How to Decorate Like Our Favorite Female Leads
We’re constantly taking design cues from the silver screen. Cinema routinely doles out inventive and nostalgic set pieces from every decade and bygone era rife with serious interior inspiration. We're of the mind that the proper company is enough to improve upon any scene. And our favorite on-screen female characters want to prove us right. Brimming with charisma, adventurous style interpretations, and larger-than-life bursts of personality—they possess all the qualities we look for in home décor. Allow us to introduce you to our top most emulated icons. Drumroll, please…
From Holly Golightly, Truman Capote’s enigmatic Texas girl–turned–New York socialite in Breakfast at Tiffany’s to the unrivaled adorableness of Woody Allen’s forever crush Annie Hall, the gang's all here. To celebrate this killer lineup of modern muses, we've assembled a range of choice décor musts in their honor. Imitation is the highest form of flattery after all. It's so fetch.
Miss Golightly's East 71st Street Manhattan brownstone is chock-full of unaffected cool. The edited abode is sparsely decorated, filled with found objects that nod to the socialite adventures and cultural happenings. The Givenchy hanging in the closet is without a doubt the biggest splurge in the place. Get the vibe with spirited vintage.
Holly's petite boudoir was outfitted with a bright red Harvard wool stadium blanket. This vintage number pays homage to the Crimson.
"It's useful being top banana in the shock department." Stock up on mid-century brass accessories to usher in all the 1960s glam.
Silhouettes that integrate negative space allow prominent pieces to transition seamlessly in tighter quarters. This Tiffany blue bar is born for entertaining Mag Wildwood and the gang.
Truman Capote's biting voyeuristic prose is a must for any fan of the film. This book of short stories features the witty author's observances of society parties and celebrity encounters galore.
Holly's Brazilian romance inspired a dramatic remodel of her apartment in the film's third act. Take a page from her style revamp and integrate natural hide accents.
The engraved sterling silver telephone dialer is nearly all Paul can afford to buy Holly at Tiffany's with his royalty check. He opts for a Crackerjack ring engravement instead. Proof in spades it's the thought that counts.
As Annie Hall, Diane Keaton nailed the androgynous menswear trend and then some. Take a page from her book with a mix of masculine and feminine silhouettes. Go for pieces that read as intelligent without feeling fussed over.
Tailored furnishings with handsome, organic detail channel the same raw, unaffected sophistication.
Love is too weak a word for what we feel about quiet, edited accessories… with leather embellishments. We luff them—two Fs.
Alvy Singer meets Annie playing tennis doubles with friends. Give a nod to sporting romance via a vintage racquet added to a gallery wall.
The necktie trend enjoyed a celebrated sartorial resurgence after the film's release. Upholstered furnishings in dark or high-sheen hues carry the same emboldened appeal.
"Everything our parents said was good is bad. Sun, milk, red meat… college." We're pretty sure lobster made the grade in Alvy Singer's book. La-di-da.
Our favorite modern broads Abbi Abrams and Ilana Wexler are besties with completely disparate styles. Ilana's all about color and exploration. Abbi's harboring a Bed, Bath & Beyond addiction. Embrace the duo's dauntless spirit with unexpected mixology and statement-making details.
Ilana never shies away from pattern. Go big and bold like our favorite bawdy babe.
Abbi's Bed, Bath & Beyond obsession is well-documented. The ubiquitous purveyor of everything under the sun offers up plenty of storage solutions for studio spaces.
Abbi's apartment features an unforgettable oversize Oprah statement art DIY. We think this splashy colored print would meet with her artistic approval.
Dive into some Z's with a cheeky photo-real duvet set. Pepper in some thrift store finds to balance your modern details… "The four Rs my friend, reduce, reuse, recycle, Rihanna."
This catchphrase needs no introduction. We're queuing a festive banner for summer BBQ décor.
Heartbreak never looked so chic as in Todd Haye's dramatic mid-century saga Carol. The epitome of glamour and restraint, Carol's iconic style is worth emulating. Think jewel tones, tasteful, elevated upgrades, and a glimmer of bold tastemaker cool.
de Gournay Bespoke Hand-Painted Wallpaper (upon request)
There's nothing more old-school glamorous than de Gournay's handpainted chinoiseries. Except probably Cate Blanchett.
