The Mean Girls movie is clearly resonating with younger generations as it continues to be a hit at the box office since its release in theaters a little over a week ago.
This newer movie musical version has a fresh feel while still paying homage to the original film that came out over 20 years ago. The movie's costume designer, Tom Broecker, and his team are responsible for the movie's fits. We spoke to Tom about all things Mean Girls and behind-the-scenes costume details — including how he snuck in little Easter eggs, modernized some of the original film's iconic looks, his favorite look, and more.
1. Creating something new and fresh for this version of the film while respecting and honoring the original was challenging for Tom and his team.
2. Tom and the costume team looked to social media and streetwear to find inspiration for the 2024 version of the characters' looks.
"I have a lot of friends who have kids who are between the ages of 12 and 18. My niece also just graduated from high school in Indiana last year, so I would steal her yearbook, look at Instagram, and all that sort of stuff," Tom explained.
3. Tom said it was a collaborative process when putting a character's look together — and each of the actors had a say-so in what their version of their character was wearing.
"So all of that was super important. An important thing, more so with costumes, is providing that safe space, so that the actor then can feel wholly available to experience their feelings about how they feel in clothes."
4. Small Easter eggs scattered throughout the movie reference specific scenes in the original film.
Another little detail is the backward "K" necklace that Karen wears which is a nod to a specific scene in the 2004 movie.
5. The Plastics' winter talent show looks were more influenced by the Ariana Grande "Thank U, Next" music video than the original movie.
"We ended up making the costumes, and we wanted ours to have a little more sparkle [than the original costume]. The directors were actually more influenced by the Ariana Grande 'Thank U, Next' music video thing, and so we pushed that way a little harder," Tom said.
6. Hailey Bieber inspired one of Regina's looks in the movie.
"She's just walking into the school, and the reference for that was from this great Hailey Bieber photo I had seen, and I was like, 'Oh my god, I love just the feel of that.' I think she has such an amazing style. So it was just sort of like, 'Hey Reneé, can we do this?' And she was like, 'Yeah, let's do it,'" Tom told BuzzFeed.
7. Popular Gen Z clothing brands helped influence the look of the Plastics.
"I didn't really know what Cider or Princess Polly was — that wasn't my language before this film. There's a whole category on the internet called 2024 TikTok fashion brands. So if you want to be reflective of the world of these teenagers, then you have to look at that stuff," he added.
8. Tom and his team not only looked at the original film to reference, but they also looked at the Broadway musical version to pick and choose what they wanted to copy or change.
9. While some looks stayed true to the original movie's script, others were completely changed, like some of the looks in the Halloween party scene.
"We knew that with Reneé’s version of Regina, the Playboy Bunny [costume] — the sexuality of it just didn't seem current. Then, in the Broadway show, she played this red she-devil, and I talked with Tina [Fey] about it because that also didn't quite seem right — I didn't want her to be a devil. So ultimately, talking with the directors, they had this idea of a golden vulture, birds of prey, sort of thing," Tom said.
10. Tina Fey and Tim Meadows characters' wore very similar outfits to what they wore in the original.
