Is there anything cheesier, sillier, more fabulous, more energizing, more life-affirming than a good old-fashioned Hollywood trope makeover montage? For as long as films have been made, comedies and rom-coms love to take a leading star (often dour or plain) and give them a splashy new look—sometimes when they desperately need it, other times when they seriously don’t. But no matter what the end result serves us, you can’t deny it’s highly entertaining to watch someone go from an “ugly duckling” (however the movie defines that) to a beautiful swan.
But not all transformations are equal! Some are well-done—others are lazy. In honor, Vogue is looking back on 24 iconic movie makeovers and rating them on a scale from 1 (bad) to 5 (good).
What constitutes a good movie makeover, you ask? Well, for one—and this may seem painfully obvious—the “after” needs to give us something dramatically different. Give us some production value! Remember when they just … took Rachael Leigh Cook’s glasses off in She’s All That? Boo … that earns it a low ranking in our eyes. Now, when Halle Berry morphed from Patience Phillips into Catwoman in the 2004 flick, however? Her all-leather outfit was a far cry from the shy wardrobe worn by timid Phillips; in other words, it was a top-tier transformation.
A good “movie makeover” also needs to have a clear impetus. A well-done one will see a character go through a dynamic physical change not just for the aesthetic appeal but to move the plot forward. For instance: When Gracie—a tough-as-nails FBI agent— poses undercover as a beauty pageant contestant in Miss Congeniality, she’s not only getting a makeover, but going undercover to get her job done and to solve the crime at hand.
The transformations do not need to be particularly ethical, either. We’re basing our decisions purely on how enjoyable it is to watch, rather than how “good” it ends up being for the characters. In The Devil Wears Prada, for example, Andy turns into a Chanel-clad fashionista not only to fit in with the Clackers, but to showcase how she loses herself and her identity in the process. But she looks fab so … In 2003’s Priscilla, meanwhile, the jet-black bouffant and heavy winged liner worn by Priscilla Presley isn’t just a visual vibe—it also represents how she was controlled by Elvis and often treated like his own personal Barbie doll. These are makeovers with purpose, people!
Now that we’ve laid out the parameters, it’s now time to sit back, scroll, and read on for our definitive rankings.
