7 Iconic Celebrity Looks You Can Recreate

Some celebrity looks are so iconic that they never leave the public imagination.


For example, the outfit, dubbed by the media “the revenge dress,” worn by Princess Diana in 1994 on her first public appearance shortly after Prince Charles’s announcement that their marriage had irrevocably broken down, has been recreated by many other ordinary people and celebrities since then.


When it comes to hair, it’s hard to imagine anyone who will ever match Tina Turner’s wild and larger-than-life hair.


The magazine Marie Clair has a solution for anyone who wants to try: “It’s difficult to pull off hair that big in the real world but get yourself a wig, and you’ll win best dressed at every fancy dress party you go to.”


We have put together seven iconic celebrity looks you can recreate if you are wondering what to wear on your next outing. We feature some iconic individuals, including Princess Diana, Lady Gaga, and Tina Turner.


WHAT IS AN ICONIC LOOK?

Rajib Mukherjee of PictureCorrect.com defines an iconic image using phrases like “provokes,” forces an “involuntary show of emotion,” and “mesmerizes.” Even though his definition focuses on images, it can easily be transferred to anything else described as iconic.


Writing for TechnologyStudent.com, V. Ryan introduces another crucial phrase when defining iconic: groundbreaking. This means that an idea defined as iconic sets a new standard in a specific area.


Ryan adds that when something is called iconic, it becomes the standard that others in the field follow as it turns into a benchmark. He also proposes that for something to be referred to as iconic, it has to stand up to the test of time.


Now that we have an idea of what an iconic look is, let’s look at some of the iconic celebrity looks you can recreate.


1 PRINCESS DIANA’S REVENGE DRESS

In an article published by the magazine Elle, Lauren Puckett-Pope writes, “Throughout her short but extraordinary life, Diana, Princess of Wales, deployed fashion as a weapon.”


Rachel Tashjian of Vanity Fair magazine cites Eleri Lynn, who curated the exhibition “Diana: Her Fashion Story,” agreeing with the statement above. Lynn says, “What really set Diana apart was her ability to communicate with her clothing.”


If anyone doubted that Lady Diana knew how to speak using her clothes, those doubts were laid to rest on November 20, 1994, when the princess attended the Vanity Fair party at the Serpentine Gallery in London.


Penny Goldstone of the Magazine Marie Claire tells the story behind the “revenge dress.” She reports that earlier on November 20, 1994, a documentary about the princess’s then estranged husband, Prince Charles, had revealed that the prince had been unfaithful to the princess.


As if she were on a revenge mission, Lady Diana would step out into the evening in a dress Goldstone calls the “mother of all dresses.”


Lady Diana’s stylist is quoted saying that the princess had selected the dress because she wanted to “look like a million dollars.” There is no doubt that Lady Diana went on to look like a million dollars that evening, in the process creating the iconic look we all remember.


Suppose you, too, want to get an idea of what it feels like to rock the revenge dress and feel like a million dollars. In that case, Puckett-Pope has some suggestions on where you can shop for Princess Diana’s most iconic outfits.


2 TINA TURNER’S BIG BALL OF HAIR

Say the name Tina Turner and everyone will remember the iconic ball of hair the “What’s love got to do with it singer” became famous for. But did not you know that Turner revealed that she was “a little nervous” about what potential suitors would think about her wig?


The lifestyle magazine Essence reports that even though Turner started her singing career under the nickname ‘Little Ann,’ “there was nothing little about that talent, that voice, and that hair.” We agree fully.


Essence.com follows Turner’s hair moments, telling the story of how her hair seemed to evolve as her music career also changed. The magazine refers to the 1980s when the singer rebranded herself as a solo artist when she “reclaimed her place at the top of the charts with songs like Private Dancer, What’s Love Got To Do With It, and The Best.”


Referring to her hair, the magazine adds, “In this era, Tina’s hair became truly iconic – a statement of texture and volume, meant to be worn wild.”


You will probably have it easy if you want to recreate the Tina Turner look. All you need is a great wig.


