Is it film that follows life? Or life that follows film?

Either way, the fashions shown in movies contribute to real-life trends and vice versa.

Furthermore, would you be able to buy into the authenticity of an actor’s portrayal of a character if the actor weren’t dressed the part? Surely not.

A period film like Sofia Coppola’s latest, “”Marie Antoinette,”” is an example of costumes playing a role all on their own.

Additionally, the recent trend of films that center on the fashion industry also make for movies with admirable clothing.

Rumor has it that Sofia Coppola had the king of shoes, Manolo Blahnik, create hundreds of pairs especially for her film “”Marie Antoinette.””

Not a bad deal for the film’s star, Kirsten Dunst, who also got to wear gorgeous, elaborate gowns designed to replicate the look of late-18th-century royalty.

The actress sucked it all in under corsets and bodices, garments meant to be worn over or in place of the former.

Although Dunst may have had a hard time breathing, she had plenty of leeway from the waist down in voluptuous skirts.

The costume designer for the film, Milena Canonero, who has also done work for “”Ocean’s Twelve”” and “”The Life Aquatic,”” started a bug that others have caught.

According to style.com, a fashion Web site by Conde Nast, the so-called Napoleonic aesthetic is a major trend for the current fall season. Designers Alexander McQueen, John Paul Gaultier and Ralph Lauren were cited as a few of the generators of the look.

Just by hearing its title, one could expect, at minimum, satisfactory fashion from the 2005 romantic comedy “”Shopgirl.””

Although the plot of the film never really made much of a statement among audiences, costume designer Nancy Steiner was able to stir up talk among those who converse about runway shows and haute couture.

But star Claire Danes wore mostly vintage as Mirabelle, a young saleswoman at Saks Fifth Avenue.

This dress was by far one of the best. The navy blue shade perfectly accented Danes’ red tresses, although the hemline is a bit longer than I would suggest. Hitting the knee would be more suitable for Danes’ height; pleats, following a fitted top, create a nice form.

The round-toe pumps that Danes wears are a perfect match with the dress.

For a fashion novice, “”The Devil Wears Prada”” might seem like the epitome of fashionable movie.

The film’s costume designer, Patricia Fields, has become notorious for styling every woman’s best friends on television: Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha in “”Sex and the City.””

After doing a little research, however, your opinion may change.

Anne Slowey, the fashion news director of Elle, said in a New York Times article that the clothes worn in the film are “”a caricature of what people who don’t work in fashion think fashion people look like.””

And you know what? She’s kind of right.

Take this image of the lead, Andy Sachs, played by Anne Hathaway, the eager journalist and assistant to Miranda Priestly, aka Meryl Streep. (For those laymen, Streep’s character mirrors Anna Wintour, the infamous editor in chief of Vogue.)

Hathaway has on an olive green, linen dress with button adornment. It’s simplistic, which is fine, but it is also a little homely.

The accessorizing, however, is done pretty well. A variety of gold charms on chains adorn Hathaway’s neck, a look that approaches Grecian chic.

What seems so fashionably amateur, however, are the Chanel sunglasses with the signature logo embedded on the side in sparkles.

Most any fashion editor would send those babies back where they belong – within the parameters of Orange County and the UA campus.