Flashback Fridays: Party Girl vs. Clueless
In 1995, I was a sophomore in high school, and grateful that the eighties were well behind me. I finally stopped teasing my hair and wearing rainbow socks over stirrup leggings—a hand-me-down style from my older sister who was seven years older and cool in high school.
By the nineties, I fell in love with Green Day, Nirvana and Pearl Jam and drove my mother crazy as I was heavily clad in flannel shirts, baggy jeans and had an unholy obsession with chains. I streaked my hair apple red, channeled my inner teen angst, and swore to myself that I would never change.
Needless to say, the look was a reaaal hit with the boys. And my mom would pray at night that I wasn’t a lesbian—though growing up in San Francisco probably didn’t help.
That, and the fact that I pretended to wink at Nora, the big-boned cashier lady who worked at the laundry mat downstairs from our apartment.
Aaaanyway, after a series of dateless weekends that threatened my social ascension into high school royalty, I began pondering whether MC Hammer was indeed, too legit to quit, and why Charlie Wong had ignored my keen advances during biology class. After all, I had my best Kurt Cobain outfit that day—flannel, chucks, flannel, flannel—what more could a guy want from a girl?
Obviously, without a social life, I was a huge fan of movie nights (a.k.a. Every Day Movie Fun Night) and discovered two great films—Party Girl and Clueless.
Both movies came out in 1995 and had iconic heroines that reinvented personal style. And most importantly, both films convinced me that boys didn’t like girls who dress like boys but who are girls that pretend to be boys…
In Party Girl, Parker Posey played Mary, a free-spirited and broke New Yorker with a too-die-for couture wardrobe whose urban style is very much relevant today.
One of my favorite fall looks from her is the one where she’s in the gray fur hooded jacket and red shorts and tights. I’ve put a modern spin on this outfit for you here:
In Clueless, Alicia Silverstone played Cher, a popular and spoiled Beverly Hills teen with a heart of gold. When the movie came out, every girl at my high school wore plaid and mini-skirts with knee high socks. Instead of school girl plaid, I’ve decided to go black and white and channel Chanel (I doubt Cher would mind)!
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