Style cliques

This is the Mean Girls generation, with girls dressed head to toe in Barbie pink, throwing out phrases like "That’s hot" left and right. I can’t really accept the template of the modern mean girl, probably because my generation will always associate mean with one name: Heather. Before Lindsay Lohan, pink and miniskirts, there was Winona Ryder, primary colors and shoulder pads. Although some still laugh at ’80s fashion, and may not relate to the phrase "How very," I can definitely say that if you pitted the Mean Girls against the Heathers, the ruthless clique from Westerberg High would win hands down. After all, Winona’s character Veronica Sawyer couldn’t kill Heather Chandler without a glass of toxic blue pipe cleaner. And I definitely think the clothes were just as killer as the characters.

The 1982 cult classic came to define dark comedy, with its cruel clique of adolescent femme fatales. Heathers defined a generation of shoe shopping, Swatch wearing, and instinctive accessorizing. Their unique style would come to define the look of the cool ‘80s teen, a look that’s hipper than ever (cue the vintage clothing craze). Although I never condoned scrunchies, I’ll always love the croquet outfits of pleated skirts and blazer jackets of Heathers. Shoulder pads, moreover, give me posture and broader shoulders. The form-fitting mesh back dresses and black spandex frocks are still a sexy look. Combine that with an off-the-shoulder cover-up and you’ve got a sexy look that hardly gives off a tacky impression. Especially in comparison to today’s hot pants, barely-there midriffs, and pink micro-minis. I’ll always pick the Heathers’ sophisticated, sexy and unique looks over the predictable, and often heinous, pink outfits of today’s cliques. Anyone can put together an outfit that says "That’s hot," but it takes a little something more to dress like a Heather in something that says "Oh, so very."

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