Clothing inspired by ‘The Great Gatsby’ flying off retail shelves

Film and fashion have long enjoyed a symbiotic relationship, but perhaps no one has enjoyed this relationship more than clothing retailers.

Every time a popular blockbuster comes out in the theatres, particularly a blockbuster with a time-period fashion bent or a definable aesthetic, you can almost start taking bets on how soon every popular clothing chain will be premiering its own polyester version of the film’s best looks.

A good indication as to how furiously this trend will cling to shelf life lies in how quickly the styles start selling out and moving onto the street. When you spot your teenage daughter, her friends, the girl who walks your neighbour's dogs and even the elderly lady who waters her plants at 7:30 a.m. each morning wearing an iteration of the latest movie fashion, there’s a strong chance we’re in for a full summer forecast.

Not surprisingly, the latest movie to revive a formerly dead time period is Baz Luhrmann’s candy-coated cinematic remake of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s "The Great Gatsby." Generations of people who have never picked up a single modernist text are now racing to stores to buy flapper dresses and fake pearls.

The Jazz Age has breathed life back into the retail sector this quarter and countless brands and labels have jumped at the opportunity to sell you something you may be inspired to purchase based on a movie you saw once.

Also see: 'The Great Gatsby' inspires '20s-themed workout

Prada designed some of the gowns used in certain scenes of the film and as you can imagine, they’re spectacular.

Tiffany & Co. came out with a jewelry collection and the list of other retailers with their own Gatsby lines is as long as it is elaborate.

Lest you think women are having all the fashion fun, Brooks Brothers has released a collection of men’s clothing inspired by the film. If words like “dandy,” “natty” and “dapper” excite you, the collection’s pink leisure suits and red bowties paired with green grandpa cardigans should probably be in your closet right now.

And here’s why they continue to do it: On London’s High Street, where rows of luxury clothing shops compete for the attention of your wallet, retailers have reported sale increases ranging 75 to 266 per cent, all thanks to their Gatsby items.

“Our customers are snapping up accessories and womenswear to get the Gatsby look - feminine, flapper style is fast becoming one of spring's hottest trends,” Debenhams spokesperson Michelle Dowdall tells the Daily Mail.

Also see: A closer look at 'The Great Gatsby' set

“The beauty of this trend is that women can go big or small. A simple feather and pearl hair clip gives a subtle nod to Gatsby, or for full-on twenties glamour, women can wear gorgeous sequined dresses with scalloped hems and lace by eveningwear designer Jenny Packham, accessorized with strings of pearls.”

The beauty of this trend is actually that it’s a trend and its power is driven by novelty, but some of the pieces do sound lovely and it would be nice to see them stick around for a while. Tuxedo jackets are back, for now at least, and Dowdall also notes an increase in sales of hair jewels and beaded capes a la Daisy Buchanan.

The one thing that doesn’t appear to be increasing is adherence to Fitzgerald’s original novel. What you’re seeing in the stores is Luhrmann’s world, down to the sanitized sales pitches ripped from the great American author’s 1920s text.

“I’ve never seen such beautiful shirts before,” is the line uttered by Daisy Buchanan that Brooks Brothers uses to promote its Gatsby button-downs. Except it’s missing a few words. The original text, as Quartz notes, is “It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such beautiful shirts before.”

Unsettling commentary on the state of social values as they pertain to material wealth is never a great sales tactic so it’s clear why that first quartet of words got cut. It would be like Glad using the garbage bag scene from American Beauty to sell their new line of Easy-Ties.

But buy some 1920s clothes, if only out of gratitude, because the latest fashion-film collaboration could have been Star Trek Into Darkness.