Screen Stars as Style Icons: an Examination of Audrey Hepburn and Sarah Jessica Parker

Through the examination of two film stars from different eras, Audrey Hepburn and Sarah Jessica Parker, this major research project (MRP) will examine how style icons are created. In order to achieve iconic style status, one must have a distinct and instantly recognizable look that represents new cultural ideals and appeals to a wide group of people. Style icons must actively participate in the fashion industry, taking a place on a creative side of the process by collaborating with designers, advertising fashion brands, and advocating and promoting fashion trends; this helps to establish their authority. Consumers of fashion also play an important role in the process. Screen narratives help actresses to embody the myths that are as repetitive and consistent as their looks circulating in the media. Through fashion, style icons represent these myths and embed them in culture. In return, they are regarded as cultural heroes and style icons.