Have you seen Nancy Meyers’s The Holiday recently? If not, now is the best time to rewatch the 2006 classic rom-com. If you’ve never witnessed the genius film, it stars Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet as two single women who do a house swap over the holidays. Hollywood editor Amanda (Diaz) relocates to the English countryside, while journalist Iris (Winslet) touches down in Los Angeles. Both end up meeting men—Jude Law and Jack Black, no less—and falling in love. While the laughs always deliver, I’m invariably awestruck by something else: Amanda’s incredibly chic wardrobe, costume designed by Marlene Stewart.
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As a hotshot movie-trailer editor in Hollywood, Amanda has an elegant wardrobe that reads as one word: expensive. Throughout the movie, she almost exclusively wears white, black, and cream. (The latter buttery hue is a Nancy Meyers signature.) While Amanda’s ensembles are devoid of bold colors, prints, or logos, you can just tell that all of the clothes are luxurious—they’re all done in heavy wools and cashmeres, two snuggly materials that simply scream the holidays. It’s basically The Row before The Row was a real thing.
My favorite Amanda look comes at the beginning of the film, when her driver drops her off at her new UK holiday home. She sports an incredible brown trench coat with white shearling trim, complete with a white turtleneck, black skinny-fit trousers, and sky-high stilettos (which she wears in the snow). She then proceeds to cart her three huge suitcases—presumably filled with even more fabulous clothes!—through the snowy terrain up to the house. As the movie continues, Amanda holds on to her effortlessly chic style. For her first night in the cozy cottage home, she drinks red wine while lounging around in a chunky cream cable-knit sweater, gray sweats, and a lilac beanie, a gray scarf slung effortlessly around her shoulder. (You have to watch her drunkenly sing “Mr. Brightside.”) I’m totally influenced to channel her quietly luxurious approach to style this holiday season, when elevated cozy dressing has its time to shine.
Amanda does deliver a few splashier evening looks in the movie too, should you need inspiration for any upcoming holiday parties. When she pops over for a visit at Jude Law’s home, she arrives wearing an incredible cream coat, unbuttoning it to reveal a black top and cream pencil skirt that’s punctuated with a wide crystal-buckle belt. “I know, I’m a tad overdressed,” she quips. “You look like my Barbie,” Law’s daughter says. Even Amanda’s approach to formalwear is decidedly sleek and pared back. Her closet basically makes the case for timeless investment pieces: You can clearly still turn heads in a simple but well-cut silhouette. So this holiday season, you’ll find me slipping into my best Nancy Meyers neutrals too. If you find me drunk singing to the Killers at home, though, that’s none of your business.
