Patsy Stone in Absolutely Fabulous

Sweetie, darling … what better way to distract yourself than by reminiscing about the glamorous, ludicrous, outfits worn in Ab Fab by the fashion- and party-obsessed partners in crime Edina Monsoon and Patsy Stone?

While Eddie avidly follows the latest trends without understanding what suits her (“It’s Lacroix, sweetie!”), it’s Patsy who has a strong personal sense of style (“Right, cheers, thanks a lot”). She is ahead of her time with the head-to-toe python print she wears when travelling to New York in series three. The longline coat and flares wouldn’t look out of place on today’s runway. Celine, Dries Van Noten, and Versace all featured snake print in their AW20 shows – although they lacked Patsy’s complementary signature beehive and red lip. Peter Bevan

Héloïse from Portrait of a Lady on Fire

“If you look at me, who do I look at?” is the central question of Portrait of a Lady on Fire, an exquisite film about a painter falling in love with her subject. The timing of the movie’s UK release, just before lockdown, is sort of eerie, given the many parallels in its explorations of love, isolation and separation. Even the clothes are weirdly prescient: the late-18th-century portrait necklines feel very influencer-doing-an-Instagram-Live-session-about-self-care-while-wearing-Bottega-Veneta; there’s a scene in which our heroines flirt on a Brittany beach with scarves tied around their mouths like facemasks.

The power of block colour is confirmed, too, by the fabulous emerald green dress worn by Héloïse in portrait sittings. Tragically, in the movie, the attention-grabbing properties of that dress are being used to sell her to a rich suitor, but you can use the same principles of colour saturation to pep up your next Google Hangout.
Hannah Marriott

Esty from Unorthodox

Tiger King’s successor in terms of isolation binge-watching – and a welcome cleanse, fashion-wise, from all those spots and stripes – is Unorthodox, the story of a young woman who runs away from her ultra-Orthodox community in New York to start afresh in Berlin. Esty (Shira Haas) sheds her sheitel (wig), thick tights and high necklines in favour of floral dresses, blazers and a buzzcut (currently more on trend than this series could have predicted). The green dress and red lipstick combo she dons for the final episode are a style triumph – although it’s the moment where she first tries on a pair of jeans that might be most relatable, post lockdown.
Leah Harper

Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls in The Last Dance

As a sports documentary The Last Dance is an overdue omission. Michael Jordan’s domination of the NBA in the 90s is something you might have expected to be explored in forensic detail before, say, the demise of Sunderland FC. But even though it’s a thrilling sporting proposition, the real attraction is the fashion.

Beret hats, chains and mini hoop earrings, bleach blonde hair, bright pink hair, nose rings, oversized suits, Kangol hats, Inspector Gadget-style trench coats – there are few areas of questionable 90s style that The Last Dance fails to explore via the wardrobes of its protagonists, Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls. Meanwhile, Jordan’s basketball ability seems inherently linked to the size of his suit. The closer he gets to that first elusive championship the more they inflate. It’s as if David Byrne was the Bulls’ personal stylist.

The only player who seems immune from Big Suit Energy is Dennis Rodman who combines looking incredibly 90s and absolutely 2020 at the same time. The third episode is dedicated to him and shows his evolution from a homeless prospect to the celebrity Madonna coached in tabloid-teasing excess. Wearing dresses? Yes, please. Making a Pearl Jam tour T-shirt look cool? Fine. A dad cap with the word “Bong” embroidered on it? Go on then. Coloured hair that changes every other week? Oh, hi Frank Ocean.

The 90s Bulls are arguably the greatest basketball team ever and Jordan the best player, but those oversized suits might be the real MVP. Lanre Bakare

Rob in High Fidelity

Granted, Zoe Kravitz could make a flannel look good, and does – episode nine – but her easy style is the perfect inspiration for those who like to dress for their mood rather than their situation (or age). As well as those who like to treat their wardrobes like a dressing-up box from which to sample eras and pop-culture references, as well as playing with traditional gender rules. In other words: she’s got the perfect quarantine vibe locked down.

If this uneasy period is bringing up amorphous moods and you’re worried that dressing according to them might land you in sartorial hot water, that’s OK. Look to Rob’s unorthodox combinations for inspiration. She is at once boy scout, Miami pensioner, Beastie Boys devotee, Daria and Neo.

Her fluent high-low dressing is perfect for this time when dressing fully as any one thing feels a step too far; dress head-to-toe for work and the absurdity of being in such proximity to your bed will bubble up. Inspired by her tight white vest, green Hawaiian shirt and lilac trousers with beaten-up Gucci loafers, I wore my secondhand Russell & Bromley loafers with boxer shorts and my boyfriend’s shirt the other day and have never felt more productive – or myself. We are all bridge-playing, red-pill-popping music aficionados now, so let’s dress like it.
Ellie Violet Bramley

Alan Butterworth in Last Tango in Halifax

Watching iPlayer re-runs of Last Tango in Halifax has proven to be the perfect balm to being alone in my London flat. Not only do I get to indulge in lengthy camera shots of the rolling Yorkshire dales, but advanced layering by Alan Butterworth (Derek Jacobi) is a comforting reminder that there will be a day when I won’t be wearing the same single navy jumper and leggings on repeat.

