Top 10 Most Influential Fashion Icons Of All Time
Each fashion moment had an icon we will always remember. They are the women that inspired millions and offered precious style advice that we will always follow, they are the Most Influential Fashion Icons Of All Time | Top 10.
Even the greatest fashion stylists of our times admit they were always inspired by a great fashion icon. Sometimes it’s Jane Birkin, Audrey Hepburn or other great names.
From the Givenchy black dress in Breakfast at Tiffany’s to Kate Middleton’s wrap dresses, it’s all here!
10Michelle Obama
Michelle Obama, being the wife of the 44th and current President of the United States, Barack Obama, and the first African-American First Lady of the United States has lots of people watching her.
And she knows that, so she takes really good care of the way she dresses. From the moment her husband hit the campaign trail, people have been closely following Michelle’s version of power dressing.
Michelle both knows what works best on her body and is clearly a longtime lover of fashion.
We’ve seen in her closet brands like Jason Wu, Narciso Rodriguez, Zero + Maria Cornejo, J.Crew, Rodarte, Talbots, or Azzedine Alaïa. Her support of young, and lesser-known designers like Jason Wu, Thakoon and Isabel Toldeo is unwavering and admirable.
Her signature items are colorful prints, figure-grazing shift dresses, shoulder and arm-baring gowns, feminine details, cardigans and belted styles. Her efforts have landed her on Vanity Fair’s International Best-Dressed List for four years running.
9Kate Middleton
When Kate became the Duchess of Cambridge, people were basically obsessed with her and the whole world was admiring the way she dressed.
Since capturing Prince William’s heart, Kate Middleton’s every move has been diligently chronicled by the British press — including where she shops for clothes.
We are all aware of the fact that she sometimes creates her outfits with less expensive clothes. For everyday wear Middleton appreciates the easy versatility of a good dress, particularly wrap styles or a floral print by designers like DVF, Joseph, Reiss and Issa.
Her signature items are statement hats, tailored suits, wrap dresses, navy and neutral color palette. I wish more celebrities of the moment would learn from her style.
8Jackie O.
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was the wife of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and First Lady of the United States during his presidency from 1961 until his assassination in 1963.
Before Jackie, a politician’s wife was never to detract attention away from her husband, but since her, all that changed. She grew up between New York and an East Hampton estate, was an accomplished equestrienne, a society presence and debutante of the year in 1947.
The First Lady favored empire-waist gowns, sensible heels, gloves and streamlined suits with knee-length skirts and 3/4 sleeves.
Besides Cassini, Jackie also pulled pieces from Dior, Givenchy and Chanel, the designer behind her most iconic look: the pink boucle suit and matching pillbox hat she was wearing when her husband was assassinated.
7Grace Kelly
This American film actress became the Princess of Monaco as she married Prince Rainier III. But she was already looking like a princess before that moment.
Grace Kelly had a natural, quiet elegance that shone through both on and off screen. Even before she became a real-life princess, Kelly was known for her ladylike ‘50s look, which consisted of pearls, ladylike coats, and feminine dresses that are timeless even today.
Kelly was drawn to unfussy designs by couturiers like Balenciaga, Yves Saint Laurent, Dior and Givenchy, or alternatively, classic preppy fare like khakis, which she often paired with crisp button-downs and a printed silk scarf.
She is the one that made Hermes bags famous when she used a boxy crocodile bag by Hermes to conceal her growing baby bump. The bag quickly became famous and so Hermes renamed it in her honor; thus was born the Kelly bag.
6Kate Moss
We all know Katherine Ann “Kate” Moss, the English model who rose to fame in the early 1990s as part of the heroin chic fashion trend. In 2007, TIME magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Her controversial life did not affect her amazing sense of style.
Wellies, denim cutoffs, men’s blazers, skinny jeans, ballet flats, skull scarves, fringy boots, fur chubbies, motorcycle boots, shrunken vests…basically, everything you’ve had or wanted to have in your closet over the past ten years first appeared on the back, foot, neck, or arm of the supermodel.
5Jane Birkin
Jane Birkin is still the inspiration of many great stylists of the moment and a famous fashion icon.
Hermes’ renowned Birkin bag is named after the British actress, who captured a free-spirited, bohemian-inspired style in the ‘60s–think: slightly sheer blouses, micro shorts, and flared jeans–that felt decidedly French.
What’s the story of the bag we all love? In 1981, Hermès chief executive Jean-Louis Dumas was seated next to Birkin on a flight from Paris to London. Birkin had just placed her straw bag in the overhead compartment of her seat, but the contents fell to the floor, leaving her to scramble to replace the contents.
Birkin explained to Dumas that it had been difficult to find a leather weekend bag she liked. In 1984, he created a black supple leather bag for her: the Birkin bag, based on an 1892 design.
4Marilyn Monroe
The American actress, model, and singer, who became a major sex symbol stared in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s and early 1960s.
She was also an important fashion icon, as her white dress and red lipstick look is still copied by many fashionistas of our times. After all, she’s the original blonde bombshell.
During her brief life, Monroe sported what are now considered some of the most iconic outfits of all time: the billowing white halter-neck dress worn over a subway grate in The Seven Year Itch, the pink satin strapless number with opera-length gloves and layers of sparkling jewels in Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend, and the sheer, skin-colored, rhinestone-encrusted dress she had to be sewn into to sing “Happy Birthday” to JFK.
And that’s just a few of her outfits.
3Sarah Jessica Parker
On and off screen, she is one of the biggest fashion icons ever. She is known for her leading role as Carrie Bradshaw on the HBO television series Sex and the City, for which she won four Golden Globe Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Emmy Awards.
With stylist Patricia Field hovering off-screen, Sarah Jessica Parker’s alter ego made Manolo Blahnik a household name and popularized off-beat accessories from flower pins to nameplate necklaces—not to mention legitimizing spending as a form of empowerment, therapy, and, above all, fun.
From the classic pink tutu, to the Vivienne Westwood wedding dress, Carrie Bradshaw offered us many great outfits. And so does Sarah Jessica Parker in her everyday life.
2Coco Chanel
Well, this is simple. There is nothing I can say to convince you that she deserves her spot in this list. Let’s just remember all the great stuff she did.
With her trademark suits and little black dresses, fashion designer Coco Chanel created timeless designs that are still popular today.
Opening her first shop on Paris’s Rue Cambon in 1910, Chanel started out selling hats. She later added stores in Deauville and Biarritz and began making clothes.
Her first taste of clothing success came from a dress she fashioned out of an old jersey on a chilly day. In response to the many people who asked about where she got the dress, she offered to make one for them.
“My fortune is built on that old jersey that I’d put on because it was cold in Deauville,” she once told author Paul Morand.
1Audrey Hepburn
The ultimate fashion icon, the finest lady of all times is of course Audrey Hepburn. Maybe it’s because of her ballerina silhouette, her kind heart or her joyful attitude.
Of one thing I am certain: Audrey knew how to dress with style and she inspired lot of women while doing that.
Hepburn was the picture of pared-down elegance both on and off screen. In fact, her character’s fashion sense was often influenced by her own. Her secret was that she knew you don’t have to try too hard. She just found what looks good on her and decided to stick to that.
Who could forget the men’s-style button-down worn by Princess Ann in Roman Holiday, belted with a long skirt and flat sandals or the black Givenchy dress?
I’ve already shared with you the precious Style Lessons From Audrey Hepburn |Top 10.
Next time you don’t know what outfit to choose, think what would one of these fashion icons.
Which one of them is your source of inspiration?
