Time and time again, avid fashionistas name the most stylish of characters and the ones falling under the mean girl trope come to mind. They visually dominate the screen with their beauty and gorgeous clothes.. they’re always stylish and glamorous. She looks as if she has it all, but in reality, she does not, and typically her storyline follows her scheming and striving, resulting in a humanizing fall from grace where she grows as a person and her image evolves to be more authentic. It’s a cautionary tale about aesthetics, image, and identity. The mean girl trope has been a common character type utilized in the media for decades. If we take a look at various films and shows we see that the fashion of the mean girl characters is very similar across the board. It could almost all be out of the same closet. Style is telling, but never of the whole story. It’s a reflection, but the mean girl’s reflection isn’t one she holds in the mirror looking back but up to society.
First, we will take a look at the aesthetic foundations of the style. Costume design functions differently than clothing. characters are only so dimensional, but they have looks, styles, and traits that real people hold. Mean girls look like girly girls which is a woman who prefers to dress and act in a ladylike manner, such as by donning pink, applying makeup, spritzing on perfume, sporting skirts, and other visual qualities that are socially associated with the traditional gender role of women. Many with a feminine personality style favor everything delicate, sweet, charming, and romantic.
In my previous video, where I explore the 7 style personalities, I break down the authentic psychology and The visual identity of this style which is refined and, gentle, projecting an image of delicacy, tenderness, and compassion. But the mean girl is everything but this. Which just begs the question why do mean girls wear pink?
People who enjoy this style can be kind and intelligent the same way someone else who has a different style can be mean or unintelligent even though they look nice and smart like someone wearing a preppy look.
In real life, the bully or villain doesn’t always have that stylized less than coveted look and mean girl characters depict this. They are the anti-villains each in their own way, so they have these heroic goals, qualities, and traits that are good but their means of getting to their goal are not as good as they like to appear.
For example, a character who looks like the mean girl trope, but actually fundamentally kind is Elle Woods in Legally Blonde. Despite coming from a similar elite background on paper and going to the same university, many look down on her due to her personal aesthetic. They assume she holds mean girl qualities and is less than others due to her style. Ironically these students go to the same lengths as Elle does for her appearance with styling, clothing brand price points, etc, it is just the execution that is different. People, men, and women, alike struggle to break free of the constraints imposed on them by preconceived notions like this.
For most people, their first encounter with various fashions and senses of style will be through media the traits associated with the look of the character will aid in their formation of an opinion on the real person as life imitates art. No one comes out of the womb thinking pink and girly equals mean and unintelligent, it’s learned. Funny enough psychologically it is the opposite. It’s nurturing love and kindness. The mean girl uses this for personal gain. They aren’t going I love this style, fur coats are so cute. I love bow adornments etc. They are going, if I look like this I can get that. Whether it be popularity, love, career, and so on. It is like the saying, “Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.”
A person’s style is not always who they are, but sometimes an outer manifestation of who they want to be or what they believe they need to become in order to achieve. The majority of “mean girls” in fiction are very similar on paper. They are strong-willed, beautiful, goal-oriented, and charming. Their will to succeed makes them go further in life, but they also have a dark underbelly that shows no mercy. Which ironically doesn’t match the girly and light baby pink aesthetic, but this is what gives them an edge. They are essentially wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Even in fashion psychology, the qualities I just listed of the girls are found more in darker color palettes, structural design, more modular, and bigger silhouettes which are more commonly found in menswear. Male characters are often viewed in a more positive light than their female counterparts as these traits are historically associated with the ideal image of success or behavior for men. The mean girl is typically the antagonist, the character foil of the nice girl who is the ideal type to display how a girl should strive to be like. We see in the instance of Sharpay Evans who is passionate, has a strong work ethic, and is ambitious about theater being written off as a diva. This is not to say her behavior is proper, but she holds strengths and weaknesses as anyone else in the film. It’s written off as a joke. This is harmful for men who hold do not hold these traits, but other strengths and for women who do.