3 LADY GAGA’S MEAT DRESS

Lady Gaga is not afraid of capturing the limelight. Anyone who still doubts this assessment was probably living under a rock when Lady Gaga stepped in front of the cameras at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, wearing what came to be known as the “meat dress.”


In an article published by EOline.com, Mike Vulpo explains why Lady Gaga decided that the meat dress was the best option for the occasion: “Well, that’s a great way to make sure that everybody leaves you alone at a party.”


On a more serious note, Vulpo reports that Lady Gaga had worn the dress to make a political statement against the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in the US military. He quotes the singer, “We decided to do the meat dress because I thought to myself if we were willing to die for your country, what does it matter how you identify.”


Do you want to recreate the iconic meat dress look? Check out the video from the YouTube Channel ShiSha Raibow below to get started:


4 ELIZABETH TAYLOR AS CLEOPATRA

It may be over six decades now since moviegoers flocked to the theatres to watch the film  “Cleopatra,” a movie David Belcher of the New York Times describes as “more famous for a scandalous love affair offscreen than the love story from antiquity that was all but lost in the nearly four-hour running time.”


Elizabeth Taylor was the Egyptian queen in the movie. The romance that would later blossom between Taylor and Richard Burton, who played Mark Antony, was described by David Kamp as “the scandalous romance.”


However, there would be nothing scandalous if you wanted to recreate the Cleopatra look. Check out the YouTube video below that provides a step-by-step tutorial on how to recreate the look:


5 HALLE BERRY’S MESH, FLOWER EMBROIDERED, AND TAFFETA DRESS

When Daisy Murray put together a list of 33 most iconic dresses of all time for Elle.com, she featured Halle Berry’s mesh, flower embroidered, and taffeta dress by Elie Saab on number 14.


If you watched the actress walk up the stage at the 2002 Oscars for the Best Actress award, that dress is probably as fresh in your mind as it is in ours.


The dress Berry wore to collect the award for her role in Monster’s Ball may have made all of us sit up straight, but it certainly wasn’t the only time the actress wowed us. Zoë Kendall of the inspiration and fashion culture magazinei-D Vice presents 7 of Halle Berry’s most iconic outfits.


6 ARIANA GRANDE’S SKY-HIGH PONYTAIL

Move over Tina Turner, a new queen of hair is in town, and her name is Ariana Grande. Yes, we understand that we are comparing apples to oranges here, but you get the point.


Grande’s ponytail is so iconic that Rachel Lubitz of the Vice Media Group-owned Refinery29.com suggests, “To know Ariana Grande is to know her love for a dramatic ponytail.” Lubitz adds, “In music videos, her signature sky-high pony has gotten its own choreography.”


The good news is that recreating Grande’s ponytail is not rocket science. Molly Shea of the New York Post has published an article detailing how you can rock a high ponytail like Ariana Grande.


An article published by Cosmopolitan.com contains a video showing Grande’s hairstylist recreating the ponytail.


7 VICTORIA BECKHAM’S “POB”

Victoria Beckham is a big deal. After all, she was part of the 1990s music group Spice Girls, she married David Beckham, one of the greatest soccer players of our time, and she has her own fashion label.


Writing about the many hats that Beckham wears – literally and figuratively – Vogue’s Jamie Stoker reports, “… accompanying each career and image change [is] an era-defining hairstyle copied the world over.”


One of Beckham’s most iconic looks is the hairstyle known as the “Pob.” The style has been associated with Beckham to the extent that it’s now famously known as Posh’s bob. The former Spice Girl has taught us all that short hair can indeed be sexy.


REMEMBER YOU

Let’s add the eighth look you should always recreate: you.


As you can see from the celebrities we feature above; it’s pretty easy to recreate some of the most iconic celebrity looks of our time. However, we must say that no matter which celebrity look you choose, remember to include you in that picture.


Recreating a celebrity look doesn’t mean that you totally discard yourself. The celebrity look comes across as authentic if you are creative and willing to highlight your best features.