Fetch your pinkest attire and a bucket of popcorn, the Mean Girls resurgence is upon us!Â
Paramount Pictures just released the official trailer for the film adaptation of the Broadway musical, Mean Girls. There’s a lot of confusion online about what this means, but it’s simple really. It’s a 2024 film adaptation of the 2018 musical adaptation of the 2004 film adaptation of the 2002 book. Makes sense, right?
The film, starring Renee Rapp as Regina George, will hit theatres on January 12th, 2024. Despite the release date still being a few months out, the cult classic remake is already stirring up lots of conversation. Internet fashion connoisseurs quickly took to criticizing the wardrobe choices for our beloved characters. The original film was revered for its costumes and played a huge role in defining the fashion trends of the 2000s. Pink everything, plaid mini skirts and sassy graphic tanks became all the rage.Â
While we’ve only caught glimpses of the updated style, fans generally agree that the fits don’t reflect 2024 trends as was seemingly intended. Likewise, Y2K enthusiasts don’t feel the outfits pay homage to the original looks. As an audience, we’re left in an in-between. We neither get the nostalgia of retro clothing nor the novelty of contemporary styles. If anything, the attire more closely resembles the micro-trend era of 2020. Pandemic culture had everyone engaging in retail therapy and blowing up fast fashion companies like SHEIN. Gen Z was strutting colorful maximalism. Crazy patterns, sheers, parachute pants and pastel cardigans flooded the internet. You see the similarities too, right?
The internet fashion police have also noted that the characters are dressed in mismatched shades of pink that do not seem to complement each other. This is something that Mean Girls (2004) adequately avoided. The OG film’s costume designer, Mary Jane Fort told Yahoo! in an interview, “I didn’t want everyone to be drenched head to toe in pink.” She went on to say, “I wanted it to be tasteful.”
Fort described her vision as a “heightened reality” of what teenagers in the Chicago suburbs were wearing during the first few years of the new millennium. She intended for the main trio to look like “candy”: shiny, artificial and deliciously desirable. Social media users agree that the new clique does not emit the same feeling of femme fashion royalty. After all, Regina George was a skirts and heels kind of gal, not a cargo pants and Doc Martens kind of gal. So, I’ve compiled some fashion inspo to show you how I imagine the infamous mean girls would dress today.
Get in loser, we’re restyling “The Plastics”!
Regina George
The simple truth about Regina is she’s two-faced. She can compliment your outfit and call it the “ugliest f’ing” outfit she’s ever seen in the same beat. But she has a killer style, and it reflects this catty duality. She often combines white and baby pink with black. Sometimes throwing in hues of red, and the occasional leather. This ingeniously works to symbolize her falsely sweet demeanor and her true edginess.Â
Regina also always looks put together, and I’m convinced if she were a young adult in 2024, she’d be into the “clean girl aesthetic.” Regina stands out to me as the most sophisticated of all the Plastics. She enjoys wearing classy silhouettes like off-the-shoulder tops, fitted cardigans and even collared button-ups. I suspect dressing more maturely than the other girls is just another way of asserting herself as the leader of the pack. Here’s how I incorporated these elements into my restyling of the modern-day queen bee:
Karen Smith
Being the more naive character, Karen has a pretty innocent color palette, consisting mainly of pastel blues, whites and soft pinks. She’s an unassuming follower by nature. Her childishness is also whimsically showcased by the shape detailing on her tops. As seen in the pictures above, her sweaters have graphic bows and stars printed onto them. She is also consistently seen in cozy fabrics, as if permanently sleepover-ready.Â
Pulling from the soft feminine elements of Karen’s original costumes, I’ve decided to modernize her character by subtly dressing her in what is now referred to as the “coquette aesthetic.” Maintaining the same color scheme, I’ve added elements like lace and bows for a more current feel. Don’t worry, the comfy long-sleeves and sweaters remained a staple too.
Gretchen Wieners
Now for the final course: Gretchen Wieners. In my opinion, Gretchen has the best and most distinct style of all the Plastics. Her fashion sense is both preppy and edgy, which actually makes total sense for her personality. Throughout the film, Gretchen gripes with the inner workings of the girl squad, constantly repressing the anger she has toward Regina. Gretchen might be a minion, but unlike Karen, inferiority is not in her true nature.Â
I noticed that on multiple occasions, Gretchen wears tanks and tees that have moody sayings like “Socialite” and “Royal Punk” written in that villainous Old English font. Her underlying fury is likewise portrayed by the warm tones of her clothing. While plums and light blues do appear in her wardrobe, she spends the majority of the film in shades of red and orange. In my rendition of Gretchen’s 2024 outfit lineup, you’ll see plaid and patterned skirts, as Gretchen is the only Plastic that took a genuine liking to unique and sometimes daring prints.Â
In any case, I can’t wait to see what else the Mean Girls (2024) closet is stocked with! The film’s fashion cues are bound to set off a social wildfire, and will probably spread faster than a burn book secret. After all, if I saw the Plastics wearing army pants and flip-flops, I’d buy army pants and flip-flops. And that’s saying something.Â
