Dressing for summer is a daunting endeavor. As temperatures spike and humidity rises, trying to stay cool while maintaining even the smallest modicum of sartorial finesse can be… challenging, to say the least. Of course, on the big screen, summer is all golden light, dewy skin, and effortless, elegant fashion. Which is to say, an evocative—if idealized—version of those warm-weather days which lie ahead.
Movies have long served as a heady landscape for matters of style, none more so than summer flicks, and their dreamy escapism in both plot and clothes. Of course, The Talented Mr. Ripley is the exemplar of summer style movies: the Amalfi Coast allure contrasting with all that mistaken identity and murder. Then there’s Call Me By Your Name—young and forbidden love blossoming amid rumpled resortwear and retro sportswear.
All while those remain guiding lights for all who want to bring a touch of the cinematic to the drudgery of summer dressing, they are a bit, well… on the nose. We here at Vogue looked to some deeper cuts that may be unconventional, but still provide plenty of unexpected aesthetic stimulus. From vampires in their draping robes to bad girl outlaws in their ratty tees and slim jeans, here is a list of our undersung summer style movies.
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)
©Amazon/Courtesy Everett Collection / Everett Collection
A strange, hazy film about students who go missing from a girls school class trip set in Australia in 1900, Picnic at Hanging Rock is a bit of a Victorian fever dream. Clad in creamy white dresses, the gauzy decorum of their clothes is in stark contrast to the weirdness that encroaches on them. A fabulously odd, mesmeric movie filled with Chloé-like frocks, lace blouses ,and ground-skimming skirts. The costume design makes it all the more bewitching. If I were a girl, I’d be dressed in these sinewy layers of eggshell all summer long, practicality be damned! —Max Berlinger, senior fashion news editor
