The Lipster

Not that we were actually around then or anything, but blimey, has it really been 40 years since Dunaway and Beatty's Bonnie & Clyde first graced the silver screen? Well yes, it has, and to mark the occasion, a 40th anniversary DVD is hitting the shelves, virtual and real, of all good record and DVD shops. As well as a shiny rendering of the original film, it's got the type of geeky bonus features that'll have film buffs needing a spare change of pants, including three "making of" featurettes, a documentary from the History Channel about the real life Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, Warren Beatty's wardrobe tests and two deleted scenes. Cor. In celebration, we look back on the movie and its legacy...

Style

The silk neckscarves, cutesy little mustard jumpers, a line skirts and long blonde bob – Bonnie Parker may have been a heartless killer, but, as imagined by Dunaway, she's been a style icon for the past 40 years. In fact, bloggers of the world are still in awe of her slick way with a cable-knit sweater.

Dunaway's costumes were designed by the excellently named Theodora Van Runkle, who has was credited with reviving the midi length of skirt, which she used to stunning effect on Dunaway's calf-length A-lines. The sawn-off shotgun, however, we can take or leave.

Hats

Kate Jackson may have ditched her berets now, but prior to the release of The Long Blondes' first album, she was practically a one woman Faye Dunaway tribute - hell, she even painted a mocked up scene from the movie on the album's cover. Of all the glorious fashion statements that the filmic Bonnie Parker makes, her prediliction for natty French hats has been the boldest. At the time one hat maker gushingly thanked Van Runkle for bringing back the fashion staple: "I've been a milliner for 50 years and I couldn't feed my family and now I'm making berets." That's before we even start on Warren Beatty's trilbies...

Violence chic

You want a hefty wedge of glamourised violence? Then look no further than Bonnie & Clyde. Nothing makes guns and blood look better than when they're in the hands of two impossibly gorgeus leads instead of the actually rather plain looking Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. Think Mr & Mrs Smith would have been half as popular had it not featured Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie? Think again. Before Bonnie & Clyde, we had gritty war films with grizzled men fighting for king and country. After it we had The Godfather and a litany of slick, asiprational gangster movies. Coincidence? Not ruddy likely.

Cinema

The movie's nods to France weren't limited to their berets, but also the edgy New Wave style of filmmaking. Bonnie & Clyde is an American film with a European heart. Genres and styles were muddied; shots were speeded up, slowed down and glorious Technicolour was used to lend the film a romantic, colour saturated feeling that belied its grim subject matter and arty style. The film's most obvious influence can be seen in the work of Sam Peckinpah and his nose for a dose of unapologetic violence.