How Fran Drescher's Iconic Wardrobe In The Nanny Came To Be
Hit sitcom "The Nanny" ran on CBS from 1993 to 1999, but Fran Fine's iconic wardrobe continues to be more relevant than ever. Fran Drescher's character was sassy and bold with her fashion choices, which were the work of stylist Brenda Cooper. From animal prints (which were one of Drescher's favorite looks) and fruit appliqués to sequins and fake fur, Miss Fine is undoubtedly the most stylish nanny we've ever seen.
Surprisingly, most of the flashy combos consisted of tailored off-the-rack pieces, but some were made specifically for the show. With an Emmy award for outstanding individual achievement in costume design for a series, Cooper definitely succeeded in showing the importance of fashion and outward expression. While she was the show's main stylist and dressed all of the characters, Fine's fashionable looks remain unparalleled.
As the clothes from Miss Fine's closet were more often than not classic garments that she styled in a bold way, it's no wonder the trends from the show are making a comeback, and social media can't get enough. With numerous fan pages dedicated to chronicling fashion from "The Nanny" and modern-day celebrities wearing the same pieces, Cooper's eye-catching choices have unquestionably made a huge fashion statement and continue to influence modern trends.
A lot of the clothes had to be reworked
The stylist behind Fran Drescher's iconic wardrobe in "The Nanny," Brenda Cooper, had already worked with the actor before the sitcom, and the pair clicked from the get-go. "My first official job as a designer was with Fran; we had a great relationship, and she just let me do what I wanted, which is very unusual," Cooper shared when speaking with i-D. The stylist revealed that the original inspiration for Drescher's character's style was a colorfully striped Moschino vest that she had previously used on another show. "I wanted to push the envelope but keep it stylish," Cooper said of how she wanted to present Fran Fine, the iconically fashionable nanny.
In a conversation with Huff Post, Cooper stated that she often bought items that needed a lot of tailoring, reshaping, and hemming in order to work for the cheeky nanny. While some of the clothes were no-name pieces, a lot of them were designer gems we can't get our hands on over 20 years later. From Anna Sui and Todd Oldham to Herve Leger and Dolce & Gabbana, no other nanny in the world had Fine's wardrobe.
"We would always shop in Beverly Hills. I'd just pull the stuff off the racks and load up clothing, and then go into our weekly Wednesday fitting," Cooper said in an interview with HelloGiggles, adding that she wanted to make a long-lasting impact with the character's style. We can say with confidence that she certainly did!
Why we still love Miss Fine's looks
Brenda Cooper's stylistic creations for Fran Drescher's character were intentionally timeless, and the hype over Fran Fine's looks rightfully rages on to this day. The nanny's fashion has been well documented all over social media, and the Instagram homage to her bold style, @whatfranwore, boasting more than 350k followers, goes to show just how much we still love everything she wore.
When asked why Fine's looks are still making a splash, Cooper said that she worked intuitively to make a statement with the nanny's fashion choices. "That style that I created was made to transcend the test of time. It wasn't created to be trendy," she explained to HelloGiggles. Other than buying off the rack, Cooper often recreated looks from designers that were unavailable for whatever reason, and this is exactly how some of the most iconic looks on the show came to be. For example, Madeline Zima's character, Grace Sheffield, wore a leopard dress in one of the episodes, and "The Nanny" crew wanted her to stylistically match Miss Fine. Cooper revealed to HelloGiggles that she recreated a Todd Oldham leopard print jacket for that scene and had a pencil skirt made to pair it with.
"Could you imagine if I dressed ... Fran like an average, everyday nanny? We wouldn't be having a conversation right now," the stylist said when talking to Huff Post. Cooper won an Emmy award in 1995 for her costume design on "The Nanny," proving the impact clothes can have.