Maverick - Top Gun (1986)
John Shaft - Shaft (1971)
The Look: Richard Roundtree’s private dick who got all the chicks in Shaft was the very essence of early ‘70s street cool. The leather jacket and polo neck marked John Shaft out as a man not to be messed with. Can you dig it?
Key Garment: Shaft’s polo neck – this is a detective who will never get chilly.
Hilts - The Great Escape (1963)
The Look: Only Steve McQueen could make a plain blue sweatshirt and a pair of dirty cream khakis look like objects of desire, but as mouthy American Hilts in The Great Escape , he did exactly that. Sure, he was helped out by a roaring motorcycle, but there can be no doubt that Steve McQueen made World War II look good.
Key Garment: A blue sweatshirt with the arms cut off: POW chic.
The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night (1964)
The Look: A Hard Day's Night cemented the image of the fresh-faced, suited and booted Beatles into the popular consciousness forever, just as they were on the cusp of making it bigger than any band before or since. Great tunes, great haircuts and a wardrobe to kill for – music movies don't get any better than this.
Key Garment: The early '60s just wouldn't have been the same without those crisp suits.
Bill Cutting - Gangs Of New York (2002)
The Look: Part rarefied dandy, part barely concealed ball of rage, Daniel Day Lewis' psychotic street warlord in Gangs Of New York brought a whole new meaning to butchery. Brutality and fine tailoring don't usually go together so well.
Key Garment: It takes a real man to wear a stove pipe hat of those dimensions, and Bill the Butcher makes it his own.
Johnny Strabler - The Wild One (1953)
The Look: Marlon Brando’s biker in The Wild One sports one of the most influential looks on this list, with everyone from Elvis to Shia LaBeouf ripping off the iconic cap and leather jacket combo. Greasy sideburns, blue jeans and a Triumph motorcycle helped cement the image as the go-to look for Hollywood bikers.
Key Garment: Black leather jackets were never the same again.
Ron Burgundy - Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
The Look: Burgundy by name, Burgundy by design: Will Farrell’s Anchorman has become one of the most quoted comedy characters of the modern age, and the combination of perfectly coiffed hair and seventies suit was the perfect look for him. He’s kind of a big deal, you know.
Key Garment: The spotless suit.
Dororthy - The Wizard Of Oz (1939)
The Look: A gingham dress, blue hair bow and of course those ruby slippers almost trumped the special effects that helped make The Wizard Of Oz such a huge success. Judy Garland’s Dorothy just wanted to go home, but her all-American little girl lost wardrobe has stayed firmly in the public imagination.
Key Garment: Dorothy’s ruby slippers have become the most revered footwear in film history.
Alex DeLarge - A Clockwork Orange (1971)
The Look: If Malcolm McDowell’s ultra-violent Beethoven lover didn’t look like he was about to gut you, his outfit could be considered faintly ridiculous. Sporting a bowler hat, granddad shirt, braces and codpiece with a serious pair of boots to top the whole thing off, Alex and his Droogs stomped their way into cinematic history.
Key Garment: Bowler hats weren’t made for this sort of thing – which is probably why they work so well in this context.
Wolverine - X-Men (2000)
The Look: Coating a man’s bones with an indestructible metal gives him a certain swagger, and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine is bursting with attitude. Part biker, part wild-man, the leather jacket and claws look helped transform Wolverine from a Marvel fan favourite into the biggest star to emerge from the X-Men franchise.
Key Garment: The leather jacket – could there be any other choice?
