Style File № 54

How to dress like Penny Lane from Almost Famous

A cut-velvet shearling-trimmed coat, flared jeans, a fur-collared afghan and round tinted sunglasses.

Shearling-Trim CoatFlared JeansRound Tinted SunglassesAfghan CoatPlatform Boot

1973, on tour 8 pieces 2 looks

See the pieces
№ 54 Almost Famous The coat was built from furnishing fabric. PennyLane Cut velvet, from upholstery fabric. 1973, on tour 8 pieces Shearling-Trim Coat · Flared Jeans · Round Tinted Sunglasses

Screenfits earns a commission on some links below, at no cost to you. We choose the garments first and find where to buy them second — never the other way round.

The Wardrobe, Decoded

The coat was built from furnishing fabric.

Betsy Heimann designed the film and made the famous coat herself: "I made the coat out of cut velvet upholstery fabric, and it definitely was an homage to the opera coat of the 1920s and '30s and also an homage to Afghan coats." It is one of the few costumes in film history that people can identify from a single sleeve.

Why we can't let it go

Penny Lane is the best seventies wardrobe on this site because it isn't a seventies wardrobe. Heimann built it out of references to the twenties and thirties, which is why it looks nothing like the rest of the decade.

The coat is the entire thing — cut velvet, shearling trim, made from upholstery fabric because that was the texture she wanted. Everything under it is simple: jeans, a soft top, boots.

And the character is dressed as an idea of herself, which is what makes it moving. Penny Lane isn't her name. The coat isn't a coat. She has invented a whole person and is wearing her.

01

The Coat

Backstage, and everywhere else

One statement layer over deliberately plain clothes.

01 Shearling-Trim Coat Cream or camel, worn open. Embroidered or cut-velvet if you can find it. Find it
02 Flared High-Waist Jean Light-to-mid wash, real flare from the knee. Straight legs lose the decade. Find it
03 Fine Knit Top Plain, soft, long sleeve. Nothing competing with the coat. Find it
04 Round Tinted Sunglasses Small warm-lens frames, worn indoors. Cheapest half of the costume. Find it
Not picked yet

We haven't chosen the exact pieces for this look — but every garment above is described precisely enough to find. Open any one and we'll go and look for it.

Start with the shearling-trim coat
02

On Tour

A hotel corridor at four in the morning

Softer, warmer, and slightly falling apart.

Not picked yet

We haven't chosen the exact pieces for this look — but every garment above is described precisely enough to find. Open any one and we'll go and look for it.

Start with the fur-collar afghan coat

How to actually wear the Penny Lane look

It's one statement coat over very simple clothes. Shearling-trimmed, embroidered or cut-velvet, worn open, in cream or camel. Everything underneath stays plain. Jeans are flared and high-waisted, in a light-to-mid wash. Straight legs move it out of the decade. Keep the top half soft and minimal — a fine knit, a simple blouse, a plain long-sleeve. The coat is doing all the talking. And round tinted sunglasses, worn indoors and at night. Small frames, warm lens. It's the cheapest half of the costume.