Best Dressed: Wes Anderson’s Most Stylish On-Screen Characters

As the writer and director turns 51 we celebrate by rounding up the most fashionable ladies from the Anderson universe.

As the famous storyteller celebrates his birthday this month we take a retrospective look at best fashions from all of his movies. Just like Tom Ford, Anderson is a director who really understands the importance of fashion in film. The costumes in his movies are just as essential to the story as the plot and meticulously designed sets.

In a world of pastels and candy colors, Anderson has successfully created a unique visual language. His dreamy aesthetic has overspilled into IRL, with every hipster spot curating a “Wes Anderson Aesthetic”. The director has also inspired the fashion world, in 2013 he worked with Prada on a short film. Then in 2015, he redesigned the Prada café at the Fondazione Prada arts center in Milan. His influence can also be seen on the runways of Gucci and Miu Miu. Alessandro Michele’s earlier collections for Gucci evoke a strong Wes Anderson vibe.

Italian costume designer Milena Canonero has worked with Anderson on four of his films, including the upcoming “French Dispatch”. Speaking on the experience Canonero said that Anderson “is very specific, He wants input and ideas. The “look” of the characters evolve over the course of much discussion. I work closely with production and cinematography, so that everything comes together as a whole—especially in the overall color palette of the movie. Colors have their own music, and Wes cares a lot that they are the right notes.”

Throughout his career, Anderson has created a troupe of indie-heroines that vintage-fashion obsessed millennials love. The troubled runaway Suzy with her blue eyes shadow, peter pan collar mini-dresses, cute knee socks and, pink beret. Then there’s Margot Tenabomb, the former child prodigy with a blonde bob and single red barrette. The offbeat character wears a striped Lacoste dress and a mink fur coat. IRL the coat was custom made by Fendi and Margot’s signature bag was an Hermès Birkin. When you think of “The Darjeeling Limited” the first scene that comes to mind is (Jack’s Ex-Girlfriend) Natalie Portman sat up in bed in that yellow hotel room. Dressed in a matching yellow robe with a towel wrapped around her head (an ideal quarantine look?). In “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” there’s a glamorous cameo from Isabella Blow wearing Philip Treacy, and theirs Anne-Marie, the female intern that loves to wear a headscarf.

Take a look at the slideshow below to see all of our favorite style moments from Wes Anderson movies.

Margot - The Royal Tenenbaums
Margot – The Royal Tenenbaums
Suzy - Moonrise Kingdom
Suzy – Moonrise Kingdom
Jack's Ex-girlfriend - The Darjeeling Limited
Jack’s Ex-girlfriend – The Darjeeling Limited
Madame D - The Grand Budapest Hotel
Madame D – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Rita - The Darjeeling Limited
Rita – The Darjeeling Limited
Anne-Marie-The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Anne-Marie-The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Agatha - The Grand Budapest Hotel
Agatha – The Grand Budapest Hotel
The French Dispatch
The French Dispatch
Social Services - Moonrise Kingdom
Social Services – Moonrise Kingdom
Antonio Cook - The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Antonio Cook – The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Etheline - The Royal Tenenbaums
Etheline – The Royal Tenenbaums
The Birds - Moonrise Kingdom
The Birds – Moonrise Kingdom
Patricia + the Nuns -The Darjeeling Limited
Patricia + the Nuns –The Darjeeling Limited
Clotilde -The Grand Budapest Hotel
Clotilde –The Grand Budapest Hotel
Eleanor - The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Eleanor – The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Discover More