Keira Knightley’s Remarkable Style Evolution

Born in 1985, Keira Knightley had her acting debut in 1993 in the television series “Screen One.” While she acted regularly throughout her teens, the actor didn’t really have her breakthrough until 2002, when she starred in the coming-of-age drama “Bend It Like Beckham.” At the time, Knightley’s style was all about quirky yet elegant pieces, and for the movie’s premiere, she went with patterned low-rise pants with a sheer top over them. Of course, this was the peak season of the skirts over pants style — the mid-aughts trend we never thought we’d see again until it resurfaced in 2023.

In the late ’90s and early aughts, teen Knightley also embraced heavier makeup. “I really enjoyed playing around with different looks and being different people,” she admitted to Elle in 2018 while reflecting on her younger years. “When you’re becoming yourself, it’s good to mess around with the way that you look with hair color or makeup. It’s a voyage of discovery.” Truer words have never been spoken.

In 2003, Keira Knightley became Elizabeth Swann in the first installment of “Pirates of the Caribbean” — a role she would continue to play in three sequels. With that, Knightley became one of the most promising young stars in the industry, and red-carpet events became a common occurrence for her. For the premiere of the first “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie, Knightley gave us one of the most iconic cases of Y2K low-rise jeans. Now, while they looked great on her, keep in mind that low-rise jeans are just another trend, and there are plenty of more timeless options to wear instead. Of course, with the current resurgence of early-aughts fashion, styles like this are seen again, and for Knightley, it might be odd to see the younger generation wear pieces she would have worn back then. “It was all about my midriff,” she told The Times in 2024. “I was like, ‘Hang on, are they my clothes?’ I don’t have the midriff anymore, so it’s not coming out.”

By the mid-2000s, Keira Knightley was a household name, and her fashion and beauty choices were setting trends. One of them was her decision to chop her hair into a short pixie. Looking back on it, the actor admitted that it’s a hairstyle she doesn’t plan on recreating again anytime soon. “I don’t think I’d do pixie again. I think I’ve got two cowlicks at the front of my hair, so what you think would be a low-maintenance haircut was just a complete nightmare,” Knightley told Elle in her 2018 interview. “I looked like Sid Vicious, which wasn’t what I was going for.” While styling a pixie for every occasion isn’t the easiest, the pixie undoubtedly suited Knightley perfectly.

As she entered her early 20s, Keira Knightley’s style became more glamorous and sophisticated, and the actor quickly became known for her breathtaking red-carpet looks. One of her most memorable fashion moments from 2006 was at the Academy Awards, where she showed up in a custom mahogany Vera Wang gown, dramatic statement necklace, and dark, edgy makeup. The gown’s color perfectly accentuated her features, and Knightley’s confidence was undeniable. With her roles in “Pride & Prejudice” and “Atonement,” Knightley also established herself as a period drama star, and the vintage look perfectly suited her.

In a candid conversation with Elle in 2015, Knightley revealed that while her 20s seemed glamorous and fun, the actor didn’t have the best time. “My twenties were pretty crap,” she said. “My career was absolutely amazing; in fact, I don’t think my career will ever get better than it was in my late teens, early twenties. But as a person, you’re changing so much and you’re trying to figure stuff out.” This is all too relatable, even if you’re not an actor, but Knightley’s story didn’t end there. “I was very shy. It took me a lot of years to try and stop pleasing a lot of people and allow myself to have fun,” she added.

By the end of the 2000s, Keira Knightley had completely shifted away from low-rise jeans and a bare midriff and embraced a preppier look instead. Peplum silhouettes, pencil skirts, and tweed jackets became staples for the actor, and attending fashion events was a must. In fact, Knightley often attended Chanel’s fashion shows, and her style quickly became synonymous with the brand’s aesthetic.

When it came to her hair, Knightley went from long locks to an edgy angled bob haircut, which has been back on trend in recent years. This definitely helped add a modern and unexpected touch to her overall look. “I like a slick, short bob partly because it’s really low maintenance,” she explained to Elle. “Or, I like my hair really long. It’s the in-between that I find really annoying; that’s why you keep cutting your hair off.”

