The Gen Z style vibes in the instant lesbian classic Bottoms movie are very Depop and delightfully all over the place — a lot of Y2K fashion, looks inspired by classic teen films of the 80s, 90s and 2000s and a color scheme that, for stars P.J. and Josie, starts with earth tones but settles into what costume designer Eunice Jera Lee calls “spirit colors” — the varsity blues and reds that underscore the school’s hero-worship of misogyny and football. While full of the requisite designer items, it’s still believable that P.J. and Josie’s outfits were thrifted, as our outfits so often are in high school.
Perhaps what the show accomplished most subtly but so authentically was how P.J.’s style was split between “attempts at doing something sexy” and simply dressing exactly like Josie, as women and especially lesbians so often do when they spend enough time with someone they love so much they can’t help but want to emulate.
“Bottoms” Best Friends Necklace
In middle school this stuff mattered, maybe in part because friendships back then were made or broken at the mall, and the appropriate jewelry could be purchased on the spot to commemorate said social shifts. But enough about me — Josie and P.J.’s necklace is a classic 90s throwback if I’ve ever seen one, and the spite involved in removing your half of the heart from your neck is a betrayal on par with removing a wedding ring.
Josie and PJ’s Rugby Shirts
Much of Josie and PJ’s clothing are menswear-inspired — rugby shirts, overalls, loose-fit pants (lots of cargos and drawstrings rather than jeans) and vintage tees. Josie specifically sticks pretty consistently to oversized graphic tees and men’s rugby shirts, as often did P.J.
Josie’s Oversized Graphic Tees & Stripes
Unfortunately the incredible Atari tee Josie rocks in the film can only be found on resale sites like Poshmark — it was a Junk Food tee but has since been discontinued, as has the Kappa tee with logo ringer collar Josie wears in the film poster. But the spirit of these items lives on, elsewhere:
The Bottoms style team also sourced specifically from New Orleans artists. In the final fight club scene, Josie wears an “Artists Are The Gatekeepers of Truth” tee from local artist/activist BMike Odums who runs the arthouse StudioBe in New Orleans. They pulled the “spiritual playboy” shirt Josie wears in the opening carnival scene from Los Angeles designer Don Kaka.
P.J.’s Layers
Lee describes P.J.’s style as a “chameleon.” Her tiny/cropped/tight tees overlayed with patchwork flannels or hoodies is giving “insecure teenager in 1994” or “Brittney Murphy in Clueless pre-makeover” and I love that for her.
PJ’s Corduorys and Overalls
Josie’s wide-wale cords, tight striped long sleeved tee and suspenders she wore on the first day of school were intended as an homage to Cameron from the 1986 classic Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Overalls are another consistent item for P.J.: in the final fight scene, she dons a white pair over a baggy orange t-shirt, which itself is over a yellow-and-white striped ribbed long-sleeve shirt (very mid-90s!). Earlier in the film, she channels Angela Chase in her denim overalls, patchwork flannel and a mismatched rainbow-embroidered baby yellow tee.
P.J’s Little Dutch Boy
After P.J compliments the holes in Brittney’s pants at the carnival, she delivers the unforgettable feedback to P.J that “you look like a little dutch boy.” Lee was inspired by The Craft when constructing the outfit — Hervé Léger harness, white puff-sleeve Cider shirt, Rag & Bone pleated skirt and monk-strap Dr. Martens creepers.Sadly the Doc Marten Monk-Strap Creepers are no longer for sale but Mary Janes are fine, we can make it work.
“It’s what society is telling her sexy is, and her version of it,” Lee told Fashionista. “But she doesn’t necessarily ever get it right.”
The best friends necklace drama is so real
great post