His looks feel right for now – greeny/blue colour medleys are very Victoria Beckham SS20, plus his traditional Barbour outerwear is in sync with the moment thanks to a new collaboration between the heritage brand and Alexa Chung. Who could have predicted that this BBC classic would currently be setting such an aspirational style agenda?
Melanie Wilkinson

Todd Chavez from Bojack Horseman

I have not been having a very Instagrammable lockdown, being too frazzled to read, too tired to cook and too covered in my children’s snot to wear anything decent. But I have finally got around to watching Bojack Horseman. Has there ever been a better time for a cartoon about a depressed actor/horse who lives in a version of Los Angeles in which humans live alongside anthropomorphised animals?

Each 27-minute episode is so rich with jokes that it requires absolute concentration and so functions as a very sarcastic, sweary meditation. The fashion gags are great – a Jacquemus reference here; a Valentino Rockstud there – and the cast have become my style icons. In particular I seem to be morphing into the crumpled, unshaven Todd, who exclusively wears tracksuit bottoms and a hoodie with flip flops. (I wear mine with sliders. Apart from that, we are one.)
HM

Moira Rose in Schitt’s Creek

Has there ever been a better defiant dressing icon than Schitt’s Creek matriarch Moira Rose? When the Rose family business manager embezzled their fortune and they found themselves living in the rundown Rosebud Motel, did Moira dress down? Hell no! And as such she is the sartorial example we all need.

This is a woman who wears a waistcoat and brooch over her pyjamas. Moira uses her monochrome wardrobe like a battle cry. When she wears this black PVC Raf Simons-era Jil Sander dress over a crisp white shirt and towering Rick Owens boots, that is her armour – she is dressing for her previous (and much longed for) lifestyle.

My wardrobe is a little light on the Rick Owens splendour but Moira has taught me to dress for my pre-lockdown life – and it is lifting my spirits. I just need to work on my wig wall now.
Helen Seamons

Mia Warren in Little Fires Everywhere

Set in the late 90s, Little Fires Everywhere is like Big Little Lies with a refreshingly strong narrative on white privilege. Kerry Washington’s character in the drama is free-spirited multimedia artist Mia Warren, who contrasts to Reese Witherspoon’s Wasp-y, uptight Elena Richardson in every way, including dress. Where Elena wears A-line dresses, work blazers and short-sleeved polo shirts, Mia is in high-waisted bootcut jeans, vests and T-shirts. Her 1966-era Velvet Underground tee, black (of course), stands out for me. Underlining her rebel status ever so slightly heavy-handedly, it aligns her with Andy Warhol, Nico and Lou Reed. And is timelessly cool, meaning it will still be cool when lockdown is lifted.
Priya Elan

Su Li-zhen from In the Mood for Love

Revealing the beauty in the mundane has never beem more poignant than at this moment in time. Wong Kar-Wai’s In the Mood for Love is a visual treat that explores the richness of daily habits. The story of Su Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung) and Chow Mo-wan’s (Tony Leung) secret romance develops after they move into the same cramped apartment building.

Cheung dresses for her mood in a succession of 25 figure-hugging cheongsam dresses, with many matching the domestic settings she finds herself in – floral prints and red coats match curtains.

But for all the domesticity, there is no loungewear in sight. Set in Hong Kong in 1962, the collars are high, the shoulders defined and each look is hemmed just below the knee. Cheung looks impeccable every step of the way, even when she goes to a neighbourhood noodles stand. This is a lesson in dressing to enhance your mood. Jo Jones

Andrew Cunanan in The Assassination of Gianni Versace

This fashion-focused true-crime series is perfect for any style fan, not only for the gripping plot of the murder of Gianni Versace, which shook the fashion world in 1997, but also for the costumes designed by Lou Eyrich and Allison Leach. They dress Gianni and Donatella in vibrant prints, silks, lace, and leather – the opulence is in contrast to Andrew Cunanan, Gianni’s murderer, who dresses entirely differently depending on the situation he’s in.

Although he’s a serial killer, he does have a good wardrobe, albeit one that is stolen from his victims. The archetypal 90s suits he wears when attempting to “impress” his targets have an oversized boxy silhouette that can be seen today from the high street to the catwalks of Balenciaga, Vetements and Lacoste. To finish the first episode, Cunanan wears a tonal yellow look, consisting of a pastel yellow suit, polo shirt, cap and Versace sunglasses. This sunny look, worn after committing yet another murder, may highlight his lack of empathy, but it’s something I would add to my wardrobe in a heartbeat.
PB

• This article was amended on 28 April 2020 to remove an inappropriate description of a vest.