While it may feel as though Mean Girls is one of the more modern teen comedies, the original movie is in fact celebrating its twentieth birthday this spring. And what better way to celebrate than a fresh take?
A new musical film adaptation of the 2018 Broadway interpretation of the beloved Mean Girls story has been on the brink of release for what feels like forever now, but with the launch finally hitting the UK on Friday it's officially time to reintroduce ‘fetch’ to your daily language.
Of course, reinventing such a beloved classic doesn't come without its risks.
How will Renée Rapp approach the iconic role of Regina?
Will Busy Phillips, who plays Regina’s mum, really be a “cool mom”?
How will it feel when the characters suddenly burst into song?
Will we leave feeling pleasantly nostalgic or will this tarnish the memory of a true cinematic classic?
Get in loser, we're going to see the Mean Girls musical.
Will pink still be a wardrobe staple on Wednesdays??
Of course the latter is the most pressing question, so we caught up with the film's costume designer, Tom Broecker, to find out all about the new movie's wardrobe and how the team took inspiration from the original's iconic - yet often controversial - fashion moments and reinvented them for a Gen Z audience…
It's clear from the trailer alone that while many of the 2024 Mean Girls looks have been inspired by the original film, the new wardrobe is by no means a copy or a series of replica outfits. Was that a conscious decision, and if so what was the thought process behind changing things up?
Yes, we made a very conscious decision to make this film look like 2024 and not 2004. Although fashion has decided to come back to the early 2000’s, it was important to everyone involved that this reflect the world of 2024. The world has changed greatly over the past 20 years and we needed to reflect that change. The film is set in suburban Chicago, the Midwest, and it was important to the directors that it have a midwestern, post pandemic high school feel.
Reneé Rapp’s Regina can be spotted at one point in a tough, black leather biker jacket. Can we expect your Regina to have a bit more of an edge compared to her original counterpart?
Yes, this is Reneé Rapp’s Regina and so we needed to make it feel like Regina 2024 as played by the incredible Reneé Rapp. She is amazing, and this Regina has both masculine and feminine qualities. You can see that especially in the necklace, [which] is half pearl and half metal with the ‘r’ in the middle. Each character brings their own representation to a character so it was important to bring this into Renee’s version of Regina 2024.
The original Mean Girls film has latterly received some critical commentary about the sexualisation of the school-age characters because of the movie's wardrobe. Was this something you took into consideration at all, bearing in mind the contemporary audience, and did you feel the need to make any styling decisions because of it?
The world has changed since 2004 when the original film came out, and I think we have changed our views as a culture about this idea. We did have conversations about all things teens [and] we had many conversations with the actors as well, making sure they always felt comfortable in their looks. We would let them set the boundaries.
Of course, pink is the most prominent colour in the Mean Girls world. Did you lean into that heavily or try to consciously mix up the colour palette?
Of course pink is always associated with the mean girls - after all, on Wednesdays we wear pink - but we tried to make sure other days of the week were reflected in the film. So with Karen, you will see her in pastel, lilac, teal and soft colours, with Gretchen you will see more warm copper colours with hints of green, and Regina is in black a lot.
You must remember that this film is seen through the point of view of Janis and Damian, so the looks are reflected from how they see these characters. It is their view of these people, what does Regina as the evil black widow spider look like through the eyes of Janis?
Is there a specific fashion moment in the new movie that you think fans won't be expecting to see?
I’m not sure what fashion moment in the film fans won’t expect, we hit a lot of trends - baggy jeans, vintage, ballet core, bows, athelesire wear, Converse, Uggs. My favourite fashion in the film is with the character Janis. In the 2024 version, Janis is [openly] queer, and she’s an artist so we really pushed into the textural, vintage feel of that character.
And what did Tina Fey have to say about the film’s missing Plastics?
Mean Girls is out in UK cinemas from 17 January.
For more from Glamour UK's Fashion Editor Charlie Teather, follow her on Instagram @charlieteather.
