MovieChat Forums > Lizzie McGuire (2001) Discussion > Why did they dress the kids so hideously...

Why did they dress the kids so hideously?

posted 15 years ago by la_cinematheque
83 replies | jump to latest

I was sixteen when this show first aired, so I was out of the target demographic, but I still watched it regularly with my younger sister and enjoyed it a lot. One thing that always stuck out for me was that the way Lizzie and Miranda dressed was so gaudy and tacky, even for seventh graders. And the supposedly popular Kate was no better. My sister, who was actually in middle school at the time, used to comment on how the episodes with clothes as the subject didn't make any sense because everything everyone wore looked awful and would get you teased in real life.

I still watch Disney pretty often and one thing that strikes me about all the current shows is how fashionable the casts are. Wizards of Waverly Place, Sonny With A Chance, and Jonas all have characters that dress in ways I can see real tweens admiring and wanting to emulate.

I know it's a shallow topic, but for a show that dedicated an entire episode to the perfect pair of jeans, it did seem a little ironic how truly awful and uncool the clothes on Lizzie McGuire were. Anyone agree?

[–] chickenchick89 15 years ago

I liked a lot of the clothes Lizzie wore especially in the later episodes. I didn't think they were that bad. I was 12 when this show was on btw. Miranda and Kate's clothes I never liked that much especially Kate's.

[–] springchild56 15 years ago

i love their clothes but i wouldnt have the guts to dress that way btw i think nowadays the girls dress slutty on diseny channel.

[–] xoParisLondon 15 years ago

I used to love the clothes they wore. They were stylish back then. I remember wanting to own most of Lizzie's clothes.

"Please dont bend over like that again." Michael Jackson

[–] sokaliie 12 years ago

Same! ^ Now I look back on it and I do agree that they had hideous fashion sense lol but that was sort of the style back then

[–] SansaStark 15 years ago

I always assumed that was the style when the show first aired (I was about eight or nine when that happened so fashion really wasn't one of my priorities). But I was watching some of the earlier episodes yesterday and you're right, some of the clothes really are horrid. There's that one very, very early episode where Lizzie has to wear her Nana's jumper to the school photo, and she later swaps it for this terrible white blouse.

[–] la_cinematheque 15 years ago

I'm gad someone agrees with me! All the comments from people who used to like and want Lizzie's clothes had me mildly concerned, haha.

[–] Coconut_Kaasa 15 years ago

I thought they had good fashion sense. What they wore wasn't anything different than what kids were wearing on other Disney shows, like Even Stevens. It's what was in at the time, and I think alot of Middle School - College kids wore clothes like that back then. I also Love 90's/early Millennium clothing. I'm a guy though so I can't comment on the fashion from a females perspective. I thought the guys dressed good too on this show. Except for Larry "same shirt" Tudgeman. So yeah, they dressed cool.

"U talkin' 2 my gurl brah?!"

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] areyouforcereal 15 years ago

I always thought some of the clothes they wore were really weird. Like, clothes you would find at Walmart or Claires. You know? Clothes that say "Hot Stuff" or "Rebel" on them. That's honestly how I used to dress when I was in grade 5.

ButI guess that was the style back in the earlier millenium/late 90s

You ask, I come...I'm easy like that.

[–] Carly_fan 15 years ago

back then, Disney wasn't pushing the stars to have a fashion line. The clothes didn't start to improve until Hilary was given her own Wal-Mart clothing line toward the end of the series as a way to capitalize on Hilary's popularity.

[–] Illyngophobia 15 years ago

It was the late 90s and early 2000s. So I guess that was the cool thing back then (I was in elementary school,so I thought all junior high kids dressed that way)

Italy's shaped like a boot for a reason...so they can stick it up your ass. - Don Vito

[–] xeromem-brown 15 years ago

I started watching the show with my kids, at first to monitor what they watching then continued watching because I found it enjoyable. When the show was in production the clothes the kids on the wore weren't much different than what the kids that age in the real world were wearing in general. You have to remember that fashion trends not only vary from region to region but also have a tendency to change much more rapidly for that particular age group. Also kids that age, especially the girls, tend to think clothes that any other age group might find hideous, are fashionable. What they wore at the beginning of the show were clothes that were the norm for kids that age when I was that age. As the show gained popularity the clothes were changed to what was considered fashionable by kids at the time. Being an adult I found them to be gaudy and tacky but no more so than what my kids and their friends wore at the time.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] aleara_cerridwyn 15 years ago

Honestly, this was the early 2000s, this is how they dressed - I think it's adorable, I'm nostalgic for that stuff - reminds me of shopping at Claires and Limited Too when I was in elementary school lol.
Is it a little ugly? Sure. But it's all about the time period. I'm sure in a few years people will think the clothes worn on Wizards are weird.
For instance, watch some of the early episodes of Hannah Montana, or pretty much anything Hannah Montana ever wears - it's hideous. But it's all about the tweens :]

[–] Petit_Gateau 15 years ago

You olny say the kids on the current Disney shows dress better because they dress in what's in style now.
A couple years from now, kids are going to be saying: "Why did they dress so hideously?!" because the styles going to change.

I remember being sooo in love with Lizzie's style.
She dressed really cute. All of her jeans were flare-like because that's what was in back then. You won't see someone on Wizards of Waverly Place wearing jeans like that because skinny jeans are in now.

[–] la_cinematheque 15 years ago

The thing is, I don't think she dressed in what was fashionable at that time. That was my point. She dressed like an outlandish caricature of contemporary style, whereas the Disney kids of today dress in line with contemporary style.

But I guess this point was lost on people who were pre-teens when they watched Lizzie. I was 16+ when it was out and was able to notice how bad the clothes were, but I suppose to a 9 year-old they would've looked cool. Mystery solved.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

That's a typical thing they do on Disney Channel. They even did that on the TV show Glee.