Top 10 Trends We Totally Got from Mean Girls

Back in the early 2000s, the coolest kind of handbag you could own was one that was so tiny you could barely fit anything in it. Keep in mind, when “Mean Girls” was released in 2004, it wasn’t even a given that everyone had cell phones, and if they did, they definitely weren’t as massive as the smartphones we’re used to today. This trend had already started in the ‘90s, but “Mean Girls” definitely reinvigorated it for a whole new set of young people. We’ve gotta say, we do not miss this fad!

Sure, “Sex and the City” may have popularized the nameplate necklace when it became such a big part of Carrie’s identity, but “Mean Girls” gave us an updated version in the same year that SATC went off the air. Regina George wears a pendant necklace featuring her first initial throughout the film. Of course, after seeing the queen bee of North Shore High School sport this look, everyone had to have it. Over the years, this fashion trend has morphed and evolved, but even after all this time, lots of people still rock it.

Wearing a shirt with writing on it was huge in the early aughts, and the trend went way beyond simple brand names. This is when the trend kicked off to wear tops with phrases or words that represented your mood or even personality. In “Mean Girls”, Regina wears one that has the phrase “A Little Bit Dramatic” emblazoned across her chest, Karen wears one that says "Bling Bling" and Gretchen sports one that reads “Royal Punk”. After seeing it, we were inspired to get graphic tees of our own, but they probably said things like “That’s So Fetch” and “On Wednesdays We Wear Pink”.

Mary Jane Fort, who did the costume design for “Mean Girls”, intended for the fashion in the movie to be both forward thinking and nostalgic. It’s obvious when you see the Plastics that they don’t get ready for school like your average modern teenager, dressing to the nines every day. Fort said, in an interview with Nylon, “In the '50s your nails were done, your hair was done, and your dresses were impeccable.” That mid-century feel is also apparent in the girls’ fashion where we see them wearing pastel-colored knits throughout the film, a trend that made its way into the real world too.

In one of the most memorable scenes from the movie, Cady and the Plastics do a performance for the school’s Winter Talent Show. They choreograph a sultry routine to the Christmas classic “Jingle Bell Rock” that involves matching Santa costumes - which probably don’t abide by any school’s dress code. While the performance is meant to be pretty cringy, we couldn’t help but be inspired by their matching holiday outfits. In fact, wearing matching costumes with your besties any time of the year could very well have been inspired by this scene.

Throughout the movie, the Plastics (and eventually Cady) sport micro mini skirts to school on a regular basis that we’re shocked they were actually allowed to wear on campus. They take the “schoolgirl” look to the extreme, with plaid prints and pleats galore. The style they favor most is flared and is usually in pale hued shades. The prints vary though, and we see the traditional tartan alongside polka dots, hearts, and geometric looks. We can distinctly remember a time in the mid-aughts where all the cool girls in school were wearing skirts just like this.

What IS fetch really? According to Gretchen Wieners, it’s like...slang, from England. And her father is the inventor of toaster strudel after all so she must have it on good authority. She uses fetch to mean “cool,” although Regina isn’t having any of it. Fetch is such a nonsensical sounding slang word that it actually caught on in the cultural lexicon - and among “Mean Girls” fans at least - it has to be one of the most used words in their vocabularies. We don’t care; we’re still going to try to make fetch happen.

In Cady’s efforts to “break” Gretchen Wieners, she devises a plan to send out Candy Cane-grams to herself and Karen from Regina, leaving Gretchen with none. Though this plot point is the purpose of the scene, it’s overshadowed by Damian (as Santa) delivering four candy canes to Glen Coco and enthusiastically exclaiming, “Glen Coco? FOUR for you, Glen Coco! You go, Glen Coco”. Though Glen Coco is by no means an important character in the story, this quote has become perhaps the most oft repeated in the “Mean Girls” canon.

When Halloween rolls around, Cady learns the hard way that in this world, dressing up in your scariest outfit is not the move that cool girls pull. While she goes all out with her “ex wife” outfit, with false teeth, wig and all, the Plastics take a decidedly different approach, sporting what Cady deems to be lingerie and animal ears. In the years since the movie was released, ironically opting for basic animal ears for your Halloween costume has become something of a fad, and “Mean Girls” was very likely the genesis of the joke.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Hoop Earrings

"I'm not like a regular mom, I'm a cool mom!"

"She doesn’t even go here!"

When Cady becomes friends with the Plastics, she gets a quick introduction to girl world, and all of the absurd rules that come along with it. You can only wear jeans on Fridays, you can only wear your hair in a ponytail once a week, and perhaps most importantly: on Wednesdays, they wear pink. After learning this all important rule, Cady shows up in the only pink item she can get her hands on, and let’s just say that she doesn’t fit in with the group. Regardless, this concept has taken off among “Mean Girls” fans, and is widely recognized by even casual viewers.