Currently Channeling: American Hustle

Amy Adams, Christian Bale, and Jeremy Renner round out the all-star cast, and fill it with all-star style. “When you’re working on a David O. Russell film, the characters are all beautifully complex,” says the film’s costume designer Michael Wilkinson, who has worked on a variety of movies, from Garden State to The Twilight Saga: 1 and 2. “It’s an opportunity for the costumes to be original and very detailed.” Keep reading to go behind the scenes of the film’s disco-glam wardrobe with Wilkinson, plus shop our inspired by picks. 

“Sydney (Amy Adams) is really great, because we see her go on such an amazing journey in the film. She develops a style that is very modern for the period. It’s very confident, simple, and streamlined, like the Halston aesthetic. He was designing for the contemporary American woman who wasn’t into fuss, anything rigid, or very layered.”

To channel this look: pair a plunging necklace with a pendant necklace.

“Sydney (Adams) has such a finely tuned elegance. She starts off a wide-eyed girl from a small town who arrives in Manhattan, then falls in love and sees this opportunity to transform into the person she always wanted to be.”

“When we first meet Richie (Bradley Cooper), he’s this guy who works at the FBI and wears polyester suits and garish ties. Then he meets Irving (Christian Bale) and Sydney (Adams) and falls under the spell of their romance. He wants to make a splash, so he starts wearing leather jackets and buys a silk scarf to give some flare to his eveningwear when he goes to Studio 54.”

To channel this look: style a wide-brim floppy hat with a shearling coat. 

“I know the womanswear is getting lot of attention, but I am really proud of the menswear in this film. I was able to get in a lot of subtle detailing that really helps differentiate the characters.” [Note: Adams' character is carrying Gucci's Bamboo Lady Lock Handbag ($3200), which is currently available.]

“Irving (Bale) has a very aspirational way of dressing, like a sophisticated businessman, even though he’s a hustler. There is sense of combining wonderful textures and patterns and this gentlemanly tailored vibe, even though it’s through a Bronx filter.”

“Richie (Bradley Cooper) is just this simple guy from the suburbs; he sees possibilities and is very ambitious. In his own way, he’s also dressing to make an impression, like buying cool sunglasses and a coat with western styling.”

To channel this look: team oversized sunglasses with a slinky jumpsuit. 

“Like many of her colleagues of the period, Sydney doesn’t wear a lot of foundation garments, and she wears many plunging necklines that have a certain confidence and sophistication.”

To channel this look: try a brightly hued wrap dress. 

“We looked at cheesy magazine shoots and advertising and high fashion, so we had a sense of the zeitgeist and pop culture our characters would be exposed to. I went deep with my research and referenced photographers like Allen Tennenbaum and Richard Avedon. We also looked at fashion designers like Halston, Diane von Furstenberg, Gucci, Christian Dior and Yves Saint Laurent, that were having a creative moment at that time.”

To channel this look: try a crochet one-piece suit. 

“Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence) is very Long Island and has a suburban approach to dressing. She doesn’t want to leave the house, wafting around in shapeless printed muumuus and slippers. She has these wild mood swings and heads out on the town, where she is dressed to kill, trying to get lots of attention and make her husband jealous. So she wears these over-the-top evening ensembles, like a chiffon halter-neck leopard-print pantsuit and a white jersey sparkly dress that is a size too small.”

To channel this look: pair chandelier earrings with a faux fur stole.