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?

[–] mascara_massacre 15 years ago

Because it was considered fashionable back then. Today we're looking back thinking how hideous their clothes looked.

"It's around 4 o'clock. We've been here since 12 o'clock. Five hours is like enough."

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] la_cinematheque 15 years ago

No, that isn't the point I was making. I was trying to say Lizzie's clothes were not fashionable for her time while Hannah Montana's are. But everyone seems to have missed that!

[–] Purplecover101 9 years ago

I never watched Clarissa That much on Nickelodeon, but I've been pictures of her and she had way wore "strange" and "over the top" outfits than Lizzie.

But tbh, I kinda liked both her and Lizzie's clothes. I've always kinda been a fan of funky outfits for as long as I can remember.

[–] cauldrons 14 years ago

Yeah, I always thought their clothes were weird, especially in season 1 but Lizzie's clothes weren't bad in season 3. I think they used the quirky clothing with crazy colours to appeal to the children watching the show. Most Disney/Nickelodeon shows are like that.. most of the younger kids watching don't really understand what's happening in the show so they use other visual things to keep their attention.

-
brooke/lucas, jacob/bella, puck/rachel, adrian/ricky.

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] annamarie05 14 years ago

I guess they're supposed to dress like sluts then.
You do realize this show was made in the early 2000s, right? What people wore back then isn't the same as what the kids wear in all those irrelevant new age shows you listed.
In a few years, people will think they dress weird also.

[–] la_cinematheque 14 years ago

Okay...way to jump down my throat for no reason. I never said they needed to dress provocatively.

Also, I clearly said in my post that I thought they dressed badly when the show originally aired. I'm not comparing it to contemporary fashions; what I said was the kids in the newer shows dress in things that are stylish for this time period, but Lizzie dressed laughably and as a caricature of early 2000s fashions. Maybe you should try to understand what you've read before making groundless attacks.

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] la_cinematheque 13 years ago

I don't even know what point you're trying to make here, but you certainly aren't disproving my opinion that they dressed weirdly/ostentatiously by the standards of tween fashion at that time and it really didn't change over the course of the show. And it didn't seem to be character trait of Lizzy and Miranda that reflected them being sort of unpopular, because Kate and every other female character (including the Mom!) dressed absurdly too. I think it was either a complete misfire by the wardrobe department or a failed attempt at being quirky or a combination of the two, but it did not at all reflect what was currently popular among the target audience the way today's shows do.

Not that this even matters. I don't know why this thread is so popular.

[–] scissorhands__emily 13 years ago

I have to agree that some of the clothes they wore did not reflect popular fashion of the day. I think they took certain things that were popular, but then also took it to the extreme.

Like in the picture below, I can't recall anyone in middle school/elem (I was around this age when the show was on) wearing pants with flowers all over them. This is actually something I see more with adults than pre-teens and I definitely never saw this growing up at this time, or even today. However, the shirt she is wearing is normal, and the flipflops are definitely normal for that time (tons of girls had those big flipflops). Capris were also very in style then so her having capris on is normal. Miranda's pants I can remember people wearing. Her top I don't think was a popular fashion item though, some flowery tops were in style but not ones that looked like that. Her shoes are also hideous! I have no idea what those are, they look like birkenstock's but in cheetah print. I saw no one wearing cheetah print birkenstock's however the tan/brown ones were extremely popular. Gordo's outfit looks pretty standard.

So in concurrence with the OP, I have to agree that they did wear outlandish clothes and these clothes weren't popular at the time! I know if you watched it at an age younger than the characters then you would think this style was cute and all the rage, but if you were actually these character's ages, you wouldn't be wearing these clothes. However, shirts with words on them like "Cutie" or something dumb were pretty popular around this time. If they were in middle school I could see that as fitting in with what actual girls would be wearing even if it seems childish now.

I also think some of the fashion choices might have been playing into the idea of they were their own people and wore what they wanted even if it was unpopular.

http://www.telefilmzone.it/imgImmagini/telefilm/LizzieMcGuire/Promo_00 002.jpg
http://i2.listal.com/image/752813/500full.jpg

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] kellytaylor69 14 years ago

I was in middle school/going into high school when Lizzie McGuire first came out and I agree. Late 90s/early 00s fashion was pretty hideous but they seemed to take it to the extreme on Lizzie McGuire. I just remember they always wore mismatched patterns and it looked so hideous! Especially in the intro, nobody I went to school with dressed like that.