While she still enjoyed preppy fashion, Keira Knightley also experimented with colors and fun patterns in the early 2010s. However, Knightley’s choices never looked overwhelming or maximalist, as the actor followed the rule of not accessorizing an outfit that is already busy on its own. In 2012, Knightley starred in the period drama “Anna Karenina,” and for Glamour, she admitted that while she loved the clothing on the film’s set, her personal style is a lot simpler. “I would love to say that it does [inspire me],” she said. “I have quite a lot of clothes, but I wear the same pair of jeans, the same jumper, the same jacket — I literally wear the same four things in my wardrobe.” That said, fashion has always inspired her. “I’ve always loved costumes since I was a kid. Costume design always fascinated me because it’s creating a character. Whereas, I never know who I want to be. So the character I’d create for myself, I can’t figure out,” she added.

Knightley’s private life was also thriving. In 2013, the actor tied the knot with musician James Righton during a stunning ceremony in France. For her big day, Knightley wore a knee-length Chanel tulle dress, showcasing that bridal fashion doesn’t have to be boring or predictable.

As Keira Knightley approached her 30s, her style became even more confident and authentic. The actor always seemed to adore simplicity in fashion, but that never meant wearing boring looks. In the mid-2010s, the star often wore colorful and funky dresses, showcasing that there isn’t much she can’t pull off. Sheer materials, embroidery, and fun textures became staples in her red-carpet looks, but her fashion choices were never overdone.

In 2015, Knightley — who gave birth to her and James Righton’s daughter, Edie — opened up to Elle about body confidence, revealing that she has struggled with self-image over the years. “I have to say, as a woman, you hate certain parts of your body,” the actor said. “You go through those periods where you look in the mirror and you think, Oh, if only I had different legs or arms or whatever. You go through pregnancy and labor and then feeding the kid and you go, Wow, my body is totally amazing, and I’m never going to not like it again, because it did this, and this is f***ing extraordinary.” We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

Keira Knightley continued taking our breath away with her fashion choices in 2016 and 2017, and during this period, we noticed that the Hollywood star had a preference for tulle dresses, whether they were in a rich, bold color or in a light, airy hue. This fashion trend, which many believe Carrie Bradshaw pioneered, provided a bold change in Knightley’s red-carpet fashion. In fact, one of our favorite Knightley fashion moments from this period happened at the 2017 Evening Standard Theatre Awards, when the star walked the red carpet in a beige tulle Valentino gown that made her look like a beautiful fairy.

Everything wasn’t so rosy, however. The actor admitted during this time that her hair journey throughout the previous few years hadn’t been what most thought it was. “I have dyed my hair virtually every colour imaginable for different films,” the actor revealed to Alice Sholl (via Yahoo!). “It got so bad that my hair literally began to fall out of my head! So for the past five years I’ve used wigs, which is the greatest thing that’s ever happened to my hair.”

In 2018, Keira Knightley attended the Harper’s Bazaar Women of the Year Awards in a baby-blue Givenchy dress that provided the perfect mix of preppy and fun, and the color accentuated Knightley’s features perfectly. The actor’s red-carpet style was rarely a miss, and her street style was just as fabulous. In fact, Knightley seemingly always knew that animal prints are the new neutrals, and she showcased that by pairing a red skirt with a leopard jacket while heading to “Good Morning America” in New York City in 2019.

When it came to the star’s makeup, Knightley told Vogue in 2018 that she loves a bold eye. “I am 100 per cent more of a smoky eye girl than I am a lip girl,” she said. “Normally it’s a smoky eye, black liner in the lash line and lots of mascara. Always. Top and bottom.” For Elle, the actor opened up about her preference to let her skin breathe when she isn’t working. “I probably wear a h*** of a lot less makeup than when I first started,” she told the outlet. “I really enjoy working with wonderful makeup artists, wonderful hairdressers, and creating a look and fantasy. Then, my off-duty look is literally not even brushing my hair and wearing very little makeup. I’m a girl of extremes but I enjoy both things.” In the same interview, the actor said that she doesn’t have any fashion regrets, adding that all of her red-carpet choices “felt right at the time so even if other people didn’t like them I always like them.”

