8 Best Walk of Shame Outfits in Movies

The new movie Walk of Shame, starring Elizabeth Banks, will answer the question, can a woman land her dream job by chasing after it in a tight yellow dress after a one-night stand? It opens this month, but it’s not the first time a walk of shame kicked off a movie. A closer look at Hollywood’s walks of shame gave us more respect for the tousled hair, the borrowed threads and the hot mess accents. Here’s to eight notable WOS (or stride of pride, depending on how you want to look at life) fashion precedents.

1. Carol (Lake Bell) in In A World

On her way out from boning Gustav in his rad secret room of travel trinkets, Carol awkwardly puts on heels and takes a shot at small talk with the maid. No dice. But who cares about a strained interaction with the woman who has to shampoo her employer’s hair in a mansion? At least her bright red-orange dress and her red lowlights are a stylistic triumph even in the AM.

2. Brandy Klark (Aubrey Plaza) To Do List

Her perfect curly tendrils still in tact, Brandy is ready to deliver a slow-cooked speech about her wake-up call from virgin imposter syndrome. This vintage print’s almost too nice for her halter top, which exposes the straps of the stolen push up bra (it works, which is the reason her sister doesn’t have to.) She’s still demure after a roll in the hay (or the van) because her top’s tucked into her sweet light denim jorts.

3. Gena (Lizzy Caplan) Bachelorette

Gena throws on her one night stand’s Jack Johnson t-shirt for a moment that fully embodies the squirmy reality of the walk of shame look — you may have just slept with someone who makes the dubious choice to like Jack Johnson enough to buy the shirt. On its own, that’s enough to consider memory removal, but now you’re stuck looking like you do to.

4. Jane Burns (Selma Blair) in The Sweetest Thing

Jane, the decorum-breeching retail worker, started the day wearing this sweater as a shoulder-draping accessory, but it got twisted around during her dressing room sexcapade while she was on the clock. The layered pastels are an appropriately preppy look for people who think “summer” is a verb, but not for people who have the hots for anything male in an elephant suit. Here, she has all the pale pink of a prepster and none of the snobbery, but this would work if you’re in a rush, and it doubles as a lobster bib.

5. Alison Scott (Katherine Heigel) in Knocked Up

Granted, Alison had the liberty of putting herself together in her own home, but she does suffer her brother-in-law’s judgment. Her black suit’s the perfect foil to Rogan’s slacker deal, except she wears her bedazzled Easter-blue cotton tank underneath, which shows she can live a little. She needed those sunglasses, because no one wants to lock eyes with a disapproving Paul Rudd.

6. Annie Walker (Kristin Wiig) Bridesmaids

Annie sneaks off to the bathroom to layer on the perfect no-makeup look. And when she makes her exit, she’s got it together: a crisp blazer, skirt stretchy enough to scale a wall in, fierce red pumps, envelope clutch, bracelet, necklace, and hair that could pass as beachy. But owing to the security door, she gets outed to the gawking neighbors. Hopefully one of them helped her because as the busy guy who calls her his #3 told her, he has a lot of important stuff going on at work right now.

7. Dylan Sanders (Drew Barrymore) in Charlie’s Angels

So Dylan’s borrowed-from-two-generous-preteens look wouldn’t function outside of a skate park. (She almost fell to her death into their backyard after sleeping with the enemy.) She joins the other angels in flaming orange basketball shorts, sneakers and this 100% Pure shirt, but she didn’t have time to remove the dirt on her face. We tracked down the shirt, and it’s for fans of wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin (The Rattlesnake,) so luckily she’s resourceful and current for the time. Expect No Mercy!

8. Bridget Jones (Renee Zellweger) in Bridget Jones Diary

As if she could be any more endearing, Bridget shows up to a family party in a bunny costume. Why? The perverted relative she doesn’t relate to mysteriously forgot to inform her that the tarts-and-vicars costume theme was off. “You look like a common prostitute,” her mother says, “yes, well, that was actually the point.” Bridget stays, wearing her cottontail and a sexy choker with dignity. For this reason, she earns status as a goddamn champion to all who ever turned down a Halloween sleepover.

Ashley Hoffman