How Gwen Stefani & Other Blond ’90s Icons Shaped Teen Elle’s Closet

Spoiler warning: This post contains light spoilers for Elle.

Twenty-five years after Elle Woods became the patron saint of pink, perseverance, and unwavering faith in yourself, she’s back to inspire a whole new generation of closets. Just don’t expect a carbon copy of Reese Witherspoon’s ’00s style in Legally Blonde.

In the Elle prequel series, now streaming on Amazon Prime, audiences meet a 16-year-old Elle (played by Lexi Minetree) as she moves from sunny L.A. to dreary Seattle for her junior year of high school. And while her plucky attitude and love of pink were always part of her DNA, her look was still evolving — a transformation costume designers Sophie De Rakoff and Sara Byblow wanted to show to bridge the gap.

Instead of replicating the original films, Byblow explains, the goal was to chart the evolution of a completely different version of the character. “For us,” she tells Bustle, “it was a matter of building out, like, ‘OK, she ends up here, but how did she get there?’”

To create teenage Elle’s world, the designers looked at ’90s icons like Jane Fonda and Claudia Schiffer, bringing a more whimsical and less polished vibe to her closet full of pink denim, backpacks, and tons of cutesy, bedazzled pieces — including her beribboned sweet 16 mini with a rhinestone heart.

For De Rakoff, who also worked on the OG movies, that one dress brought everything full circle. Minetree’s camera test immediately reminded the wardrobe specialist of working with Witherspoon. “Looking at [Lexi] in the monitor, it was really reminiscent of the moment we did the camera test for Legally Blonde 2. ... You just knew ‘that’s it.’”

Below, the costume designers break down Easter eggs, the Oscar winner’s contributions to young Elle’s closet, and the series’ most standout ’fit.

Elle Woods’ movie wardrobe is still defining pop culture. The bunny costume was just in Off Campus! For this new series, which of teen Elle’s outfits do you think will become instant Internet-breaking icons?

SB: There are certain pieces — like the sweet 16 dress — that when we were designing them, right away, we were thinking this is such an iconic Elle Woods moment.

But after seeing the show and people’s responses, the Nirvana moment is also so iconic. It’s so visually very much Elle in this certain time and place. I feel like that one’s going to be pretty strong coming out of this.

For the sweet 16 dress, did you immediately know what you wanted it to look like?

SB: That sweet 16 dress is really so special to both of us; it was the first physical piece that we worked on together. We designed five dresses total, but for us, that was always the one. And when we went to present our five dresses, every single person in the room just pointed and then said, “That’s it.”

I love that the iconic heart wedges from the opening sequence of Legally Blonde are apparently from her teenage years. Were there other Easter eggs that you sprinkled throughout?

SB: There are little Easter eggs throughout from the original movies, but also from our world that we created — like the little pink heart that’s on her sweet 16 dress. That was hand-poured and custom-made. We decided that that would also be a really special thing to have on Bruiser’s collar. His collar has the same heart that was hand-poured with his initials on it.

SDR: I love the heart shoes because who doesn’t love a heart shoe? Then there are the hearts on the Nirvana T-shirt. There are motifs that continue all the way through.

The show’s set in 1995. Apart from the original Elle Woods, did you draw inspiration from celebs from that era that Elle would’ve been looking up to?

SDR: When Sara and I first got together, we were like, “Let’s figure out who 16-year-old Elle Woods is.” What was going on in pop culture? What was going on in politics? Who would she have decorated her bedroom walls with? Who’s her favorite supermodel? For us, it’s a blond; it’s Claudia Schiffer; it’s someone who looks like her mom.

She’s also a socially conscious person. Who would’ve been an activist she admired? Jane Fonda. She definitely would’ve had Andy Warhol’s Jane Fonda pink poster on her wall. What pop stars would she have liked? Gwen Stefani with the pink bangs.

Did Reese provide any pieces herself?

SB: Reese sent over quite a few pieces, but we used them as just inspiration. She — along with our producing team — is the biggest collaborator. Reese did such an incredible job of building the foundation of such a memorable, strong character, so having that involvement from everyone made such a big difference in really pushing this character forward.

The pink plaid shirt represents Elle embracing Seattle. Did you consider other options before landing on the pink plaid?

SB: It was always going to be the pink plaid. Even though that was in our last episode, we were in talks about that from Week 1. It is such a special moment in time where Elle is really accepting Seattle and finishing what she’s started. I don’t think that there was ever any other option that we considered.

Elle’s pink mayoral debate outfit feels like the show’s version of the iconic courtroom dress. How did you nod to that movie look while keeping this one distinct?

SB: We didn’t want to recreate what was in the original movie, but we wanted something that felt true to Elle. There is a slight inspiration from Jackie O and from that original piece that Sophie designed for the movie — it just screamed Elle Woods. She’s someone who puts so much consideration into every decision she makes, including in her wardrobe.

We don’t see it much in the movie, but it seems like Elle’s fashion is very much influenced by her mom’s.

SB: They are inspired by each other. With Elle being a fish out of water in Seattle, her mom is this safe space for her — the closest thing aesthetically to what she’s used to in L.A. They’re both quite feminine, and as Elle’s finding her footing, Eva’s also looking to Elle for inspiration for her own self-discovery journey. These are two very strong women finding themselves in a world they don’t know they belong to yet.

Last question — and this is a big one — is there ever such a thing as too much pink for Elle Woods?

SB: Never.

SDR: You can’t separate them.

SB: Elle doesn’t always wear pink, but it’s a very beautiful thing that has been associated so strongly with femininity and softness. But you can still be confident, driven, and empowering in a feminine color. That’s what’s so special about the color itself.

She just won’t wear green?

SDR: That was just a genius line that was written for Eva’s character for the show as an origin story. It’s part of the mythology. But never say never. They’re all rules.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.