As the coronavirus pandemic put the entertainment industry into a standstill (and the rest of the world into social distancing), we didn’t get to see too much of Keira Knightley. However, the star — who welcomed her second daughter with James Righton, Delilah, in 2019 — admitted that even though the world was in a lockdown, she still found time to wear her stunning dresses. “We have a trampoline in our garden, and we decided we were only allowed to wear dresses on it,” she revealed in 2021 (via Harper’s Bazaar). “I put on red lipstick every day, and every bit of Chanel that I have in my cupboard, and my daughter Edie had Chanel ribbons plaited into her hair and fairy wings. I thought, ‘What is the point of these lovely things sitting in the wardrobe when it feels quite apocalyptic and scary outside?’ It felt so important to be really happy for the kids!”

By 2022, the entertainment industry had largely returned to normal, and Knightley was once again a red-carpet staple. However, it seemed as if the “Silent Night” actor, who was now in her late 30s, got a tad bored of bright and fun colors and decided to replace them with a more neutral palette. Browns, grays, whites, and blacks became staples for her, though this didn’t mean her choices were boring. Thanks to various textures and fun patterns, Knightley continued inspiring fashionistas across the globe.

As we headed into 2023 and 2024, we noticed that Keira Knightley was wearing black increasingly frequently. Of course, anyone familiar with the color psychology of black clothing and why we love wearing it so much knows that it’s difficult to look bad in a head-to-toe black look. And while this is often considered the “easy route” when styling a look, Knightley’s black fashion choices were anything but predictable. Two of our favorite looks include the sparkly black Vivienne Westwood dress that she wore to a screening of the true crime movie “Boston Strangler” in New York City and the Chanel look she wore to the London premiere of “Black Doves.” Both looks are the perfect example of how going for an all-black outfit can be intricate, glamorous, and unexpected.

In her 2024 conversation with The Times, Knightley revealed that wearing high heels is something she rarely does anymore and Dr. Martens boots have instead become a staple for her. “I’ve got a brown pair and a black pair, and it’s very hard to ever take them off. I’ve no idea how to walk in heels anymore,” she added. While showing Harper’s Bazaar what she carries in her handbag, the actor also admitted that hair isn’t her forte. “I’m not very good at my own hair. I can’t style it,” she said, adding that her go-to makeup is still a dramatic eye with nude lips. “I’m not a red girl – it goes all over my teeth, I can never remember to reapply, so I always go for kind of natural shades,” she concluded.

Keira Knightley turned 40 in 2025, and with that, she ushered in a new fashion era for herself. After almost three decades in the spotlight, there’s no denying that the actor is as confident in her fashion choices as ever — and that she has, over the years, figured out just what she likes and what she doesn’t. And one thing she adores is Chanel.

In the spring of 2025, Knightley attended Chanel’s Cruise 2026 show, and the star openly gushed about how much she loved it. “The whole show was beautiful, so cinematic. I loved the ‘holiday’ colour palette, the pinks and greens, and the fact it travelled from 1930s movie star to 1970s disco,” she told Vogue. In the same conversation, she revealed that her style has changed ever so slightly with the new decade she’d entered. “It must be something about turning 40,” she said. “Suddenly, I feel like I need to wear as many bows and ruffles as possible, because with two young kids at home, it’s jeans and a T-shirt covered in goo. Getting dressed up is a real joy, and I like being silly with it.” With this attitude, we simply cannot wait to see how Knightley’s fashion evolution continues.

Now, for another deep dive into the fashion evolution of someone who’s been entertaining for decades, take a peek at Shakira’s stunning style transformation.