A celebration of the most iconic fashion moments in black film:
Ruth E. Carter's historic win for Best Costume Design at this year's Academy Awards for her work on Black Panther was monumentally deserved—and, ahem, long overdue. We wanted to celebrate not only Carter, but also the many iconic moments of fashion in Black films, and so we asked a group of writers, actors, stylists, and costume designers, from Lena Waithe and Deborah Ayorinde to Kris Harring and Marci Rodgers to weigh in on their favorite looks throughout the years.
"Coming to America's wedding scene when the bride-to-be has a whole royal African performance before her entrance, and the guests are draped in African print cloths and head wraps with vibrant colors and oversized fine gold jewels. It's exactly what I knew African weddings looked like but I was happy to see it getting beautifully covered in America.
Set It Off "Cleo from Set It Off with the straight backs wearing a baggy sweatshirt, denim overalls, holding a 40 oz. in one hand and her girl in the other. I watched Cleo in awe, not because I aspired for a career in crime, but I wanted to evoke that much self-confidence when I grew up with a woman just as fine in my arms, too."—Harring
The Color Purple "I was always in love with Shug Avery from The Color Purple. She had this very glamorous style—glitter, feathers, lingerie as dresses. And this was in a time when, not only were women not [allowed] to be this sexually liberated and open, but to be a Black woman and have the means to own those fabulous pieces? I was impressed."—Danielle Young, writer
"Mahogany gave us some of Diana Ross' most iconic looks, including her purple fur sleeve gown and headpiece that you can still wear today. I also loved that striking braided updo and bib necklace she wore. It calls to mind Solange's braided halo created by Shani Crowe for her Saturday Night Live performance."—Jessica Andrews, fashion features editor at Teen Vogue
Boomerang "Jacqueline might've been a savage, but her clothes were always on-point. There's a scene in which she tells Marcus she'll get back to him on when they can see each other again. He's so brokenhearted by it, not just because of what she's saying, but because of what she's wearing. She's dressed in a stunning burgundy suit that's perfectly tailored to her thin frame. It's a look that always takes my breath away.
"The epitome of what street style was. Filled with rich colors and in-your-face graphics, these costumes were filled with messages without being contrived. I loved the purity of various characters looks. It was the dawn of the '90s, and this film was at the front in ushering in Afrocentric trends and translated what was happening with street culture during that time in Brooklyn, New York.
"The Emerald City sequence in The Wiz is pure cinematic genius. As a fashion obsessive since a young age, I immediately fell in love with the green shiny suits and sequin headpieces, the shimmering gold skirts, the red gowns and feather boas. It's been the inspiration for so many photo shoots I've worked on since."—Andrews
Bessie "Lest we not forget when Mo'Nique and Queen Latifah break and throw away the gender binary as Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith in Bessie. It reminded me that Black women have always been the leaders in culture when it comes to gender and sexuality as performance."—Amber
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