Mean Girls and the Rise of the Tracksuit

Luxury Loungewear: Mean Girls and the Rise of the Tracksuit Elizabeth Gilligan Keywords: Teen Fashion / Mean Girls / Juicy Couture / Lululemon / Loungewear Abstract Since its release in 2004, Mean Girls has captured audiences’ attention with sharp comedy and dynamic characters. However, it was the costume design and the film’s dialogue about fashion that fully established the movie as an icon for its generation. Specifically, the film encouraged the trend of velour tracksuits, which would soon become the unofficial uniform of the affluent teenage girl in the early 2000s. This study will discuss the film’s representation of the tracksuit, as well as its influence on modern youth fashion and its ability to redefine activewear. Review of Literature Using academic sources, this paper will analyze the immediate and long-term effects of the tracksuit in Mean Girls. I used articles from the Vogue Archive that discussed the branding and popularity of tracksuit brand Juicy Couture. I also researched business reports that offered data to prove the profitability of the tracksuit in years surrounding the release of the film. Fashion textbooks and databases provided an overview of teen fashion trends and offered a scholarly perspective on the influence of the tracksuit. Finally, I utilized my own closet and experiences as a primary source. Introduction Written by Tina Fey and loosely based on the novel Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman, Mean Girls follows new student Cady Heron as she transitions from being home schooled in Africa to attending an American high school. In her new school, the students are segregated into cliques; defined by what they wear, where they sit, and how they act. Eventually she encounters the Plastics, a group of popular girls who live luxurious lives and influence the rest of the students with their style and mannerisms. In an attempt to sabotage the Plastics’ reign, Cady adapts to their lifestyles and undergoes a physical and mental transformation throughout the film. For the past decade, Mean Girls has solidified itself as a pop culture icon through its quotable script and colorful depiction of high school. Although nearly all the costumes are important to the story, the strategic use of the velour tracksuit by costume designer Mary Jane Fort remains most memorable and essential to character development. The characters of Mean Girls represent a significant market in youth fashions, therefore, the costumes utilized in the film were instantly influential in the retail industry and in streetwear across the country. In its first appearance in the eighties, the velour tracksuit was once a key item in an exercise- obsessed decade. However, its revival through the Mean Girls crowd invited a whole new demographic to promote the trend. Although it was developed for sports, the jogging suit was later Elizabeth Gilligan 2 “…adopted for casual and leisure wear not only by athletes but also by older Americans and others whose participation in active sports was often quite limited” (Tortora 616). As seen in the film, the people wearing the suit are not athletes, but rather lazy, entitled white women who seem to suggest that even comfort should look glamorous. The tracksuit invited consumers to ask what is activewear? What is loungewear? And what is fashion? The Mean Girls generation wanted a bit of everything – something that could be worn to the mall, to the gym, to dinner, and even around the house. With celebrity endorsers like Paris Hilton and Britney Spears bringing the lazy-luxury look off the couch and into the streets, the velour tracksuit soon became a popular streetwear look. The release of Mean Girls in 2004 coincided with the rise of gossip magazines such as Life & Style and Us Weekly, depciting starlets off the red carpet and in their most casual form. Much like the characters in Mean Girls, these celebrities embodied the ideal that they are simply “too good to do actual work” (Ronan). The tracksuit’s widespread popularity blurred the line between streetwear and activewear, introducing the next generation of comfort-loving teens. The Plastics and the Tracksuit’s Target Market A version of the tracksuit appears five times throughout the movie, but three instances are especially representative of the garment’s target market. We first see the tracksuit on Regina George’s mom, played by Amy Poehler, as she greets the girls in her lavish mansion (Figure 1). Complete with breast implants, a small dog, and a youthful personality, Mrs. George represents a customer similar to the Real Housewives – wealthy, vain, and predominately white. Vogue’s Sally Singer said, “A craze is upon us, one that validates the lifestyle of the yoga-practicing, self- employed, cheerful, rock-‘n’-roll soccer mom. […] It also seems to be the garment of choice for the woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown.” Figure 