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How 'Clueless' reimagined the California girl look
Stacey Dash and Alicia Silverstone in a scene from the 1995 film "Clueless."
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Courtesy Paramount Pictures
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How Clueless reimagined the California girl look
On the movie's 30th anniversary, “Clueless” costume designer Mona May reflects on the film’s impact. She says much of the film's wardrobe was inspired by the clothes shops on Melrose Avenue.
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How Clueless reimagined the California girl look
This Saturday marks the 30th anniversary of Clueless — the iconic comedy set in Beverly Hills. The film’s wardrobe, known for plaid skirt suits and designer body con dresses, was put together by costume designer Mona May.
In the '90s, May created the looks for a lot of popular comedies, including Never Been Kissed, Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion and Night at the Roxbury. But May’s work on Clueless would become her most renowned and helped reimagine the California girl look for generations to come.
Mona May’s journey to Clueless
May was born in India to German and Polish parents and moved to Los Angeles in 1981. She had already been working in costumes on sets when writer-director Amy Heckerling asked her to work on Clueless.
A sketch by ‘Clueless’ costume designer Mona May.
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Courtesy of Mona May
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“She said, Mona, you have to do it,” May recounted.
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Heckerling told her she wanted the film to have her European sensibility and be colorful.
“She really, truly gave me permission to be this artist with a colorful palette and crazy hats and whimsy,” May said.
Coming up with the Clueless world
As the costume designer, May had to come up with thousands of looks for the film. She said that for the main character of Cher, played by Alicia Silverstone, she had to come up with 63 changes. The average number of changes in a film for a character is 15.
Clueless was set in then-current day 1990s Beverly Hills High School. But May did not take inspiration from the high schoolers at the time.
Mona May in her L.A. studio.
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Marcellina Chappelle / LAist
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“We went to high schools all over L.A. to scout and they were all wearing grunge,” said May, who explained that this was the time when Kurt Cobain was at his peak influence and teenagers were wearing oversized shirts and pants that sagged. “You know, the baggy pants that fell off the boys' butts.”
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Heckerling wanted to create a heightened version of teenage reality. She was inspired by Jane Austen’s Emma and wanted the movie to play off of class dynamics like the novel. But she wanted the story set in the contemporary Beverly Hills fashionista crowd that shopped on Rodeo Drive and Melrose Avenue.
”It was really fun to create this world,” May said. “ I was able to get things in L.A. from Melrose Avenue that in the nineties was so cool. [I’d source from places like] Fred Segal, Barneys and thrift stores. I was able to mix the high fashion and the low fashion.”
May said that at the time, nobody dressed like this.
The lasting impact of the film’s fashion
May remembered how the looks were immediately coveted when the film came out in July of 1995. The outfits were featured in Vogue and Women’s Wear Daily.
Some images from Mona May’s upcoming book, “The Fashion of Clueless,” out this October.
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Marcellina Chappelle / LAist
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Michelle Dalton Tyree, a trend and retail expert, said the fashion of the film was “an absolute game changer,” and that we are still seeing the influence in the clothes of today.
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“Key trends like baby doll tees, patchwork leather skirts that we would later see replicated at Chloe slip dresses, and twin sets,” said Dalton Tyree.
May hopes that 30 years later, the renewed attention to the film will continue to change the course of fashion, especially post-COVID.
”Now everybody's in sweats with elastic waist. And maybe lazy? I'm hoping that [renewed attention to the film] can inspire people,” May said. “Let's get dressed again, let's have fun, right? I mean, let's be feminine. Let's celebrate!”
For those in L.A., this Saturday (July 19) the mayor of Beverly Hills is declaring “Clueless Day” at an event at La Cienega Park. You’ll be able to catch a screening of the film and enter a costume contest, judged by Mona May. MORE INFO
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