But speaking very superficially the image of a successful woman on a societal level isn’t always one in the stark suit. I won’t go too deep into this, that is a whole other topic because it varies from place to place culture to culture. But this is also individualized, yes for me the image of a successful woman is a woman wearing high fashion and running a business, to someone else it could be a woman who is in a dress cooking for her husband raising her child, to someone else it is a woman in a doctor’s coat going into an operating room to conduct surgery. I’m sure you the viewer have your own vision of success as well.
But the mean girl character, she does not have this. They are products of their environment which typically is not the most nurturing and didn’t encourage this. So these girls are leading in a very warped way because of not only their internal qualities and social intelligence but their own personal take on the expected image of a woman outwardly.
Instead, she is playing into how beauty is blinding. Often these characters wear a softer color palette or stereotypically feminine colors in Western culture like pink, white, or baby blue. A lot of the colors and fabrics they wear heavily symbolize calmness, innocence, and optimism which offsets the negative nature, acts as a shield and demonstrates traditionally feminine traits which can be used to benefit them.
Being good-looking is very important to them. The ideal image of femininity that the general public admires and pursues, hence having a very pristine and put-together look. They stay on top of or use their power to set trends themselves to assert power. While making them look softer and more classically feminine which stereotypically can both be seen as weak and desirable. But instead of expressing their discomfort, anger, or sadness, when assumed to be unintelligent or objectified they lean into this. They use it to their advantage rather than showing their true nature. They want people to think of them as soft as their style is.
This discourages them from using their full potential and promotes stereotypes of this image as less capable even though they are fully capable. Psychologically speaking it creates a glass ceiling and the majority of the trope’s characters actually strongly dislike the rules they feel they need to play by. They don’t have the confidence to be themselves, to stand on their own. they need others, they need reassurance, and to feel in control. They like the glamorous image, but they are anything but and it’s very fabricated.
They go after others who hold the qualities that they can’t, mainly due to their Inferiority Superiority Complex. It could be talent, vulnerability, or kindness. It is the traits and qualities of the look they try to create for themselves, but it can never compare to authenticity. Think of it similar to inconspicuous wealth vs overt in fashion if I say picture a wealthy woman many think of this woman all done up, lots of jewelry maybe some shopping bags, and so on but in reality, she might be wearing simple workout clothes or a swimsuit on a Tuesday afternoon because she has the true luxury of leading a leisurely life then gets all done up for when the time calls for it rather than always flaunting her status. She doesn’t need to because it is hers, this is why the mean girl looks this way. To play nice, innocent she’s sugar-coated essentially. Always having to prove something. As much as they say or act like they love to be feared, this isn’t what they truly want. It’s very threatening to her because she can’t do it or even understand it. It’s on this very superficial level. Anything that combats her worldview is essentially a threat.
The culture that the mean girl cultivates keeps people who look up to her in check. She has a small, dedicated following that she relies on to uphold her standards and regulates rigorously. Her close-knit group mirrors these codes of dress found in her looks. This creates a greater social strength in the inner circle through ritual and visual unity, which produces greater success in conducting control of a social ecosystem due to the salience of the garments worn by the inner group. When these girls get ruthless and cruel, the people around her still admire her and try to emulate her style in an effort to win her favor or get her approval.
It’s not uncommon for people who are friends to dress in similar styles as they usually have similar interests, backgrounds, cultures, social standing, etc, but a clique like this takes it to another level. Where there is this underlying aggression. They have stripped themselves of their identity and will do the same to others. There’s no room for individualized thought or expression. It mirrors how often people feel, who are told they don’t look or dress right.
For example, in the film mean girls, the rule “on Wednesdays we wear pink” is enforced. While this seems lighthearted it’s using clothing as a tool of control, similar to a uniform that strips away personal identity.
Rather than self-expression of personal identity, it enforces power and keeps the group identity intact. It is like camouflage. This will offer her the sociological advantage of being able to influence how other people see her by using the dress as a tool to raise or lower the social standing of others in accordance with her own really unattainable personal style.
