6 Movie Costumes That Didn't Just Get Worn — They Got Sold Out

Tom Cruise Wore These Sunglasses In One Movie And Basically Saved A Company

Before Risky Business, Ray-Ban was quietly circling the drain — the Wayfarer had fallen so out of favor that the brand was about to kill the style entirely. Then Tom Cruise put them on for the 1983 teen comedy, and everything changed overnight.

Three Years Later, Cruise Did It Again — This Time With Aviators

Just when Ray-Ban thought lightning couldn't strike twice, Top Gun happened. Costume designer Marlene Stewart worked directly with the props department to custom-fit Cruise's Aviators for maximum swagger, and the results speak for themselves.

That Iconic Off-The-Shoulder Sweatshirt? Total Laundry Accident

Jennifer Beals' legendary Flashdance look wasn't designed at all — it started when her own sweatshirt shrank in the dryer and she cut a hole in the neck just to get it back on. She wore it to a fitting, costume designer Michael Kaplan and director Adrian Lyne fell in love with it on sight, and a defining '80s silhouette was born by pure accident.

Diane Keaton Basically Dressed Herself — And Started A Menswear Craze

Costume designer Ruth Morley reportedly hated Annie Hall's mixed-up ties, vests and khakis, but Woody Allen overruled her and let Keaton wear her own eclectic wardrobe. Ralph Lauren contributed a few pieces too, and the tomboyish look went on to define late-'70s androgynous fashion — with Lauren revisiting the tweed-and-trouser aesthetic in his own runway collections decades later.

That Yellow Plaid Set Almost Wasn't Yellow At All

Costume designer Mona May originally tried Cher's iconic first-day-of-school suit in blue, then red, before finally landing on the bright yellow Jean Paul Gaultier set that made the entire cast gasp in the fitting room. Women's Wear Daily crowned Clueless "the fashion movie of the year" in 1995, and nearly 30 years later designers from Versace to Dior are still riffing on "Cher plaid."

Grease Made The Leather Jacket A Uniform For Two Different Tribes At Once

Costume designer Albert Wolsky leaned hard into 1950s greaser style for the T-Birds' jackets, while Sandy's own leather-and-spandex transformation at the end of the film became just as iconic — the actual jacket and pants later sold at auction for over $400,000. The look has been reinterpreted for every Grease revival since, including the Paramount+ prequel series decades later.