I Didn't Like The New Mean Girls Because of The Fashion

I loved Reneé Rapp though.

I’m queer, I’m here and in love with Reneé Rapp, but Mean Girls (2024) was not it for me. As a musical theater nerd, I was excited about this film. I had the Mean Girls Original Broadway Cast Recording on rotation in any of my Broadway playlists. Apex Predator is my hype song at the gym. Revenge Party is the song that gets me out of a depressive slump when I feel weirdly overstimulated by the world. And of course, it’s because I loved the original Mean Girls (2004).

One of the biggest issues I had with Mean Girls (2024) was the wardrobe. It missed an opportunity to truly showcase the fast fashion trends of our time. Rather, it felt like they were given trendy yet cheap-looking pieces from Shein.

It sounds like a nitpick, but wardrobe and fashion were an integral part of the storyline in the original.

Mean Girls Dressed for Their Characters

In the original Mean Girls (2004), the Plastics had a set of rules that dictated their wardrobes for the week. It was significant to the plot because it showcased how they curated their images. They had a system in place to make sure they were not dressed like everybody else. Regina, Gretchen, and Karen were the most popular girls in school, so they floated above their peers. And what other way to say that than through fashion?

Pink wasn’t just a fun color to wear on Wednesdays; it was a statement of their unity and femininity. A cover that represents their innocence, cuteness, and beauty, when underneath it all is their conniving and snarky attitudes.

Fashion was also used to show Cady’s journey, discovering the girl world thanks to the Plastics. Her wardrobe started with a casual plaid shirt to represent her naïveté as she entered the highs and lows of an American High School. Then, when she meets and becomes one of the Plastics, she wears mini-skirts and high heels.

When it comes to visual storytelling, wardrobe is important. You’re not just dressing them for the sake of it all; it has to fit the storyline and their character.

Looking back, the Plastics wore clothes that made them stand out from their peers. They always looked like they were dressing to be on the cover of Teen Vogue rather than go to class. No one dressed like them in high school, and that was the whole point! They were untouchable trendsetters.

In the new Mean Girls (2024), it was hard to distinguish the Plastics from everyone else. Their clothes didn’t stand out in the way they were supposed to. We are meant to believe they are at the top of the food chain, yet they don’t look trendy enough to be trendsetters. Yes, they’re wearing clothes that are on trend, but it’s not enough.

The only time the new Mean Girls (2024) styled their characters to fit their characterization was during the introduction of Regina. Renée Rapp wore a black leather ensemble, which was a great choice for Regina, because who else could pull it off than her? It’s a bold fashion statement that not everyone can try on. So, it’s fit for a Queen.

Mean Girls fashion was also a social commentary on fashion trends and problematic views of young girls

Early 2000s fashion was problematic for several reasons, especially when it heavily focused on the glorification of thin bodies and looking sexy. Young girls in the early 2000s were pressured to look more mature with their fashion. The film is about how adolescence is such a delicate life stage for young women, and how fashion can heavily influence them.

Everything about the early 2000s was about showing your midriff, low-hanging pants, mini skirts, and trying to look like Christina Aguilera in her “Dirrty” music video.

Because these fashion choices made you look like a grown woman, or at least look “virginal but sexy” in a mini skirt. That’s why the Plastics wore those shiny, Mrs. Claus costumes for their Christmas showcase. They dressed for the male gaze, which fueled their popularity and self-esteem.

Their fashion choices also reinforce harmful gender stereotypes and the toxic diet culture of the time.

Throughout the whole movie, Regina is on a diet, counting her calories, and weighing herself to make sure she’s just the right size. At the time, they were constantly exposed to impossibly toned abs, skinny figures, and people calling midsized celebrities fat. So, it’s no wonder the Plastics try so hard to look and dress the way they do.

Mean Girls (2004) was a satire about misogyny and social hierarchies in a high school dynamic. So, fashion is a key part of telling that story. The new movie completely missed out on this, especially with today’s social media-obsessed climate.

How another movie captured this generation’s fast-paced fashion and made it part of the story

Where Mean Girls (2024) failed, other movies before it have shown the scary way trends come and go. One movie that comes to mind is Do Revenge, which came out back in 2022. This movie had everything Mean Girls (2024) should have had—social commentary through a comedic lens, trendy fashion, and mean yet likeable characters.

It was an homage to classic ’90s and ’00s teen movies like Heathers, Jawbreaker, and of course Mean Girls (2004). It’s evident in its fashion choices, with many bright Y2K pieces and ‘90s-inspired aesthetics.

The wardrobe choices were referential but intentionally modern, especially when today’s fashion trends are recycled from the late ‘90s and early 2000’s. According to the movie’s director and co-writer, the fashion played an important role in telling the story of the characters.

“I wanted to pay homage to the worlds that we were inspired by, but it was also very important to me and the entire team that we were never being derivative. There are slight nods, but it is updated to look like the present day.”

The wardrobe of Do Revenge was important to the overall world-building of the movie. Even when the setting for Do Revenge is a private school, the mix-and-match nature of the pastel purple-and-green uniforms highlights the fashionable, gender-fluid, and trendy style of the characters.

Do Revenge is the perfect example of how styling can make a movie better or worse.

With the fast fashion trends and weirdly named aesthetics of TikTok, from croquet fashion to the resurgence of Y2K fashion, Mean Girls (2024) missed the opportunity to showcase the absurdity of today’s fashion climate through their characters.