STYLE EVOLUTION

Proof That Diane Keaton is an Unparalleled Style Original

by Steph Eckardt
Updated: 
Originally Published: 

Diane Keaton in Big Big Pants.
Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Even before all the ties, hats, and high-waisted pants that became synonymous with her wardrobe, Diane Keaton practically arrived on the scene as a style icon with her role in 1977’s Annie Hall. As it turned out, that was just the beginning: She quickly became the queen of menswear with a love of suits that’s now spanned more than four decades (and may still be inspiring ‘fits from the likes of Bella Hadid). The Academy Award winner has adopted other signatures in that time, too: Her red carpet appearances are all but guaranteed to feature either gingham print, piles of pearls, heels with socks, a Babadook-style hat, or elegant, obscuring garbs that are essentially glorified body bags. Revisit some of Keaton’s best ensembles over the years, below.

1978

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Keaton fittingly channeled Annie Hall to accept the Best Actress Oscar for her role in the film at the 1978 Academy Awards.

1978

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Keaton and her then-boyfriend Warren Beatty’s set the bar for matching couple style moments at the opening night of a Richard Avedon exhibition at the Met.

1980

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Checkers and two different types of stripes? Keaton went all out with prints for one of her first looks of the ‘80s.

1992

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No one wears a baggy suit like Keaton, as showcased at the opening of A Mom’s Life in Hollywood.

1993

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A precusor of the piles of necklaces to come at the Scleroderma Research Foundation Benefit in 1993.

1994

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Equal parts biker chic and Hollywood glamour at the 1994 Golden Globes.

1994

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Keaton matched her hair with a white suit and sneakers at a Los Angeles screening of Amelia Earhart: The Final Flight.

1995

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Another awards show, another piles of pearls—though Keaton did change things up with a skirt suit instead of trousers at the 52nd Annual Golden Globe Awards.

1995

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She once again opted for a skirt suit at a New York screening of Unstrung Heroes.

2000

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The turn of the century marked the start of Keaton’s tinted glasses and statement belts era, as seen here at the Los Angeles premiere of What Women Want.

2001

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She made the bold choice to pair her patterned kitten heels with socks at the Los Angeles premiere of The Score.

2004

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To accept yet another Golden Globe—this time for her leading role in Something’s Gotta Give—Keaton wore head-to-toe white.

2004

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Trust us: The girl loves gingham. Plenty more followed after Keaton attended Something’s Gotta Give screening at the 54th annual Berlinale International Film Festival.

2005

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She went with a classic tux at the Los Angeles premiere of The Family Stone.

2006

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She made a return to form-fitting dress at the L’Oréal Legends Gala benefiting the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund.

2008

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Keaton isn’t afraid of a bold pattern, like this all-over floral motif that lined her maxi skirt.

2011

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Keaton cut a chic for in all0white for the 2011 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner.

2014

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Keaton had Rihanna energy with a statement hat and to-go glass of red wine at the Carousel of Hope Ball in Beverly Hills.

2014

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Keaton switched things up by accented another white ensemble with a touch of black at the New York premiere of And So It Goes.

2014

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Keaton unexpectedly paired a leather skirt with white socks at L’Oréal Paris’s ninth annual Women of Worth Awards.

2015

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She appropriately wore Bottega Veneta to the house-sponsored 2015 Hammer Museum Gala.

2016

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Baggy dresses have become just as common for suits for Keaton in recent years, as seen here at another L’Oréal Paris Women of Worth Celebration.

2017

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Though she’s still not opposed to form-fitting silhouettes, as seen here at the Humane Society of the United States’s annual Los Angeles benefit.

2018

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Keaton was sophisticated in camel at the 2018 People Concern's Celebrating Change Gala.

2019

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She threw together four of her signatures—statement belts, baggy dresses, tinted glasses, and gingham print—at the Los Angeles premiere of Poms.

2019

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Later that year, at the Los Angeles premiere of Green Eggs and Ham, she accented her plaid suit with about a dozen crucifixes.

2021

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For her first major mid-pandemic red-carpet appearance, Keaton joined the likes of Dakota Johnson in wearing head-to-toe Gucci at the 2021 LACMA Art + Film Gala.

2022

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While immortalizing her footprints at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angles, Keaton reminded us all that she’s the original queen of big, big pants.

2022

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Keaton kept it classic to attend the spring 2023 Ralph Lauren show in San Marino, California where she wore a crisp white turtleneck, black overcoat, and a wide-leg pair of high-waisted trousers.

2023

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For the New York City premiere of her film Book Club: The Next Chapter (which she stars alongside Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, and Mary Steenburgen), Keaton opted for a black-and-white horizontal striped trench that she belted at the waist.

2023

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The actress cracked the code to pattern clashing with pinstripe pants and a houndstooth trench for the Ralph Lauren spring 2024 show.

2023

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Thom Browne is a natural fit for Keaton, who wore the brand’s signature suiting (and a wicker dog-shaped bag) to their couture runway show in Paris.

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