Fran Fine from “The Nanny” is still a fashion icon 20 years later

With her flashy style and kitschy outfits, Fran Fine has established her status as a fashion icon over the years.

Does The Nanny even need an introduction? Maybe, just for fun… A hit sitcom of the 1990s, it stars Fran Fine (Fran Drescher), a soft-spoken thirty-something-year-old from Queens who is looking for a job and decides to go door-to-door -door in the heart of Manhattan selling beauty products. Then she meets Maxwell Sheffield, a wealthy musical theater producer, who offers her the job of nanny to his three children, Margaret, Brighton and Grace.

A fascination with the 1990s

Why is it that, more than twenty years later, the New Yorker’s style still inspires us so much? Probably because in 2022, the trends of the 1990s and 2000s making a comeback, thanks to brands such as Blumarine, Diesel, but also to the girls in the spotlight including Bella Hadid, Hailey Bieber, and Rihanna, who are bringing the strongest looks from these two decades into the modern day. Another element also comes into play, the madness of social media that has hundreds of Instagram accounts dedicated to our favorite vintage series. One of them is dedicated to the hairdos, the colorful outfits and the scathing laugh of Fran Fine. It is @whatfranwore, led by Shan Brown, which lists all the looks of the coolest nanny on the Upper East Side, but also the other characters of the show.

Some of the iconic brands are Marc Jacobs, Azzedine Alaïa, Moschino, Courrèges and Jean Paul Gaultier. In total, hundreds of photos prove that Miss Fine, played by Fran Drescher, was indeed the Queen of fashion in the 1990s, thanks to the stylist of the series Brenda Cooper, winner of an Emmy Award for best costume. In particular, the famous optical illusion brick suit worn by the nanny, as well as the ultra-kitsch turtleneck sweater/dress combo signature of the time.

At the SAG Awards ceremony, the flashy girl of Flushing (a nod to the name of her character in The Nanny), president of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, gave a speech on sustainability in Hollywood. Although her look was a departure from Fran Fine’s colorful style, the 64-year-old actress made a splash in a long black dress by Reem Acra. Since July 13, she has become a leading figure in studio resistance and attendee for the Hollywood actors’ strike. Most recently, the icon made an eye-catching front-row appearance at the Ami Fall/Winter 2024-2025 fashion show.