The Annie Hall star had an iconic signature style that earned her the reputation as the queen of menswear, with a love of suits and hats that spanned more than four decades
Diane Keaton will forever be remembered for her incredible on-screen talent – and also for her impeccable fashion credentials.
Perhaps just as iconic as her roles in movies such as Annie Hall and The First Wives Club was her androgynous style: tailored suiting, turtlenecks, and a variety of accessories – including her signature hats.
Effortlessly cool and elegant, Diane once said that to have her kind of flair, a look needed ‘a turtleneck, suit, large belt, and of course, a hat and glasses’. But there was a heartbreaking motivation behind her iconic style, it has now been revealed.
The star’s decision to keep her neck and head covered wasn’t simply about fashion. In a 2015 interview with the Los Angeles Times, she opened up about how her battles with skin cancer encouraged her to take sun protection more seriously in her 40s, which she did by wearing hats.
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The actor was was diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma at 21 and later with squamous cell cancer.
She once told TotalBeauty: “Wear sunscreen. You’ve got to put it on,” adding that she always carried factor 50 with her after her ‘serious’ diagnosis.
Sadly, skin cancer ran in Diane’s family; her father, brother, and aunt all suffered from it, with her aunt losing her nose to the disease.
The star later admitted she’d spent too much time in the sun as a young woman, calling it a ‘stupid’ decision, and warning others to protect their skin before it was too late.
Hats were part of her strategy to protect her face from the sun. Similarly, her fondness for turtlenecks meant her neck wasn’t exposed. And that’s not all. There was also the fact that Diane used her signature style as a mode of self-protection.
“Yes, it’s very protective. It hides a multitude of sins,” he told InStyle in 2019. “Flaws, anxiety — things like that. I would not feel comfortable in a short skirt or something cut off with my arms hanging out there.”
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She further elaborated: “And I’ve always liked hats. They just frame a head. But, of course, nobody really thinks they’re as great as I do.”
The Hollywood icon sadly died last week at the age of 79. “There are no further details available at this time, and her family has asked for privacy in this moment of great sadness,” her spokesperson said.
Friends told People magazine that Diane’s health had “declined very suddenly” in her final months. Her family “chose to keep things very private” and even some of her longtime friends “weren’t fully aware of what was happening,” one friend told the outlet.
Diane rose to fame in the 1970s thanks to her role in The Godfather films and her work and relationship with director Woody Allen. She won an Oscar for Best Actress for 1977’s Annie Hall.
Her long career included movies like The First Wives Club, multiple collaborations with director Nancy Meyers and the Book Club franchise. She is survived by her two children, Dexter, 29, and Duke, 25.