A Look Back at Jane Fonda’s Iconic Style

February 28, 2021

Jane Fonda’s storied career is being recognized at Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards, with the actress receiving the coveted Cecil B. DeMille Award.

Presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which is behind the annual awards ceremony, Fonda is being honored for her lifetime achievements and impact on the film and TV industry.

At 83 years old, Fonda’s acting career spans roughly six decades and includes early hit films like 1968’s “Barbarella” and 1969’s “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?” Fonda has been nominated for seven Academy Awards, winning two for best actress, for her roles in “Klute” in 1971 and “Coming Home” in 1978, and has received 15 Golden Globes nominations, winning seven awards.

Throughout her career, Fonda has been revered for her style as much as her acting. Her style has evolved with the changing fashion trends of each decade, including her Hollywood glamour-meets-Mod style of the 1960s and then her bohemian chic look of the 1970s. Fonda was also part of the 1980’s fitness craze, most famously with her “Jane Fonda’s Workout” video in 1982, which showed her dressed in retro-inspired bodysuits and other workout clothes.

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“When I realized that consumerism was out of control and too many people’s identities were being formed by shopping, I vowed that I would never buy another new piece of clothing,” Fonda told WWD in a May 2020 interview. “I am wearing my own clothes; I haven’t changed weight, so I thought, I’m not going to buy anything again. I wore an Oscars dress I had worn five years earlier.”

Fonda’s last clothing purchase was a red coat that she wore at her Fire Drill Friday climate change protests on Capitol Hill in 2019, which frequently resulted in her arrest. Fonda had temporarily moved to Washington, D.C., to lead the weekly peaceful protests.

The actress plans to wear an outfit she already owns when accepting her Cecil B. DeMille Award Sunday night, talking about the decision on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” on Thursday.

“We spend too much money,” she said. “We buy too many things, and then we get rid of them. We try to develop our identity by shopping, right? We have to stop that. Stop all this consumerism. So I had to go through my closet and find something that still fit me that I have worn before, and I found something, so I’m all set.”

Click through the above gallery to see photos of Jane Fonda’s style through the Fairchild Fashion archives.