Books & Movies, Style

Timeless Style Inspiration from The Parent Trap

We all have those childhood movies that we watched a hundred times or more, can quote every word of, and still think about today–well, mine (and my best friends’) was the 1998 version of The Parent Trap. Who doesn’t want to visit Parker Knoll and live in the James family townhouse? And the clothes. I could go on all day about how just about every outfit in that film could still be worn today.

My best friends and I have a very active group chat and it seems that not a week goes by without sending a reference to that film. Recently, we exchanged comments about the wardrobe in the film and I thought, I need to write a post about this. And so here I am. (Anna Page’s recent Instagram post was perfection, and just what I was picturing!)

I think about this dress on a weekly basis (and these interiors; this bedroom and the folding screen is what dreams are made of!) (Photo credit: The Parent Trap, 1998)

Is there a movie that you still think about, style-wise, years later? I have always coveted the dress Elizabeth James wears for her first appearance in the film and recently stumbled across an amazing (and sleeved!) substitute in Classic Six’s Twiggy Dress. I am obsessed. I’m more in a knee-length phase of my life at the moment but I may need to make an exception for this dress because I’ve been thinking about it since 1998. (Or get the navy version and wear it with tights all fall and winter.)

Obviously, some of the outfits are easier to track down–the jeans-and-Ralph-Lauren-oxford combo, for instance, which is an outfit I still wear on repeat to this day. I have found that the boys’ oxford* actually gives me the boxier look I like the best (here is a link to the men’s oxford* for the same look but in larger sizing). I’m on the hunt for a good pair of straight-legged jeans for the fall (I can’t believe we’re almost getting ready for back-to-school shopping, it’s so hard to believe!) and I’m debating the color of my next pair of Belgians to complete the look.

If you’re equally as obsessed with The Parent Trap as I am, what is the look you’d most like to recreate?

3 thoughts on “Timeless Style Inspiration from The Parent Trap

  1. I love this post (and movie)! We just recently let our daughter watch the movie, and she’s now equally obsessed. So I’ve watched this movie probably every week this summer and have been Googling the looks as we watch. I think my personal favorite is Elizabeth’s trench coat look next to the powder blue girls’ suit/headband combo. I also can’t get enough of the townhouse and am trying to figure out which Farrow & Ball colors the set designer used.

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