Penny Lane’s 5 wardrobe essentials in the cult classic film Almost Famous (And the stories behind each look)

Almost Famous is rightly remembered as Cameron Crowe’s greatest contribution to film. My apologies to Elton John, but has there ever been a more moving rendition of “Tiny Dancer” than the one Penny Lane (Kate Hudson) sings on Stillwater’s tour bus, Dolores? Was Philip Seymour Hoffman ever better than in the role of jaded music writer Lester Bangs? Who could forget Frances McDormand’s vaguely hysterical delivery of the line, “Rockstars have kidnapped my son!”?

Yet none of the above would be anywhere near as impactful without Betsy Heimann’s genius costuming. (Heimann is also responsible for the on-screen wardrobes in both Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, if you need further convincing of her genius). For Almost Famous, she made the vast majority of the looks from scratch, down to the last ’70s-style band T-shirt. (For Zooey Deschanel’s character, she actually tracked down a hostess who used to fly with the now-defunct Pacific Southwest Airlines decades earlier, and copied her vintage uniform exactly.)

It’s Penny Lane’s looks, however, that stay in your mind long after the credits roll. As Almost Famous turns 20, revisit the five essentials in the head Band Aid’s closet.

The crop top

Penny Lane gives good crop top throughout Almost Famous – with Heimann hand-sewing matching velvet bell-bottoms for Hudson to make sure she showed just the right amount of midriff. The most memorable crop tops in the film? The lacy one that Hudson wears at Stillwater’s first concert and an embroidered one that Heimann actually made by cutting up an old tablecloth.

The jeans

Heimann travelled to vintage clothing wholesaler Buffalo Exchange’s warehouse in Seattle to rummage through giant bushels of old clothing for Almost Famous. Among the treasures she discovered for Hudson to wear? Penny Lane’s jeans, which are all original Levi’s 501s.

The coat

Ah, that coat. Heimann has repeatedly said that she meant for the shearling-lined number to function as Penny Lane’s armour while on the road with Stillwater – taking inspiration from both ’20s opera coats and Shirley MacLaine’s fur-lined frock coat in Billy Wilder’s The Apartment when she designed it. Ultimately, she made the garment from a vintage rug and some leftover upholstery fabric. As for the collar? Its cream tone was deliberately selected to make Hudson appear as if she were glowing on screen, based on guidance from cinematographer John Toll.

The blouse

Hudson tends to favour band T-shirts (and the aforementioned crop tops) in Almost Famous, but during the scene in which she finds out that Russell (Billy Crudup) has traded her to Humble Pie for $50 and a case of Heineken, she’s wearing a sheer cream blouse. Heimann chose it to represent her increasing vulnerability – and her inability to keep up the facade of the mysterious Penny Lane much longer.

The LBD

At the close of the film, when Penny Lane finally gives up her career as a Band Aid and decides to head to Morocco, she changes her wardrobe to suit her fantasy life as a glamorous American expat. Most notably, when she’s at the airport, she wears dark sunglasses and a little black dress – a look that Heimann deliberately chose to recall Audrey Hepburn, Penny Lane’s next alter-ego.

This story previously appeared on Vogue.co.uk