Get Margaret Tate's look from The Proposal

It’s been ten years since Sandra Bullock last scored a number one movie at the US box office and in The Proposal, her return to the cinematic summit we get to see a new side of the rom-com queen. Gone is the scruffy tomboy of the Miss Congeniality movies or the girl next door cutesiness of Speed, both replaced by an icy ferocity as she steps into the designer heels of Margaret Tate. An ambitious and ruthless New Yorker, Margaret is a top book editor, flush with professional success but low on likeability as each of her colleagues, most especially her assistant Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds), despise her. But who needs friends when you’ve got Margaret’s wardrobe?

Christian Louboutin, Prada, Hermès – the girl’s got class and a bank balance to accommodate shoes and handbags by the world’s most esteemed and expensive luxury brands. However this abundance of designer treasures doesn’t distract from the rest of Margaret’s look which was created by costume designer Catherine Marie Thomas. Currently earning plaudits for her work on TV movie Grey Gardens starring Drew Barrymore, Thomas whose screen credits also include girlie favourite 27 Dresses looked to the past for inspiration, and specifically the iconic elegance of two of the silver screen’s most celebrated goddesses.

“Our departure point was the silhouette of the 40s,” she explains, “as worn by Katharine Hepburn and Rosalind Russell. I was inspired to do this very structured 40s silhouette because Margaret’s very uptight and regimented, and Sandy was thrilled.”

Thrilled no doubt as the costume synchronises so fantastically with the ferocious businesswoman’s personality. “The tighter, more severe, cinched and hardened, the better,” she says of Margaret’s look. “She knows she looks good, but her clothes are not primarily intended to make her look good. She’s used to having things constricted and strong so she can keep herself contained. If you take her out of that armour, she unravels.”