The seven things Diane Keaton taught us about dressing in our 70s
That the Grim Reaper took two truly original, mould-breaking, convention-defying women in the same week feels particularly cruel. But if there is a heaven, let’s imagine that Jilly Cooper and Diane Keaton are up there, sitting on a cloud and sharing anecdotes about men, dogs and sturdy footwear.
“There’s this idea that when you get older, you’re supposed to disappear,” Keaton said in a 2022 interview. “Well, I’m not disappearing.” To the relief of the many women who idolised her, she was true to her word. In fact, in her seventies, Keaton only became more visible. Only last year, she launched her first eyewear collection, Keaton, as well as a homeware collection and a book, Fashion First, a glossy tome with a foreword by Ralph Lauren.
In 2019, aged 73, she started posting photos of her outfits on Instagram, introducing her unique style to a new generation who didn’t grow up watching Annie Hall. Her menswear-inspired, monochrome looks – a carefree, ebullient mix of Comme des Garçons, Margiela, Ralph Lauren and thrift store – became even more joyous as she aged, largely because, while she loved fashion, she never took it too seriously. It was this unfettered, unfiltered approach that proved so inspirational to stylish acolytes including Gwyneth Paltrow, Sarah Jessica Parker and Alexa Chung, a handful of the many women who’ve been posting tributes thick and fast.
In a sea of over-curated, homogenised looks, Keaton was that rarest of things, a true original. She made eccentricity look easy. Here are some of the lasting lessons she taught us.
She was the best argument for having a signature style
As Annie Hall, Keaton’s oversized jackets, waistcoats and loose trousers became one of cinema’s most enduring fashion moments - Bettmann
Rare is the person who finds a style they love and sticks to it. Keaton was 31 when she filmed Annie Hall, the role that launched her as a style icon. Her distinctive look – oversized jacket, waistcoat, loose trousers, floppy hat – wasn’t arrived at via a team of image makers, but was simply her own, comprised of men’s clothing she found in vintage stores.
Keaton won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Annie Hall (1977), photographed here with presenter Jack Nicholson (centre) - AP
Ralph Lauren, who supplied many of the clothes for the film, immediately realised her look was so distinct that it couldn’t be improved upon. “Annie’s style was Diane’s style – very eclectic,” he said in an interview with Vogue. In an era where microtrends are pushed on us with increasing frequency, her constant, unchanging style is a reminder to trust your instincts, and only wear what works for you – at any age.
She made flat shoes cool
Long before flats became fashionable, Keaton was pairing brogues and chunky boots with smart jackets and suits – proof that comfort can be chic - Getty
Long before the catwalk decreed flat shoes to be acceptable, Keaton was wearing them without apology. In 2025, it’s easy to forget how much narrower the accepted parameters of glamour were for women in previous decades, especially those in the public eye.
On the red carpet, tortuously high heels were the order of the day, but not for Keaton – even at the 2004 Oscars. Her favourite footwear was invariably of the rugged variety: lace-up brogues, cowboy or ankle boots with heavy tread soles. For Keaton, comfort was a form of rebellion.
She made glasses even cooler
Her tortoiseshell frames became as iconic as her hats - London Entertainment/GC Images
In 2024, Keaton admitted that she wasn’t sure whether she had more hats or glasses in her wardrobe. We’d say the glasses win by a nose. Ridiculous as it seems to opine that it takes courage to wear a pair of spectacles, Keaton came of age in an era where the phrase “men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses” was uttered far more than it ought to have been, as well as given credence.
One of the very best things about Keaton was that she wore her beauty lightly, never considering that her trademark round tortoiseshell or tinted frame would diminish it, nor caring if they did. She didn’t lead with her looks, preferring her personality to shine. For the short- and long-sighted among us, she made looking nerdy, studious and bookish cool.
She was the original ‘coastal grandma’
Keaton’s turtlenecks and white linen trousers in Something’s Gotta Give (2003) defined the ‘coastal grandma’ look decades before TikTok caught up - Maximum Film/Alamy Stock Photo
When the popular microtrend was first coined on TikTok in 2022, it was Diane Keaton’s look in the 2003 film Something’s Gotta Give that was frequently cited as the archetype. Certainly, her love of cosy turtleneck sweaters, wide-legged trousers and loafers were illustrative of the look, the irony being that Keaton had been dressing like a ‘coastal grandma’ all her life. Which is to say that she dressed for herself, not to please others or conform to a stereotype, and in doing so, gave others the confidence to do the same.
“I’m 73 and I think I’m the only one in my generation, and maybe before, who has been a single woman all her life,” she said in 2019. Whether she’d married or not, she’d never have dressed to please the male gaze, but it’s arguable that her single status helped calcify her look.
She was a big believer in ‘nature’s Botox’
Keaton’s trademark fringe – her so-called ‘nature’s Botox’ – framed a face that aged naturally - Willy Sanjuan/Invision
Keaton had a fringe throughout most of her career, though its heaviness oscillated. Sometimes it was wispy: at other times, it was thicker, either worn straight or swept lightly to the side. While fringes have always been a simple, cost-effective way to disguise frown lines, Keaton wore them because she liked them, rather than to disguise any wrinkles.
While women should age however they please, if ever there was an argument for ageing naturally, it’s Keaton, whose face looked characterful and became all the more beautiful with the passage of time. Even her teeth were unwhitened, a rarity in Hendon these days, never mind Hollywood.
She knew the power of a statement coat
Bold coats became a late-career signature – from impactful checks to leopard print – each worn with her trademark confidence - Mondadori Portfolio/Mondadori Portfolio Editorial
Her thrift store suits, bought in the menswear department, may have been a lifelong trademark, but in her later years, she increasingly embraced a statement coat. Her favourites would typically be knee or calf length, and come in leopard print (not a fabric she often wore in her younger years) or a bold black and white dogtooth check.
No fabric was regarded as off limits: she also loved a leather trench coat, her rapidly swelling Instagram following leading her to become a face of J Crew in 2022, aged 76, in whose ads she wore one of the label’s belted trenches. Regardless of the coat, she always looked unapologetically herself.
She illustrated the power of accessories
A wide-brimmed hat, chunky belt and glasses were non-negotiable playful accessories that gave Keaton’s style unmistakable personality - Pierre Suu/Getty Images Europe
At 78, Keaton told People magazine that for an outfit to have her signature flair, it must include “a turtleneck, suit, large belt and of course a hat and glasses.” While some women eschew hats as they age, Keaton remained wedded to her favourite floppy, wide-brimmed styles, proving with every outing that, rather than ageing her, their quirkiness actually made her look more playful and youthful.
As did her wide belts, which gave her beloved oversized jackets a shape (she wisely noted that “these things are great, because they sustain the idea that I have a body”). So many women lose confidence with age, their fear leading them to conform, or take style cues from bland “tastemakers” with whom they have no natural affinity. Keaton proved that if you want to wear a hat, a chunky statement necklace or a wide belt into your seventies, you should.
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