Cult romcom "Clueless": Guide to the style of the 90s
Olesya Iva
We have a lot of attention We pay to trends and modern fashions, but it is worth understanding that they are only guidelines that each interprets in its own way. The style is shaped, among other things, by the influence of the surrounding reality and culture, including art, films or video clips. From time to time we analyze works from which one can draw a lot of knowledge about the fashion of the epoch and adopt a number of stylistic techniques. Today we remember the cult youth comedy "Stupid" with Brittany Murphy, Paul Rudd and Alicia Silverstone in the leading roles, which this July celebrated twenty years.
"Stupid" was not just a favorite film of adolescence for a whole generation - it is an inexhaustible source of wit, worldly wisdom and ideas about beauty. Fashion here plays, in fact, an equally important role than the plot, and the outfits of the heroes are an important detail for the demonstration of their characters.
The costume designer in the film was Mona May, whose work can also be seen in the notorious "Romy and Michelle at the alumni meeting", "Nights at Roxbury", "The Uncreated One" and "The Singer at the Wedding". In fact, off-set in the 90s grunge reigned, but for "Stupid" Mona came up with the style of schoolchildren from scratch. Not without jokes in the script: "Flannel shirt - is that a tribute to the stylish weather of Seattle?" The work was done colossal: for each protagonist of "Stupid" Mei made 60 images in which they never appeared on the screen twice. Secondary characters are worthy of no less attention - not only the characters, but also the filmmakers seriously thought about the little things and color combinations.
The film begins under a brisk cover of The Muffs "Kids in America". Alicia Silverstone plays the main character Cher - like an ordinary girl. However, every morning she chooses an outfit in a virtual dress me of Dress Me, which in the mid-90s remained something of a fantasy area. Fortunately, progress does not stand still: the teenagers' dream of a virtual stylist has long been accomplished by the developers of many applications for online shopping, and the British company Metail last year created the literal prototype of Dress Me.
In the virtual wardrobe, Cher creates one of the most memorable outfits in “Stupid” - a yellow check school suit and white knee-highs. In it, the girl boldly throws fans around with the words "As if! (How!)." Iggy Azalea in the clip for "Fancy" repeated the cult outfit, but it seems that Alicia Silverstone, he still went more.
The best friend of Cher - Dion (Stacy Dash) is not inferior to the main character in a sense of style. True, she wears more eccentric and sexy outfits: vinyl skirts, things with a leopard print, fuchsia and neon, crop tops. Separate fetish Dion - impressive hats: from crocheted hats and berets to bandanas and insane cylinders. Mona May’s dresser hats were inspired by a rave culture that was gaining momentum. I must say that girls outfits resemble: fashion is fun. Cher and Dion sometimes look quite different from everyone, but they are not afraid to be themselves.
Red-haired Amber performed by Eliza Donovan is another prominent character in the film. She competes with Cher for the attention of her classmates and is discharged to the skin: she quotes the 60s as a caricature, then comes to lessons in a red sailor suit or from head to toe discharged into the marabou feathers.
Looking at these shots, once again you understand how serious and voluminous work was done by costume designer Mona May. She managed to show the eclecticism of California youth fashion: clogs, infantile t-shirts, sweatshirts, stockings, chokers, tie-dai, puffy jackets. However, the diversity of wardrobe is mainly shown by girls: Cher and Dion are puzzling at the guys habit of wearing baggy pants and not washing their heads, hiding behind a cap with a visor back.
Cher - the daughter of a lawyer, but because hereditary supporter of the classical style. White shirts, overseas jackets, tops in diamond, two-cardigans, jackets like Jacqueline Kennedy - the girl uses retro and unisexual things in business style, as a reference example of the "golden youth".
Black and white outfits from the sports field still look superactual to this day and fit perfectly into the post-workout style: crop tops, tennis skirts, leggings, sneakers, leggings, T-shirts worn over tops, bandanas and sports leotards. Even a physical education class with such equipment can turn into one continuous celebration.
New Tai (Brittany Murphy) crosses the school's threshold in typical 90s clothes: a flannel plaid shirt, cargo pants and a T-shirt with the symbols of a rock band - in a word, the things that made the film's stylist horrified. Her feelings are the heroine and "stupid", Cher and Dion. As you know, popularity in school is equal to the image. His girls help Tai to change drastically: they wash the red paint off their hair, change into short checkered skirts, white knee-highs, club polo and even silver Dr. Martens. As a result, the girl becomes even too successful.
Velvet short dresses, school miniskirts, cardigans, white knee-highs, shirts with a collar, low-heeled shoes - it seems that most of the outfits in "Stupid" are adopted and replicated by American Apparel.
The heroine of Alicia Silverstone loves transparent blouses and wears them over shirts and crop tops. However, these shots once again remind you of which film the designers of American Apparel clearly saw to the holes.
"Stupid" can be safely renamed to "Fifty shades of the cell." This pattern in a variety of colors flashes almost every frame. A classic print adorns even the sports leotard of the heroine. Another thing without which Cher cannot be imagined is the beret that she carries with things, of course, in a cage.
The blonde, holding a pink ball-point pen with a gun in her hands, is a stereotypical image that went to the masses thanks to the "stupid." However, the heroine Alicia Silverstone loves the fluff in any way, be it a bag or jacket sleeves.
Evening dresses are a special theme in Cher's wardrobe. She always chooses concise, as a rule, plain short cocktail dresses and heels. At the school party, Cher puts on a red Alaïa dress and a jacket with feathers. In a scene with a robbery, the heroine refuses to lie down on the asphalt, arguing with a phrase that has become an aphorism: "Who is Alaïa ... like, a totally important designer."
"What it is?" - "The dress?" - "Who called this a dress?" - "Calvin Klein". - "Looks like a nightie. Put something on top or change your clothes." One of the most famous dialogues of the film takes place between Cher and her father when she chooses a white ultrashort dress with Calti Klein spaghetti straps for a first date. Her passion, and later a gay friend, dressed as a canonical hero-lover from the 50s.
Cher doesn’t spare time for dating meetings, but is guided by one rule (which still seems reasonable to many): put on what bares the body a little, then the guy will introduce you completely naked and will always think about sex. For a date, Cher again chooses a concise dress. Dilutes the image except that a beautiful hairpin in straziki.
Cher is no stranger to the normcore. Here she demonstrates a multi-layered combination of the 90s - a shirt worn over a basic white t-shirt. All with blue 501 mom jeans.
The wedding is a good ending for a classic youth comedy (at least, the writers and producers in Hollywood thought so). True, in the "stupid" filmmakers do not marry graduates, and school teachers. Cher puts on a wedding dress and a short cropped jacket and does not forget about an elegant hairstyle. The remaining guests do not change themselves: Amber - with feathers, Dion - with roses in braids. Pay attention: all the girls have chokers around their necks. After all, the cult detail of the style of the 90s. And about whether to tie with the "pink garbage", already in the next millennium, she told everyone "Legally Blonde."