'The Holiday' to 'Love Hard', holiday rom-coms are influencing your wardrobe

After television shows and video games, holiday-themed romantic comedies are proving to be the latest fashion influencers.

The Holiday, Love Hard and Bridget Jones's Diary are some of the must-see films that are shaping online shoppers' wardrobes during the festive season.

Morning, noon or night, it will be almost impossible to channel hop without coming across one of the countless Christmas rom-coms, showing on television or on streaming platforms.

And while they usually transport you into the magical world of holiday celebrations with a tear in your eye (or not), it seems more surprising to learn that they might also influence your wardrobe.

Yet a new study reveals that certain clothes are particularly popular when these kitschy films start showing.

Read more: Look to stylish little gifts to brighten up your festive celebration

The global fashion search platform Stylight looked at the impact of certain cult Christmas films on searches for clothing on its international platforms. And the result is surprising.

Starring Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet, The Holiday is one of the films seen to influence seasonal shopping habits.

More specifically, it's the outfits worn by Diaz that seem to seduce viewers, starting with her iconic wool coat, with a 255% increase in clicks for the category during the holiday season. The same goes for her white cashmere scarf (+396%) and her pastel knitted beanie (+373%).

Tis' the season

And Bridget Jones's Diary has a similar effect, it seems. The fashion essentials – if you can call them that – of the world's most famous singleton, seem to be a seasonal hit.

The famous ugly Christmas sweater is a must-have in the film, seeing clicks up more than 1,000% between November and the end of December.

And, although this is probably due more to the time of year, as well as the now globally celebrated National Christmas Sweater Day, Dec 17, there's no denying that this tradition is also a key part of the romantic comedy starring Renee Zellweger, Hugh Grant and Colin Firth.

In the same vein, pajama sets, also seen in this staple of Christmas viewing, see clicks for the category up 614%, while the heart-shaped pendant Jones wears appears to fuel clicks for heart necklaces (+162%).

Read more: The year-end fashion season evokes happy dreams of far flung holidays

Directed by Hernan Jimenez, the Christmas romantic comedy Love Hard, released in 2021 on Netflix, is another festive film that appears to be influencing fashion choices.

Among the most coveted essentials are the black and yellow down jacket from The North Face (+40% clicks in the 24 hours following movie's release), the Levi's "Lydia" sleeveless down jacket (+100%) and the red floral dress worn by Natalie Bauer (Nina Dobrev), with clicks for this category up 32%.

The data for classic Christmas films is based on the period from Sept to Oct 31, 2020, versus Nov 1 to Dec 31, 2020. Stylight explains that it focused on 2020 in order to analyse data during the Christmas season, in order to see if Christmas movies influence buying behaviour.

The data for the Netflix movie Love Hard refers to the release date versus the following day. – AFP Relaxnews