What would film be without fashion? One of the most fundamental storytelling devices we have is the chance, every day, to say something new with what clothes we put on our bodies, and Hollywood knows better than anyone how to make excellent use of style as a secret weapon — whether on the red carpet or the big screen.

 So, if you’re feeling uninspired by the contents of your closet — or feeling extra inspired by Fashion Week runways, red carpets, street style, and other sources of sartorial inspiration — look instead to your TV to fulfill your greatest fashion fantasies. Here are 11 movies you can stream right now that serve major looks, whether in the form of documentaries, narrative films with unforgettable costume design, or stories of stylish individuals from whom we could all learn a thing or two about dressing. Read on for our most glamorous viewing recommendations.

Always Be My Maybe

Romantic comedies are historically a great source of aspirational style, and Always Be My Maybe’s Sasha Tran (Ali Wong) deserves to rank among the Sally Albrights and the Vivian Wards of the genre’s fashion pantheon. Nahnatchka Khan’s quirky rom-com revolves around Sasha and Marcus (Randall Park), two childhood friends who grew up together in San Francisco and meet again as adults on very different paths in their lives. A celebrity chef on the rise, Sasha’s upscale wardrobe (styled by costume designer Leesa Evans) is structural, creative, and distinctly S.F. chic.

Always Be My Maybe

1h 42m   PG-13   2019

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Black Barbie

There are few style icons quite on par with Barbie. The famous fashion doll has been an early introduction to self-expression through clothing for countless children, and continues to endure as a powerful cultural force (as evidenced by the success of Greta Gerwig’s 2023 film). While Barbie’s been around since the late 1950s, however, it took over 20 years before she represented so many of the children who might pick her off a shelf; Lagueria Davis’ 2023 documentary chronicles the history of Black Barbie, launched in 1980, and celebrates the three pioneering women at Mattel whose vision and determination finally made the doll a reality.  

Black Barbie

1h 34m   TV-14   2024

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Call Me Kate

To all the women wearing pants right now: You have four-time Oscar winner Katharine Hepburn to thank. The legendary actor — a famously private person — is the carefully considered subject of Lorna Tucker’s 2022 documentary. Through newly discovered audio and video footage, the film gets to the heart of the fiercely independent star, who was known not only for her inimitable talent but for her singular style as well. A fashion rebel, the always sharply dressed Hepburn wore trousers before it was conventionally acceptable for women, and was instrumental in popularizing the daring look. 

Call Me Kate

1h 26m   TV-14   2022

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Do Revenge

Teen movies have long functioned as vital fashion time capsules, providing inspiration for decades to come, and Jennifer Kaytin Robinson’s Do Revenge easily earns its place in this stylish tradition. The 2022 dark comedy follows a newcomer (Maya Hawke) at an elite prep school who joins forces with a fallen queen bee (Camila Mendes) to get back at their enemies. The film makes conscious references to beloved teen films of the ’90s, including with its impeccable wardrobe: Costume designer Alana Morshead paid homage to films like Clueless and Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion while giving these hip Gen-Z avengers their own, totally fresh look. 

Do Revenge

1h 58m   TV-MA   2022

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Dolemite Is My Name

To heavily paraphrase the film’s protagonist’s alter ego: Dolemite is his name and rocking funky ’70s threads is his game! Oscar-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter created the decadent wardrobe for Craig Brewer’s Dolemite Is My Name, a lively biopic about Rudy Ray Moore (Eddie Murphy), the filmmaker and comedian best known for inventing and portraying Dolemite, a character who first appeared in Moore’s 1975 blaxploitation film named after the outrageous figure — whose clothes were just as larger-than-life as his persona.

Dolemite Is My Name

1h 58m   R   2019

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Ehrengard: The Art of Seduction

The wardrobe in Bille August’s Ehrengard: The Art of Seduction has no less than a royal pedigree: The 2023 Danish film’s costumes (and sets) were designed by the Queen of Denmark herself, Margrethe II (who abdicated in early 2024). The rom-com period drama, based on Isak Dinesen’s 1963 novella Ehrengard, revolves around an artist, Cazotte (Mikkel Boe Følsgaard), who is hired by the royal family to educate a prince in the art of seduction — only to fall in love himself with the lovely Ehrengard (Alice Bier Zandén). Pair the delectable romance with the behind-the-scenes featurette Lifting the Veil, in which the queen provides insight into her gorgeous costumes.  

Ehrengard: The Art of Seduction

1h 34m   TV-MA   2023

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HOMECOMING: A film by Beyoncé

Before Renaissance, there was Beychella. And for those of us who weren’t lucky enough to be in attendance for Beyoncé’s history-making 2018 Coachella set, there is the pop goddess-directed Homecoming, a concert film capturing that spectacle and its extensive preparations in thrilling detail. The careful art of Beychella wasn’t only found in Bey’s astonishing performance, however; her costumes, custom-made by Balmain’s Olivier Rousteing, contributed to the show’s joyful celebration of Black American culture with sartorial references to Nefertiti and HBCUs — and that’s not to mention Rousteing’s vision for a new decade of matching Destiny’s Child stage wear.

HOMECOMING: A film by Beyoncé

2h 17m   TV-MA   2019

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Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold

It wasn’t only on the page that Joan Didion had great style. The late writer could craft a look with just as much precision as she did a sentence, perfectly embodying ’70s California cool. The Center Will Not Hold, a documentary from filmmaker Griffin Dunne (Didion’s nephew), chronicles her brilliant literary life — and captures some great style moments along the way. Watch the film for inspiration, and save her famous packing list for the next time you go out of town.

Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold

1h 38m   TV-14   2017

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Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Stars Viola Davis and the late Chadwick Boseman may have made the most headlines for their phenomenal turns in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom — as blues legend Ma Rainey and fictional trumpeter Levee Green, respectively — but Ann Roth’s Oscar-winning costume design deserves some love, too. George C. Wolfe’s drama takes place during a tense recording session with the influential singer and her band, and Roth’s exquisite period costumes expertly evoke 1920s Chicago (keep an eye out especially for Ma’s glitzy looks in onstage flashbacks).

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

1h 34m   R   2020

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Persuasion

Bridgerton gets a lot of attention for its romantic period costumes with a modern twist, but Carrie Cracknell’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s Persuasion is here for another original take on early 19th-century style. In dressing Dakota Johnson’s Anne Elliot — who reconnects with a man she once loved, years after she left him, to find him still single but newly wealthy and distinguished — costume designer Marianne Agertoft referenced Patti Smith and Audrey Hepburn while also embracing the fashion conventions of the era. The look is still Regency — but just a little more rock ’n’ roll.

Persuasion

1h 49m   PG   2022

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White Hot: The Rise & Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch

This one’s for the mall kids: The documentary White Hot traces the explosive success and spectacular downfall of Abercrombie & Fitch from the ’90s into the early  ’00s, when the then-trendsetting brand’s toxic culture and discriminatory hiring practices came to light. Alison Klayman’s doc, which features interviews with various former corporate employees and plaintiffs from a 2003 class-action lawsuit against the retailer, brings back a moment so vividly you can practically smell it — an overwhelming fragrance that the real mall kids could recognize anywhere.

White Hot: The Rise & Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch

1h 28m   TV-14   2022

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