London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Jan 28, 2026

Why Is Bad Girl Style So Good?

Why Is Bad Girl Style So Good?

We’re introduced to Emma Stone’s take on Cruella de Vil in the new Cruella trailer through fashion.

The iconically villainous fashion designer with a hankering for Dalmatian fur walks into a ballroom in a white hooded coat, which suddenly erupts into flames, revealing a sinister red gown underneath it. Talk about an entrance! With costumes designed by the Oscar-winning Jenny Beavan, the film is guaranteed to be a maniacally stylish flick, with Cruella getting an edgy, punky makeover. (It will be hard to top Glenn Close’s portrayal in 1996’s 101 Dalmatians, of course, but it already looks very promising.) Few antagonists are as overtly glamorous as De Vil, but Hollywood has a history of making antagonists impeccably dressed-both in cartoon and live-action form. And there’s something about bad girl style that’s indeed just so good.

When looking at the scope of villainous fashion plates, two categories emerge: There’s the faux innocent, à la Regina George, and the slick, edgy sexpots. For the former, look to the Fembots in Austin Powers and their marabou feathers, or Villanelle’s frilly Molly Goddard tutu gowns in Killing Eve. These evil chicks enjoy dressing sweetly to take their prey by complete surprise. It was Shakespeare, after all, who wrote, “Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t.”

Then there’s the predator who barely masks her malice. When Halle Berry portrayed Catwoman in 2004, her menacing outfit totally made the otherwise-panned movie. Her reimagined black leather catsuit by Angus Strathie was strappy and sexier than the one famously worn by Michelle Pfeiffer-and totally more badass too. Grace Jones’s hooded Azzedine Alaïa getups in A View to a Kill would make anyone want to join the dark side. Simply put, bad girls just do it better-and below, more of the most stylish villains of all time prove it.



Miranda Priestley in The Devil Wears Prada



May Day in A View to a Kill



Regina George in Mean Girls



Yzma in The Emperor's New Groove



O-Ren Ishii in Kill Bill



Patience Phillips/Catwoman in Catwoman



Villanelle in Killing Eve



Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty



Catherine Tramell in Basic Instinct



Kathryn Merteuil in Cruel Intentions



Courtney Shayne in Jawbreaker



Queen Akasha in Queen of the Damned



Ursula in The Little Mermaid



Meredith Blake in The Parent Trap



Vanessa in Taxi



Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad



Madison Lee in Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle



Fembots in Austin Powers



Queen Ravenna in Snow White and the Huntsman

Comments

Oh ya 5 year ago
Other than the beautiful dogs and the cool PX200 mod vespa there is nothing of interest in the photo

