Top 10 Iconic Jackets in Film

Whether it be for a costume party or every day life, movies have always had a huge influence on the way people dress. When Marlon Brando started wearing plain white t-shirts on screen, sales of these shirts skyrocketed. When Clark Gable stopped wearing undershirts in It Happened One Night, men around the country started doing the same. People love to look like Hollywood's finest, and what better way to do this than by dressing like them?

And so, here we'll take a look at one piece of clothing that people are always trying to get their hands on once they see it on film: the jacket.

Honorable Mention: Stuntman Mike's Satin Racing Jacket - Death Proof

10. Bane's Jacket - The Dark Knight Rises

Bane is an undeniably cool looking character, and it isn't just because of his mask. I've yet to meet a single person who saw The Dark Knight Rises and didn't comment on how cool this jacket was, or how much they'd like one for themselves. This jacket comes to us from Christopher Nolan and Lindy Hemming, who both designed Bane's costumes. 

9. The Joker's Overcoat - The Dark Knight & Batman

Yet another Batman-related selection is the Joker's overcoat. While Christopher Nolan may have radically reinvented the character, Heath Ledger's Joker still sports the iconic purple overcoat that Jack Nicholson did in Tim Burton's Batman (and in all the comics, of course). This jacket was so popular that after the 2008 release of The Dark Knight, Hot Topics around the country had Joker coats on their shelves.

8. The T-Birds' Leather Jacket - Grease

Whether or not you actually enjoy Grease, you can't deny that these leather jackets are cool. Of course, this wasn't the first time anyone had seen a black motorcycle jacket, but this is surely the most memorable appearance. 

7. Neo's Trenchcoat - The Matrix 

There's no denying that one of the most famous things about The Matrix is Neo's strange attire while inside the machine. The Matrix is a film with a very distinct visual style, and the trenchcoat was a big part of that, inspiring every goth anti-hero's wardrobes for years afterwards. Much like in Grease, this surely wasn't the first time anyone had seen a black trenchcoat. Any wrestling fan could tell you that the Undertaker was rocking one years before Neo ever did, but The Matrix is what really made the trenchcoat iconic and memorable. 

6. Jack's Blazer - The Shining

Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of Stephen King's The Shining features plenty of odd looking clothes, but most memorable of these is Jack Torrance's blazer, which is worn throughout the third act of the film. The jacket, which actually belonged to Jack Nicholson and was not a costume, is highly recognizable, mostly because of its appearance during the famous "Here's Johnny!" scene. 

5. James Dean's Red Jacket - Rebel Without A Cause

If you wanted to look cool in 1955, it's safe to say that James Dean was your go-to guy. The king of cool, James Dean wore the iconic red jacket in Rebel Without A Cause, and even if you haven't seen the film, you probably always thought of this look when James Dean came up. 

4. Travis Bickle's Army Jacket - Taxi Driver

When Travis Bickle transforms from quiet loner to militant psychopath in Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver, his look drastically changes with him. When Robert De Niro is finally shown sporting the Vietnam-era military jacket and messy black mohawk, he literally invented punk fashion, and his look is still the one major influence on it even today. 

3. Frank's Gang's Dusters - Once Upon a Time in the West

The famous cowboy duster has become a staple of American westerns since Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West. Unlike some of the other jackets on this list, this actually was one of the first appearances of the duster in a western movie, and would go on to influence every single cowboy film in the future with this iconic look.

2. Rick Deckard's Jacket - Blade Runner 

Everything about the visuals in the cyberpunk masterpiece Blade Runner make it memorable, and Rick Deckard's odd duster jacket add to that distinct style. The long duster features a unique collar which can be buttoned all the way up on the neck. What I like about this jacket is how it is both distinctive of Blade Runner yet could easily be worn on an every day basis (much like many of the others on this list).

1. The Driver's Scorpion Jacket - Drive

Nicolas Winding Refn's ultra-stylized neo-noir film Drive gave us one of the best pieces of film-fashion in history: the Scorpion jacket. The film, which feels like it could either be set in 2011 or 1981 focuses on Ryan Gosling's unnamed driver character who wears the iconic jacket throughout the majority of the movie. The jacket is unique to the film (which is based on a novel by James Sallis) and helps convey the oddly 70's/80's vintage L.A. tone that is present throughout the movie. 

Actor Ryan Gosling actually played a big role in bringing the jacket to the screen. Drive costume designer Erin Benach stated "Ryan had been really inspired by these 1950s Korean souvenir jackets. He had bought one on his own and was wearing it around. … So we built it piece by piece. We knew the collar had to be able to pop up, we wanted the knit around the wrists and waist to be 100 percent wool as opposed to stretchy nylon. We wanted every element to be perfect. We went through 15 or 20 iterations until we got it right. Which was down to the wire — about an hour before shooting!"