13 Seemingly Simple Details That Made Celebrity Looks Iconic

5 years ago

Many of us don’t like certain parts of our bodies, are shy about wearing glasses, or don’t know how to create a cool look that is not vulgar. We should learn from these stars who can make anything look cool — like gloves, shoes, and even ribbons in their hair.

We at Bright Side have dug through photo archives and found the stylish details that celebrities used to spice up their looks. And in the bonus, you will see a character from a TV series that made the shoes of her favorite brand really popular.

1. Frida Kahlo — flower crown

When she was still alive, the artist was a fashion icon and in 2012, her photograph was on the cover of Vogue. The elements of her iconic look are multi-layered embroidered clothes, attractive ethnic accessories, and flowers in her hair. The flower crowns reminded Frida about her home — Mexico and they helped her deal with dark thoughts.

2. Marilyn Monroe — light-colored fur

The most famous blonde woman in Hollywood had a lot of different fur coats and collars that she easily combined with her other clothes. Marilyn could just wear a fur coat on top of a cocktail dress and attract a lot of looks at any event. A fur stole that she wore for 2 premiers was sold at an auction for almost $18,000.

3. Catherine Deneuve — shoes with a metal buckle

The film Belle de Jour made not only Catherine Deneuve famous, but also the Roger Vivier shoes. It is believed that the shoes could tell a lot about the main character’s feelings which is why the camera often showed her legs. After the release of the film, the shoes became popular really fast and the actress still works with Roger Vivier today.

4. Brigitte Bardot — hair ribbons

In Viva Maria!, the actress wore 2 black hair ribbons. The idea was really popular and Bardot continued to wear these ribbons in her everyday life. Stylists think that Bardot didn’t try to look more feminine, she was just mocking her own image of a seductress.

5. Grace Kelly — headband and Hermes bag

When she just started dating the Prince of Monaco, Grace chose very simple clothes and wore elegant hairbands. And she also often had her black Hermes bag: she covered her belly with it to hide the signs of pregnancy from journalists. Later, this bag model was named after the princess.

6. Michael Jackson — white glove

Almost all of the things that the king of pop wore became iconic. But the most popular one was the white glove the singer first wore on stage in 1983. People say that Michael tried to draw attention to how his hand moved and also hide his vitiligo. Michael himself said that one glove was cooler than 2.

7. Iris Apfel — giant glasses

This amazing 99-year-old woman became famous not only thanks to her interior design work, but also her edgy looks. When she was a child, Apfel found interesting frames for glasses and always thought that they were a cool accessory. And her glasses became really trendy: people specifically look for glasses just like hers.

8. Jane Birkin — wicker basket

In the ’80s, Hermes released a Birkin bag that the actress chose the draft for. Before that, she couldn’t find the right bag which is why she always had a wicker basket with her. People in a Portuguese village carry fish in these baskets and Birkin bought one of them.

9. Lady Gaga — shoes with huge soles

In the “Bad Romance” video, the singer appeared in a pair of iconic shoes from Alexander McQueen. The shoes on 12-inch heels were the best match for the extravagant Lady Gaga’s style. She quickly realized this and still continues to amaze the public with her choice of shoes: just remember her “meat” boots.

10. Karl Lagerfeld — fingerless gloves

The designer didn’t just wear his famous gloves, he made them part of his image. He thought that this way, his fingers looked longer and he himself appeared more powerful. There is a different version of this story — when he was a child, his mom told him that he had unattractive hands and he wanted to hide them, even when he grew up.

11. Elton John — unusual glasses

The singer made star- and heart-shaped glasses popular and his personal collection contains more than 250,000 pairs of glasses. Elton started hiding his eyes behind the glasses at the age of 13 because his idol, legendary singer Buddy Holly, did the same thing.

12. Kurt Cobain — woolen cardigan

The leader of Nirvana didn’t really care about his look. He wore baggy jeans and old T-shirts. But the green cardigan that he wore on MTV Unplugged became iconic. Recently, someone bought it for $334,000.

13. John Lennon — round glasses

Since he was a child, John was nearsighted and he first wore glasses on the set of How I Won the War. Over time, he found a model that he liked, he wore golden frames and started wearing darkened lenses. At the age of 31, he needed −8.25 and −7.5 diopter glasses — he couldn’t even see his guitar without them.

Bonus: Carrie Bradshaw — Manolo Blahnik shoes

The blue shoes played a big role in Sex and the City because the character played by Sarah Jessica Parker wore them during her wedding.

The shoes became iconic, they are loved by Hollywood stars and the members of the British royal family. Princess Diana wore black Manolo Blahniks with her famous revenge dress and Meghan Markle chose the beige color for a photoshoot with her newborn son.