The Most Stylish Women in Erotic Thrillers

Most people think of a boiling bunny when they think of Fatal Attraction, but beyond that, its costume design is singular. In Fatal Attraction, Glenn Close plays Alex, an editor who has a brief affair with Dan, played by Michael Douglas. Alex’s style represents the working woman of the 1980s: She wears oversized jackets, blouses with strong shoulders, and lots of white. Her most iconic look in the film is a with off-the-shoulder dress she wears during the film’s violent, fatal climax.

In Unfaithful, Diane Lane plays Connie, a suburban housewife who has an affair with Olivier, young artist who lives in a sprawling Soho loft. Connie is not a typical femme fatale, so her style is a bit softer than the average female lead in an erotic thriller. In fact, it's very French: simple silhouettes with romantic and feminine details rule in her wardrobe. Most notably, she wears an elegant trench and blue midi dress when she meets Olivier on a windy day. 

Even those who have never seen Basic Instinct know the look: During an interrogation, Sharon Stone’s character—Catherine Tarnell, a writer being questioned about a murder—crosses her legs, spreading them open for just a moment, while wearing an iconic white mock neck mini dress.

Most femme fatale wardrobes are characterized by strength, featuring strong fabrics and sharp lines. But in Body Heat, which is set in Southern Florida in the summer, Kathleen Turner’s mysterious character Matty Walker wears lightweight linen, and she mostly wears white. In this case, her soft wardrobe and demeanor leads William Hurt’s Ned into a devious murder plot. Further into the film, Matty pairs a loose white linen shirt with a tight red skirt, communicating both sides to her personality in a very 1940s look calling back to the film’s inspiration, the 1944 film noir Double Indemnity, starring Barbara Stanwyck. 

Every single outfit Nicole Kidman wears in Eyes Wide Shut is iconic, from the black lace long sleeve gown she wears to a holiday party at the beginning of the film to her white camisole and white underwear. Director Stanley Kubrick puts Kidman in colors that exaggerate her presence. While wearing black, she’s surrounded by warm Christmas lights, that make her stand out. Meanwhile her white underwear look is contrasted by blue moonlight coming through the window behind her, communicating that she is the center of the film and the center of her on-screen husband’s (played by Tom Cruise) life. Her wardrobe represents her character: a stylish, wealthy New York City woman in a happy marriage with some minor complications. You can still get her camisole from Hanro. 

Jennifer Tilly in Bound is the 1990s. Tilly plays Violet, a gun moll who longs to escape her relationship with her mobster boyfriend, and she falls for Corky, played by Gina Gershon. Tilly’s wardrobe, mostly black, is characterized by minimal but sexy LBD’s that defined 90s style and defined her character’s sexual and personal journey. 

In The Last Seduction, Linda Florentino stars as the ultimate femme fatale, Bridget, who comes up with an elaborate scheme to escape an unhappy marriage—essentially, it is Gone Girl before there was Gone Girl. Like most femme fatales, Bridget wears a mixture of black and white, with her signature look being an all-white menswear-inspired suit, worn with the shirt button all the way up to her neck. 

Nicole Kidman is so good she made the list twice. In Babygirl, which debuts in theater Christmas 2024, Kidman plays a CEO who winds up in a steamy affair with an intern at her company, played by Harris Dickinson. Kidman’s wardrobe in the film calls back to film noir and erotic thriller’s past, with a coat-heavy wardrobe that communicates power with strong, streamlined silhouettes but also a touch of vulnerability and femininity with flowy wraps and warm neutrals, indicating her character has a more passive side.