Mean Girls sums up 00s boom-time style: a Destiny’s Child-meets-Britney Spears silhouette of form-fitting tops and tiny A-line skirts, with brightly coloured, skin-tight cardigans, Juicy Couture tracksuit bottoms and dinky, lozenge-shaped handbags tucked neatly under armpits. Most terrible of all? Slogan T-shirts emblazoned with phrases such as "Bling Bling", just in case the desired effect wasn’t clear enough already.
The film offers a cautionary tale for fashion enthusiasts when Regina George, the bitchy leader of the school’s most spiteful set, the Plastics, discovers that her vest has been snipped at the breasts. Instead of showing weakness, George wears the top with confidence and immediately sparks an absurd, campus-wide trend. This is a lesson in the perils of jumping on bad trend bandwagons. We have all been warned.
In 2004, it was conceivable that a coterie of friends who dressed identically and spoke only of their hairstyles could be incredibly popular. Today, the hipster movement demands the opposite: the girl with the grungy hair, Kurt Cobain eyeliner and androgynous suit (very Stella McCartney autumn/winter 2013) would likely be in charge.
The Plastics have a stringent sartorial code for anyone desiring inclusion in their group. “On Wednesdays we wear pink,” is the most famous rule, but there are diktats about tank tops (cannot be worn two days in a row), ponytails (only to be worn once a week) and hoop earrings (only to be worn by Regina). It’s only when the other Plastics rebel against the regulations that Regina’s crown starts to wobble.
The one thing that has stayed constant since 2004? Teacher style, as modelled by Tina Fey’s Ms Norbury: sweet little blouses, sensible pencil skirts. Very Next, very Wallis, very nice. Can still be seen at a parents' evening near you.
The denizens of North Shore high school tend to spend high days and holidays in barely there costumes, attempting to look as seductive as possible. Another lesson here: the only chic fancy dress is genuinely ridiculous – think slipping on a giant whoopee cushion, donning a head-to-toe Karl Lagerfeld outfit or dressing as a lobster.