1. Mrs. George represents the older demographic for the tracksuit (Mean Girls, Paramount Pictures, Screenshot by Elizabeth Gilligan). Elizabeth Gilligan 3 Figure 2. Regina George wears a tracksuit after gaining weight (Mean Girls, Paramount Pictures, Screenshot by Elizabeth Gilligan). The film also portrays this “woman on the verge” in a tracksuit (Figure 2). In just a few scenes before her meltdown, Regina (Rachel McAdams) appears in the cafeteria in a burgundy version and claims, “Sweatpants are all that fits me right now” (Mean Girls). Finally, Lindsay Lohan’s character Cady wears the tracksuit after her “Plastic” transformation, pairing a light blue hoodie with a matching plaid mini skirt and heels. She later wears a full tracksuit when lounging in her home, proving the versatility of the product and its customer’s willingness to adapt it to a variety of occasions (Figures 3 and 4). Figures 3 and 4. Lindsay Lohan as Cady Heron embodies the lazy, rich girl in colorful tracksuits (Mean Girls, Paramount Pictures, Screenshot by Elizabeth Gilligan). Elizabeth Gilligan 4 The depiction of the tracksuit in the film accurately reflects the types of customers who were buying the product after the film’s release. Whether the customer was the fun mom, the distressed teen, or the popular girl, the tracksuit offered its customers a complete go-to outfit in the early 2000s. I am not proud to admit that I owned, and still own, not one, but two Juicy Couture hoodies (I was not willing to commit to the full tracksuit). I did not exactly fit the “popular girl” stereotype in middle school, but the product allowed me to feel like Cady and the Plastics, without the drama. Figures 5 and 6. My velour hoodie, which was purchased in 2007, is emblazoned with a rhinestone “Juicy Angel” on the back (Photos by Elizabeth Gilligan). Juicy Couture and the Rich Girl Uniform Although other brands have produced a similar product, the velour tracksuit is most commonly associated with Juicy Couture, who released their version in 2001 as a custom item for Madonna (“80s Fashion”). In the age of celebrity influence, Madonna’s style and the popularity of Mean Girls caused the item to catch on in the halls of middle and high schools across the country. After the film’s release and a few years on the market, sales skyrocketed, selling out in stores across the country. According to a Canadian Business report, the Los Angeles based company saw net sales of $493.8 million by 2007, an increase of over 48% from 2006. With Mean Girls released a few years before, the brand’s surge in popularity seems hardly coincidental. Elizabeth Gilligan 5 Figure 7. Celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton, and Madonna were fans of the velour tracksuits and were often photographed in the suits while shopping or traveling in the early 2000s (Screenshot by Elizabeth Gilligan). “This gives a new meaning to uniform dressing,” said Stefanie Greenfield, owner of New York’s Scoop boutiques (Singer 377). Although the colors and details varied slightly from tracksuit to tracksuit, a sea of velour paired with UGG boots and Coach handbags could be seen at malls, schools, or coffee shops at any given location. The tracksuits were not cheap, costing about $200 for a basic set, but they were much more accessible than other luxury designer garments. For those like Cady who desired the couture lifestyle, but could not quite afford the hefty price tags, Juicy offered a taste of the high life. Defining “Couture” and the Rise of Non-fashion Juicy Couture has been branded as luxury designer clothing since its creation, but even its founder Pam Gela admitted “there’s nothing couture about Juicy Couture” (Singer 403). For a brand to be considered genuine couture, it must be headquartered in Paris, the garments must be constructed primarily by hand, and the house must present at least fifty complete looks twice a year. Not only does the mass production of Juicy Couture completely contradict the couture requirements, some argue that the brand itself can hardly be considered fashion at all. “It’s non-fashion at its most fashionable, and it may be a moment, or it may be the future of the way we dress,” said Singer. As seen in Mean Girls, the characters represent the peak of fashion in their high school, yet they are basically wearing glorified sweatpants. While the use of “couture” in its title is rather insulting to the actual couture houses that produce wearable works of art for the most elite customers, Juicy Couture managed to make an empire based on branding luxury sweatpants. Is this fashion, or is it laziness wrapped in velour? Whether or not the tracksuit is considered fashion, its influence bridged several markets throughout the 2000s. Regina George was noted for owning “two Fendi bags and a silver Lexus,” Elizabeth Gilligan 6 yet she also sported the velour tracksuit (Mean Girls).

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