make everything perfect for their exacting boss, Miranda strolls into the building in a black coat with fur elements. The black color denotes power and authority while the fur and what looks like velvet confers luxury, wealth and excess.
The coat has bell sleeves, one of the elements of black fur, and which add drama. Another fur element is the high- necked collar. The color makes it hard to see details, but the coat appears to be single breasted with black buttons.
There are also fur puffs on thin ties which look like they hang off the button from the holes and tie together. These fur elements can be seen when you see the Prada handbag. The hem is knee length and has some fullness.
And just to add to Miranda’s powerful persona, she wears a purple dress underneath. Purple is a color often associated with royalty and authority. This is definitely a coat that shows off power and prestige and aids in the introduction of this character.
4. Cher from Clueless (1995)
Designer: Mona May
At the start of Clueless, Cher (Alicia Silverstone) wears a lot of plaid as a kind of unofficial school uniform reflecting her desire to appear perfect in the eyes of her classmates. Cher is briefly seen wearing this cute plaid coat when she is applauded for the improvements to the student-body’s grades after setting up two of her teachers.
The plaid is black and red and possibly made from wool. The hem is at the waist which is a nice contrast as she wears it with a mini-skirt, as is a standard part of most of her school looks along with black thigh socks. The coat looks to be double breasted and has black buttons as the closure.
To match with the black she wears a black beret, adding a preppy sophisticated look that she curates for herself.
Also Shout-out to her feathered collar coat she wore to the party over her iconic red ALAÏA dress,
3. Tracy Chambers from Mahogany (1975)
Designer: Diana Ross
Mahogany is one of those movies that is more remembered for its fashion than for anything else. It’s a Cinderella story about Tracy Chambers (Diana Ross), an aspiring fashion designer turned model named Mahogany. While there are many examples of over-the-top looks in this movie, there are also some very chic ’70s looks.
While looking at her magazine cover, Mahogany wears this bright, knee-length white trench coat. It’s very minimal, with basic details like straps at the shoulders and cuffs, exposed breast pockets, a collar lapel, and belt with white buttons.
To give the coat a bold and exciting, yet very chic look, she wears a black turtleneck shirt underneath with black boots, gloves and purse. She also wears a matching hat with a black ribbon.
2. Marisa Ventura from Maid in Manhattan (2002)
Designer: Dolce & Gabbana
Maid in Manhattan is a modern Cinderella tale about a hotel maid named Marisa (Jennifer Lopez) who falls in love with a Senatorial candidate named Chris. The first time Chris sees Marisa she is wearing a Dolce & Gabbana white coat slated to be returned. She wears it during a walk in the park.
The coat looks to be made from wool. The hem comes down to the mid-thigh. It is double breasted with black buttons adding contrast. It’s a simple coat, but looks so elegant and relaxed, especially when styled with white wide-legged pants and a turtleneck.
1. Andy Sachs from The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
Designer: Patricia Field
As Andy (Anne Hathaway) is learning the fashion ropes of her job at Runway, she experiments with different looks during a montage sequence. A lot of the looks she wears in the montage are coats, as she is going to work.
Though it is only shown for a brief moment the white coat she wears during the montage is emblematic of Andy’s style preference, as she aligns herself as Chanel girl.
The coat is a white, possibly wool, trench. It is very streamline as only the waist belt serves as a closure, though there could be hooks and eyes or some inside closure since there doesn’t appear to be any gapping. It also has no lapel or collar. The princess seam gives a close fit. She just looks impeccable and very chic.
Shout out to the green coat with the leopard trim.
