Jodie Foster began working as a child model at age three, but her breakthrough came with Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver, released in the United States on February 8, 1976. Filmed on the streets of New York City in 1975, the psychological drama cast the then-12-year-old Foster as Iris, a role that earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
Costume designer Ruth Morley gave Taxi Driver a distinctive visual language that remains closely associated with the film. Iris’s short shorts, cropped and tie-front tops, wide-brimmed hats, oversized sunglasses, and platform or strappy footwear deliberately blur childhood and the adult world surrounding her.
Elsewhere, Travis Bickle’s wardrobe evolves from flannel and Western shirts, jeans, cowboy boots, and military-surplus outerwear into the army-and-field-jacket look that became one of Taxi Driver’s most recognizable fashion signatures, accompanying his transformation from an isolated cab driver into an increasingly threatening figure.
Jodie Foster as Iris in Taxi Driver, wearing a wide-brimmed hat, curled pigtails, heavy eye makeup, and the character’s deliberately adult-styled 1970s wardrobe
“They were very uncomfortable about my character. Nobody knew how to direct me,” Foster said about playing Iris on The Graham Norton Show in May 2016.
“Scorsese would say something like ‘unzip his fly’ and just start laughing and not know what to do so he would hand it over to Robert De Niro and then Robert would tell me what to do.”
“And he was even more ‘Robert De Niro’ then, even quieter and more strange.”
Foster was 12 during filming, while Robert De Niro was 31 when production began and turned 32 on August 17, 1975.
Jodie Foster’s Iris sits across from Robert De Niro’s Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver, contrasting her casual fitted T-shirt with his plaid shirt and everyday workwear
How Jodie Foster Got the Role of Iris in Taxi Driver
Several young actresses were reportedly considered for Iris before Foster was cast, with more than 200 applicants associated with the search for the role.
In a September 2016 interview with W Magazine, Foster recalled that her previous work with Scorsese on Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore meant the process was less conventional than a standard audition.
I didn’t really audition for Taxi Driver. I had done a film with Martin Scorsese before called Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore and so he actually called my mom up and said, ‘Bring Jodie in; we are doing a new movie.’ And we read the script and she thought he was crazy. I came to meet with him in my school uniform, which was a little gray pleated skirt and white Peter Pan collar and a blue blazer. And she looked at him and said well, ‘If you really think that she can play this, I guess, you know, it’s up to you.
That school uniform — a gray pleated skirt, white Peter Pan-collar shirt, and blue blazer — could hardly have been further from the deliberately provocative wardrobe Morley later created for Iris.
From Panic Room to the Hollywood Walk of Fame: Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart Reunite
On May 4, 2016, Foster received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, with Kristen Stewart on hand to honor her former on-screen mother.
Their connection dates back to David Fincher’s 2002 thriller Panic Room, in which Foster played Meg Altman, and Stewart played her daughter, Sarah. YNS has traced Stewart’s footwear evolution from the sneakers and oversized layers of Panic Room to her later Chanel heels, making the reunion particularly fitting from a fashion perspective.
“I grew up blocks from Hollywood Boulevard and would cross it every single day of my life,” Foster said during her acceptance speech. “And you do that thing where you’re like, ‘Will I ever be on the Walk of Fame someday?’ ”
Kristen Stewart Pairs Chanel With Kurt Geiger Bond Pumps
For the ceremony, Stewart wore a black sheer sweater with gold buttons and a coordinating black leather button-front skirt with pockets from Chanel’s Pre-Fall 2016 collection.
Kristen Stewart honored her Panic Room co-star Jodie Foster at her Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony (Credit: WENN / FayesVision / Nicky Nelson)
She added Jillian Dempsey’s ‘Punk Lock’ necklace and black suede Kurt Geiger ‘Bond’ d’Orsay pumps. The streamlined shoes have sharply pointed toes, low-cut sides, and slender stiletto heels, bringing a more polished finish to Stewart’s otherwise slightly rebellious Chanel look.
At 5ft 3¾ (161.9 cm), with a US shoe size 6.5, Stewart has repeatedly turned to pointed pumps and elevated footwear on formal red carpets, even though sneakers, loafers, and boots are just as central to her personal style.
Kristen Stewart accessorizes her Chanel Pre-Fall 2016 look with Jillian Dempsey’s silver Punk Lock necklace
“She’s always encompassed what I thought was sort of the prime example of where you want to be and she’s been there for me,” Stewart said in her speech.
“She’s a baller on every level. It’s out of control,” the actress continued. “She did everything young. She kicked Yale’s ass. She won Oscars. She became a filmmaker herself. She created a family and still is just normal and cool and kind.”
Kristen Stewart shows off her slicked-back blonde hair, smoky eye makeup, and Jillian Dempsey Punk Lock necklace with a black Chanel sweater accented by gold shoulder buttons
The Kurt Geiger pumps also fit a pattern seen throughout Stewart’s YNS archive. Her formal footwear has repeatedly included sleek pumps from Chanel, Christian Louboutin, Jimmy Choo, and other designers, often contrasted with much more relaxed shoes once the red-carpet portion of an event is over. Her Chanel, Jimmy Choo, and Christian Louboutin appearances, for example, include the classic Jimmy Choo Romy and Christian Louboutin So Kate pumps.
Jodie Foster Keeps It Tailored in Max Mara
Foster took a quieter approach beside Stewart, wearing a tailored navy Max Mara suit with pointed-toe footwear largely concealed beneath the trousers.
At about 5ft 3 (160 cm), Foster has also used elevated footwear to add height on major red carpets. At the 2024 Academy Awards, for example, YNS documented her in metallic silver Stuart Weitzman Ryder 95 platform sandals with a crystal-embellished Loewe gown.
Kristen Stewart and Jodie Foster attend Foster’s Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in Hollywood on May 4, 2016
Max Mara was not an isolated choice for Foster, either. Just eight days later, while promoting Money Monster at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, she wore a Max Mara stretch-wool dress with strappy metallic silver heels. Together, the appearances point to a consistent preference for understated tailoring paired with classic, unfussy footwear.
Kurt Geiger Bond Pumps: A Closer Look at Kristen Stewart’s Shoes
Stewart’s black suede Bond pumps use the d’Orsay construction to expose the sides of the foot while retaining the structure of a traditional court shoe. The pointed toe and slim heel give the design a cleaner, more elongated profile than a conventional closed pump.
YNS has also documented the same Kurt Geiger Bond silhouette on other celebrities, including Jessica Alba in the metal-heeled version of the Bond pump, illustrating how the design appeared in several finishes during the mid-2010s.
Kristen Stewart pairs her black Chanel sweater and leather button-front skirt with pointed black suede Kurt Geiger Bond d’Orsay pumps as she celebrates Jodie Foster’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star on May 4, 2016 (Credit: WENN / FayesVision / Nicky Nelson)
Why Foster and Stewart’s Footwear Tells Two Different Style Stories
The Walk of Fame appearance captures two very different approaches to formal dressing. Foster favors streamlined tailoring and relatively discreet shoes, a pattern also visible in her Max Mara and metallic-sandal looks elsewhere on YNS. Stewart is more likely to create tension between polished designer clothing and footwear with a sharper attitude — or to abandon traditional red-carpet heels altogether.
That contrast makes their 2016 reunion more interesting than a simple celebrity shoe sighting. Foster’s restrained navy tailoring and Stewart’s pointed Kurt Geiger pumps reflect two established personal styles, while their shared history stretches from the practical screen wardrobe of Panic Room to one of Hollywood’s most traditional ceremonial red carpets.