It does make me nostalgic though, when I think of that era and what was in fashion
capris
platform shoes/sandals
pleather
leopard print
cardigan sweater sets
zigzag parts and crimped hair
butterfly clips
pastel colors
frosty eyeshadow and lipgloss

sooo tacky!!!

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] hakyhiqz 14 years ago

Not Really
Thats so Raven wasn't that bad as Lizzie Mcguire
All they had to do was SACK the stylist lol
I was just looking at some downloaded episodes just now and yup REALLLLLY BAD

Except i liked the burlap outfit she had coz their stuff is good and renewable of course
but very pricy i wouldn't buy it unless i was richer lol

MY WEBSITES
www.poetrypoem.com/author878
www.cookhelper.com/author878
Myspace.com/hakyhiqz

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] hakyhiqz 14 years ago

Burlap its a company that was mentioned on lizzie Mcguire i did mention the stuff was great, but too pricy but good for the enviroment
The outfit she wore on the show looked nice
I liked it and i like their stuff just not rich enough to buy it LOL
I did look in the sales, but couldn't find anything in the price range i could afford :( i was gutted

MY WEBSITES
www.poetrypoem.com/author878
www.cookhelper.com/author878
Myspace.com/hakyhiqz

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] hudsonz 14 years ago

The kids in Lizzie Mcguire dressed like most people in the early 00's.

[–] teenangel1226 14 years ago

Young stars dressing like "sluts". Can us women and girls stop calling each other that? Geeze. No wonder we get nowhere sometimes.

"Live Today Like You'll Die Tomorrow"

[–] moionfire 13 years ago

I was in 6th grade when it came on. And I can assure you the clothes was considered weird even back then. This isn't a case of changing times. The clothing on the show was in its own bubble. At least Lizzie and Miranda. Everyone else was less quirky.

[–] xeromem-brown 13 years ago

I just recently saw an episode of Shake It Up and the clothes the stars wore, which I've heard some kids say are fashionable, are just as gaudy and tacky as the clothes the stars of Lizzie McGuire wore but just in a different way. I've noticed that kids between the ages of 12 - 17 (on TV and in Real Life) seem to have an off kilter view of what clothes look good/fashionable and what isnt. So in reality the bad fashions are basically irrelevant except to make the kids stand out.

[–] oriwin 13 years ago

i always thought that it was a visual representation of the characteristics of each person, so Lizzie was quirky so she wore quirky clothes, etc..

[–] JadedMermaid 13 years ago

I was pretty young when this show came out...only 7, but I remember LOVING the way Lizzie and her friends were dressed. Now looking back at age 17, I do see that they were dressed really badly lol but you have to think of it this way; it was the early 2000s, that's how young people dressed back then. Lizzie was also quirky, so her fashion was too.

I'm a Little Monster :)

[–] willturnermadethis 13 years ago

I'm pretty sure I probably shouldn't talk, seeing as I'm an outcast and all, but yes, I did agree that the outfits were pretty tacky in the beginning. I wouldn't particularly say "hideous", but I think the term "tacky" applies quite nicely here. Especially the outfit Miranda wore on picture day. I'd be more inclined to wear the type of clothes Gordo wore, so I'm not sure why they were trying to appeal to. I was notorious for showing up in flares (which I still wear because they're comfortable) and a tee shirt with a button down over top, similar to Gordo's outfits.

But in the same respect, look at the 80's. One day, go back through your parent's pictures with them and they'll tell you the same thing "why did I wear this?"...I think the show's designers were trying to point out that the children were old enough to dress themselves, but that children aren't the best at doing so. But maybe that's just me. I don't know to be honest.

I do agree, though. The first season was really terrible.

"Dyin' is the day worth livin' fer!" Captain Barbossa [POTCAWE]

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] willturnermadethis 13 years ago

Wow. Correcting my grammar and spelling. Seriously? You read like...a page of rants and THAT'S what you pick out from it?

"Dyin' is the day worth livin' fer!" Captain Barbossa [POTCAWE]

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]