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Starmer Seeks Economic Gains From China Visit While Navigating US Diplomatic Sensitivities
Starmer Says China Visit Will Deliver Economic Benefits as He Prepares to Meet Xi Jinping
UK Prime Minister Starmer Arrives in China to Bolster Trade and Warn Firms of Strategic Opportunities
The AI Hiring Doom Loop — Algorithmic Recruiting Filters Out Top Talent and Rewards Average or Fake Candidates
Amazon to Cut 16,000 Corporate Jobs After Earlier 14,000 Reduction, Citing Streamlining and AI Investment
Federal Reserve Holds Interest Rate at 3.75% as Powell Faces DOJ Criminal Investigation During 2026 Decision
Putin’s Four-Year Ukraine Invasion Cost: Russia’s Mass Casualty Attrition and the Donbas Security-Guarantee Tradeoff
Wall Street Bets on Strong US Growth and Currency Moves as Dollar Slips After Trump Comments
UK Prime Minister Traveled to China Using Temporary Phones and Laptops to Limit Espionage Risks
Google’s $68 Million Voice Assistant Settlement Exposes Incentives That Reward Over-Collection
Kim Kardashian Admits Faking Paparazzi Visit to Britney Spears for Fame in Early 2000s
UPS to Cut 30,000 More Jobs by 2026 Amid Shift to High-Margin Deliveries
France Plans to Replace Teams and Zoom Across Government With Homegrown Visio by 2027
Trump Removes Minneapolis Deportation Operation Commander After Fatal Shooting of Protester
Iran’s Elite Wealth Abroad and Sanctions Leakage: How Offshore Luxury Sustains Regime Resilience
U.S. Central Command Announces Regional Air Exercise as Iran Unveils Drone Carrier Footage
Four Arrested in Andhra Pradesh Over Alleged HIV-Contaminated Injection Attack on Doctor
Hot Drinks, Hidden Particles: How Disposable Cups Quietly Increase Microplastic Exposure
UK Banks Pledge £11 Billion Lending Package to Help Firms Expand Overseas
Suella Braverman Defects to Reform UK, Accusing Conservatives of Betrayal on Core Policies
Melania Trump Documentary Sees Limited Box Office Traction in UK Cinemas
Meta and EssilorLuxottica Ray-Ban Smart Glasses and the Non-Consensual Public Recording Economy
WhatsApp Develops New Meta AI Features to Enhance User Control
Germany Considers Gold Reserves Amidst Rising Tensions with the U.S.
Michael Schumacher Shows Significant Improvement in Health Status
Greenland’s NATO Stress Test: Coercion, Credibility, and the New Arctic Bargaining Game
Diego Garcia and the Chagos Dispute: When Decolonization Collides With Alliance Power
Trump Claims “Total” U.S. Access to Greenland as NATO Weighs Arctic Basing Rights and Deterrence
Air France and KLM Suspend Multiple Middle East Routes as Regional Tensions Disrupt Aviation
U.S. winter storm triggers 13,000-plus flight cancellations and 160,000 power outages
Poland delays euro adoption as Domański cites $1tn economy and zloty advantage
White House: Trump warns Canada of 100% tariff if Carney finalizes China trade deal
PLA opens CMC probe of Zhang Youxia, Liu Zhenli over Xi authority and discipline violations
ICE and DHS immigration raids in Minneapolis: the use-of-force accountability crisis in mass deportation enforcement
UK’s Starmer and Trump Agree on Urgent Need to Bolster Arctic Security
Starmer Breaks Diplomatic Restraint With Firm Rebuke of Trump, Seizing Chance to Advocate for Europe
UK Finance Minister Reeves to Join Starmer on China Visit to Bolster Trade and Economic Ties
Prince Harry Says Sacrifices of NATO Forces in Afghanistan Deserve ‘Respect’ After Trump Remarks
Barron Trump Emerges as Key Remote Witness in UK Assault and Rape Trial
Nigel Farage Attended Davos 2026 Using HP Trust Delegate Pass Linked to Sasan Ghandehari
Gold Jumps More Than 8% in a Week as the Dollar Slides Amid Greenland Tariff Dispute
BlackRock Executive Rick Rieder Emerges as Leading Contender to Succeed Jerome Powell as Fed Chair
Boston Dynamics Atlas humanoid robot and LG CLOiD home robot: the platform lock-in fight to control Physical AI
United States under President Donald Trump completes withdrawal from the World Health Organization: health sovereignty versus global outbreak early-warning access
FBI and U.S. prosecutors vs Ryan Wedding’s transnational cocaine-smuggling network: the fight over witness-killing and cross-border enforcement
Trump Administration’s Iran Military Buildup and Sanctions Campaign Puts Deterrence Credibility on the Line
Apple and OpenAI Chase Screenless AI Wearables as the Post-iPhone Interface Battle Heats Up
Tech Brief: AI Compute, Chips, and Platform Power Moves Driving Today’s Market Narrative
NATO’s Stress Test Under Trump: Alliance Credibility, Burden-Sharing, and the Fight Over Strategic Territory
OpenAI’s Money Problem: Explosive Growth, Even Faster Costs, and a Race to Stay Ahead
×