Unforgettable Threads

16. George Axelrod (screenwriter, The Seven Year Itch) "My favorite is the white dress Sharon Stone wore when being interviewed by the cops in Basic Instinct, Second on my list would be the white dress Marilyn Monroe wore in The Seven Year Itch--the one that blows when she's standing over the subway grate."

17. Ellen Mirojnick (costume designer, Basic Instinct) "The first one I think of is the dress that Marilyn Monroe wore at the end of Some Like It Hot. It's a see-through beaded dress that looked like a naked dress. That's just an incredible costume."

18. Tamlyn Tomita (actress, The Joy Luck Club) "In Funny Face an unseen Audrey Hepburn calls out to Fred Astaire from behind a white statue atop a white marble staircase to tell him to let her know when he's ready to photograph her. He calls. 'Go!' and she descends the staircase in that red Givenchy gown, white opera-length gloves, and floating high above her head is a red chiffon scarf. We, as well as Mr. Astaire, are stunned by this bird of paradise descending toward us. He fumbles with his camera and cries, 'Stop! Stop!' She answers, "Take the picture! Take the picture!' If a picture is worth a thousand words, this one is worth a million."

19. Lawrence Paull (production designer, Blade Runner) "The one that comes to mind is the outfit Sean Young wore when she walked into Tyrell's office in Blade Runner, looking very austere in a black suit with broad shoulders. It's the first time Harrison Ford sees Young, and the image of her in the suit, so severely cut it's almost geometric--combined with the geometry of the set--absolutely made a powerful visual impact. Another great costume is the glittering white gown and matching turban that Barbra Streisand wore in one of the flashback sequences in On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, where she flirts across the dinner table with a stranger. Streisand's never looked better, but then it was the only film where she was dressed by Cecil Beaton.'"

20. Jackie Beat (actor, Grief) "My all-time favorite outfit in movie history is the leopard-print bra and matching half-slip that Anne Bancroft, as Mrs, Robinson, revealed to Benjamin in The Graduate. Even her hair, a swinging salt-and-pepper cre¬ation, screamed. 'Do me!' There is nothing sexier than a woman in her forties and this scene ached with the same suburban sexuality of the '60s that my mother effortlessly oozed. Watching Anne, as she smoked and stripped, for a split second I thought I might be straight."

21. Anna Hamilton Phelan (screenwriter, Gorillas in the Mist) "Maybe because I've seen it recently, the first costume that comes to mind is that outfit made of rubber flip-flops that one of the transvestites wears in The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert. I almost died when I saw that. That costume came from a truly dement¬ed mind. Then I also recall the clothes worn by Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis in Some Like It Hot. Why is it that the first women's clothes I remember are on men's bodies? Get me to a shrink!"

22. Lizzy Gardiner (costume designer, The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert) "It's hard to top Audrey Hepburn opening Breakfast at Tiffany's--that black dress, the dark glasses, the opera-length gloves and the tiara. That's one of the most famous costumes in the history of movies. But I also have a special affection for Divine's pink dress in Polyester. America hadn't really explored bad taste before that film."

23. Ashley Judd (actress, Ruby in Paradise) "In Roman Holiday Edith Head proved her unequalled skill with the skirt and white shirt ensemble that Audrey Hepburn wore for the bulk of the movie. It was a casual outfit yet believable as suitable for the proper princess. It lent itself captivatingly to the romantic setting--what with the full skirt--and even managed charming variety-- the sleeves were eventually uncuffed and the collar flipped. The ensemble served the fairy-tale setting and story beautifully. It was simultaneously down-to-earth and wildly magical."

24. Alan Rudolph (director, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle) "Barbara Loden, who played Warren Beatty's sister in Splendor in the Grass, wore a great flapper costume in the party scene. I remember seeing that movie at the La Reina theater in Sherman Oaks. I was a teenager, and that costume really hit me--she had adult breasts."

25. Herbert Ross (director, The Owl and the Pussycat) "The first thing that comes to mind is Barbra Streisand's costume in The Owl and the Pussycat, that outrageous black lace negligee with purple hands painted over the breasts and a silver heart on the crotch. When I was preparing the film, I found that costume in a sleazy sex shop in Times Square. I told Ann Roth, the cos¬tume designer, to imitate that because it was exactly what I wanted. Then, later, I was looking through a book of theater photographs, and there was a picture of Nancy Walker from a Broadway musical called Look, Ma, I'm Dancing. And she was wearing an almost identical outfit with a heart on the crotch. Well, I had played her husband in that show when I was just starting out as a dancer. I had totally forgotten the costume, but something obviously clicked when I saw it again."

26. Michael Tolkin (writer-director, The New Age) "I'd have to choose Barbara Stanwyck's incredibly beautiful white outfit in Meet John Doe. It's the scene where she's sitting at Edward Arnold's table the night of the John Doe rally. She sold out so hard, so fast, so elegantly, and it's all expressed in that costume. Everyone wants costume to express character transformation. That's almost too extreme a transformation, but it works because she looks so great."

27. Ron Shelton (writer-director, White Men Can't Jump) "When I was 17, I saw Dr. No. I think everyone fell in love with Ursula Andress walking out of the sea in that white bikini, as did I. But in a way, what made an even stronger impression on me was Sean Connery's gray suit. After seeing that movie, I went out and bought a gray suit for my graduation. I thought if I wore that, I would behave and score like Sean Connery. It didn't work."

28. Jasmine Guy (actress, "Melrose Place") "My first answer was going to be Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz, with her pinafore and ruby slippers. But ultimately the costume that made the biggest impression on me was Dorothy Dandridge's off-the-shoulder black blouse and tight red skirt in Carmen Jones. Seeing that, I realized how simple sensuality could be."

29. Bruce Davison (actor, Longtime Companion) "The fur bikini outfit that Raquel Welch wore in One Million Years B.C. made quite an impression on me when I was growing up. I don't think I have to tell anyone why."

30. David Paymer (actor, City Hall) "As a kid, I saw The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex and I've never forgotten how Bette Davis looked in those giant hooped skirts, clown-like ruffled collar with her extreme white makeup and shaved head--she scared the hell out of me! Another costume I remember clearly is Daryl Hannah, wearing nothing on top but her strategically placed hair, in that fishtail getup in Splash. It's silly but sexy."

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