Light up the room with some youthful and exuberant cut glass accessories. These iconic beauties are as sculpted as Rooney Mara's cheekbones.
Well-poised furnishings with a dueling aesthetic of restrained elegance and maverick independence echo Carol's fearless personality. This sculpted vintage sofa is a regal showstopper.
Well-travelled, important collectables can be found peppered throughout any society wife's abode. We're entirely taken with the robin's-egg blue hue of this graceful and exotic pair.
Carol was immaculately stylish, even when going on the lam. Decorating with vintage suitcases and trunks leaves one poised for the perfect impromptu getaway.
Okay, so you're probably thinking this is going to be way normal décor for a teenage girl her age. Cher was always ahead of her time. Nobody looks as dope in honeybee yellow plaid and white patent T-straps as the Beverly Hills High babe-in-residence. Get the look with exuberant accessories that make use of imaginative, unexpected materials.
Go for sculptural designs that are way famous. Isn't the design classic? Sort of reminds us of how "the columns date all the way back to 1972" at Cher's house.
Get the '90s vibe with bright color pops that have you thinking Is this like a Noxzema commercial or what? Make a statement and keep the accessories edited.
Pay homage to Cher's iconic teeny-tiny Calvin Klein dress with pared-down white accessories.
"Do you like Billie Holiday?" We love him her. Keeping the emblematic songstress's croons on tap are a must.
Not to be a traitor to her generation and all, but Cher never really succumbed to the grunge trend. Perfectly pink hues embrace her babe-like joie de vivre.
As the girl you love to hate and hate to love, Mean Girls' Regina George is a stone-cold fox. Her style is a mix of showmanship and a devil-may-care attitude. As a trendsetter, her style choices were often imitated. Go in for pieces with plenty of attitude and, by all means, have a signature color.
Take the pink tradition well beyond Wednesday with a shapely and sophisticated elevated perch. You'll need a proper throne to rule your roost. Happy hour is from four to six!
Trade in your little black book for a fetch burn book. We're more into gratitude journaling, but to each his own.
Opt in for handcrafted ceramics. They usher in a lot more soul and character than the plastics.
Regina's beauty myths reached Helen of Troy hyperbole. She met John Stavros on a plane, and her hair was insured for $10,000. A dramatic vanity mirror moment makes for a stunning and statuesque addition anywhere. She'd surely agree.
"Vintage! So adorable." Nope. Regina would keep things contemporary. Bright, painterly décor screams Queen Bee.
With her cropped bob, smoky, coal-lined eyes, and petite Lacoste dress collection, Margot Tenenbaum manages to translate severe looks into something effortlessly chic. A thinker, a poet, an enigma, the secretive author's charm is undeniably distinctive. Bring it home with curious accoutrements that prompt plenty of questions—the answers to which shall remain a mystery.
Scalamandré Masai Red Zebras Wallpaper (upon request)
Scalamandré's signature zebra wallcovering pattern makes a prominent cameo in the Tenenbaum household. We love the bright red pattern for bringing unexpected depth and spirit to a small powder room.
"All memory of the brilliance of the young Tenenbaums had been erased by two decades of betrayal, failure, and disaster," the fallout of which saw Margot chicly chain-smoking in the bathtub with a princess pink rotary phone for hours on end.
Margot and Richie escaped school at age 14 to hide out in an NYC museum. They shared a sleeping bag and survived on crackers and root beer. Curate your own literary escape at home with the help of artful antiques.
We always wanted to be a Tenenbaum, you know? Artist Heather Buchanan's whimsical prints drive the point home.
Stocking up on literature on the sly is ideal for when you need to be secretly in love with someone and leave it at that. Wes Anderson has generously produced a series of replicas from the film. We're flagging these for coffee table conversation pieces.
Who is your favorite on-screen female character of all time? Tell us whose style you're still swooning over in the comments below.