We see that often with Blair Waldorf and her minions in ‘Gossip Girl.’ If you’re interested in the symbolism of her codes of dress I have a full style analysis available on the TCL Youtube. In doing so, she is engaging in a sort of self-objectification that ultimately leads to the achievement of her goal. The entourage often takes on the same look as their leader and has their own unique personal variable that represents them or sets them apart from the others. It gives them something special without being perceived as more special than their leader. This allows us as viewers to follow smaller plot lines done through visual narration within the costume design.
For instance in Screams Queens, The Chanels all dress in a similar manner, but will never upstage their leader. Chanel #3 wears earmuffs, and the accessory has a backstory in the show, but looking at these characters it’s what sets her apart and expresses her own individuality apart from the group. This contributes to the false impression that followers of this leader, or even simply girls who prefer this style, are unintelligent and can’t think for themselves. That they need direction. While studies have shown that women who invest more time and energy into their appearance tend to earn greater salaries, others have shown that beautiful women are seen as less skilled or qualified for their employment.
According to Traci Sitzmann, it’s true something as simple as hair color can make a difference in how one is viewed in the workplace because a lot of people learn through media and culture about identity. It’s not a conscious thought, but rather an ingrained one. Nonetheless, these stereotypes can have devastating effects on people. It’s ironic because people, especially women are held to very high standards when it comes to their personal image, yet if they succeed and go the distance, their beauty might become a liability because of societal stereotypes around beauty. So be beautiful, but not too beautiful.
This brings us to the real-life impact. It’s a double-edged sword that women are seen as more competent and trustworthy in the workplace if they dress “well” but If you are too good-looking, you will have to work harder in order to just show you are capable. This is the bimbo effect and men can experience it as well this is not gender specific, it just happens more commonly with women. Style goes beyond clothing or the way one may dress, it is also our appearances, traditions, culture, values, and characteristics by which we identify with. People can be seen as unintelligent or incompetent just because of how they choose to style themselves. Or if they consciously try to not be attractive or dress in the way that feels most natural to them, it has the reverse effect.
Clothes infiltrate the body and mind, causing the individual to experience a psychological shift, this can be beneficial or detrimental. When Elle Woods opts for looks outside of her own aesthetic when lost, she doesn’t feel at ease. She strives to play the proper counterpart she has come to believe is necessary to achieve due to the culture she is surrounded by. This psychologically combats her worldview, personality, and performance hence her discomfort and further hardship in this period of trying to look and act the way she is made to believe a successful woman is in this specific east culture as opposed to her west coast roots.
I often speak about fashion and identity as tied, which it typically is. But Image always doesn’t directly correlate to internal traits because of learned perceived traits. As we can see Cher from ‘Clueless’ for example, has the characteristics and privileges of a mean girl trope, but she has consciously chosen to use them for good. She is young and learning rather than unintelligent and doesn’t have the ruthless dark side many would assume. It is what benefits a mean girl who wears the pink girly style. But this look is very authentic to Cher. When people see she is not a mean, her naivety is often what people see when they look at her.
But what most people don’t think about when it comes to a woman or girl who enjoys styles like these is that it takes intelligence and skill to create this look or curate a wardrobe. An image is an art form, also it impacts how we behave psychologically, and it shapes how we communicate with the world. The confidence needed to even dress this way is also a strength. it isn’t everyone who could be comfortable stepping into a room with a unique look while others dress differently.
Every style needs attention and thought, this one is perceived as dense, but it takes roughly the same amount of maintenance as other styles that are perceived as laid back and effortless. Your own opinion or view of this image could differ greatly from theirs. To judge someone on preconceived notions or reduce someone to just one thing isn’t fair to them or you. In conclusion, we can see how personal style and image often goes in hand with personal alignments. Our interpretation of style will differ from person to person not only based on physical traits or internal qualities but also on mental state and circumstances. Exhibiting how fashion goes hand in hand with values, placing importance, and being a visual indicator of where we fall in terms of social commentary that is gifted to us by designers to sport. As Ralph Lauren once said, “I don’t design clothes, I design dreams.” So if you love this style I hope you indulge in it each day and dress up to your heart’s content or if you are feeling pressure to look more this way you find a style that you feel best empowers you as the individual you are.
