When Katie Holmes first became famous, she was a tall brunette with long hair, a warm smile and a "girl next door" air that made her an instant hit with audiences everywhere. So much that, in fact, she was labeled all sort of flattering things by magazine editors in the U.S., from "impossibly lovely" to "the Audrey Hepburn of her generation" to the sort of girl one wants to bring home to meet the parents and marry. Entertainment Weekly commented at the time that she was "next up for idolhood" - a perspective which effectively summed up everybody's expectations of the Ohio native: fame, fortune and a successful small and big screen career. No one imagined at the time that Katie Holmes' popularity as an actress would soon be overwhelmingly surpassed by the constant attention directed at her for becoming Tom Cruise's wife and an avid fashionista and trend setter.

So, how did it all happen? How did the girl next door turn from a pumpkin into the fairy princess with the magical life and the ultra-glamorous outfits made by Armani, Monique Luhillier or Alexander McQueen? Some say her husband's huge fortune allowed Katie to get advice from the best stylists out there and afford custom-made, uber-expensive outfits the likes of which she would never have been able to afford even on her Dawson's Creek star budget. Others say that Katie's transformation is in fact a lot more complex than we may initially assume. These voices argue that when Tom married Katie, the Top Gun star took it upon himself to transform his young and spontaneous partner into a wife worthy of his own fame and fortune, a woman who makes the rules of the fashion game rather than follow them.

Cruise is 16 years Holmes' senior, which may explain why he has always appeared keen on making her look more mature than she actually is, and proportionally closer to his own age. Next came the change in hairstyle, the visibly more reserved attitude, the averted eyes and the inexplicable and slightly annoying fact that Tom Cruise always seems to be at his wife's side when out in public, apparently guiding her or leading her on in a manner that seems to presume she's used to doing his bidding on a constant basis. And then, there's all that talk about Katie getting very thin and having a hard time coping with the pressure of being Mrs. Cruise and living up to her husband's expectations, the rift in her once-close friendship with Victoria Beckham and her plummeting weight.

If you agree with the "Tom Cruise turned his wife into a self-styled fashionista" theory, then you'll have to agree the occasionally controversial actor made a terrific job. Not only is his wife widely acknowledged as an international style icon, but the two of them have been hailed many times over the past year as one of the best-dressed celebrity couples in town. Well, actually in the world. Which goes to show that Katie Holmes' unlikely transformation into a high-profile player of the fashion game has apparently been a source of continuous profit for both Katie and everyone around her. What's not to like?