Fashionably Friends!
The changing ways in which fashion was used to reflect the characters’ personalities in friends.
Friends had played creatively with fashion during its ten year run with its characters setting several fashion trends, many of which are still popular throughout the world today. Even though the characters were all popular and iconic for most of their outfits, a pattern can be traced for each of the main characters in the outfits they wore. Here’s a look into the kind of outfits each of the friends wore and how the show used their outfits to reflect their personality and its change over time:
Each of the friends can be said to represent different personality types – the hot guy (Joey), the fashionable dumb blonde (Rachel), the mother figure (Monica), the nerd (Ross) ,the funny but awkward guy (Chandler) and the weirdo (Phoebe). These categories overlap considerably and are very much flexible but nevertheless represented in a subtle manner in the show, especially in its earlier seasons. As the show progressed, these categories changed and transformed considerably for the characters adding on more complex layers and thereby giving a much realistic portrayal.
These personality types are solidified through the kind of clothes and accessories worn by the friend. Here is an examination of this :
Ross
Ross was introduced as a nerdish character, academically oriented and the only friend who was relatively successful in a career they actually loved at the start of the series. His suits and the close-cut, gelled hair denoted his calculated and efficient personality. Ross is also averse to taking risks as seen in several instances like his constant need to get married and settle down. These personality traits are reflected in his relatively poor sense of style and lack of experimentation in the early seasons. Later on, as his character evolved Ross is seen experimenting more with fashion as seen with the examples of his leather pants, tanning experiment and teeth whitening all three being huge fails but hey, he still he tried! Friends also involuntarily gave a relevant message through Ross in one of the later episodes when he was single and wore a “woman’s” top to a date because he liked it and not knowing it was women’s but anyway this helped convey the reality of “social constructionism” of gender norms as theorized by Butler to an extent!
Rachel
Rachel is portrayed as the most fashionable among all the friends and later on adopts a career in fashion itself. She wears trendy but simple clothes that set the 90s trends and even current fashion statements throughout the world. This matches her personality which clearly had a great sense in fashion. Rachel’s clothes also became more classy and elegant overtime denoting her growth in character after finding her own career path and being successful in it.
Joey
Even though Joey was an actor, his fashion style was not at all elaborate or eye-catching, mostly restricting to jumpers, sweaters and other casual clothing. This suggests his laid-back, lazy but confident personality that can pull-off a great first image even with a casual sometimes shabby appearance. The very first time Joey comes on screen he is made to look dapper pulling off a black leather jacket and blue jeans. This was done to convey the handsome hunk image associated with Joey. But overtime Joey was spotted mostly wearing casuals and jumpers denoting Joey’s character development into a lovable, loyal but dumb friend image. In the later seasons Joey’s casual clothing was accompanied with the input of shirts in his wardrobe intending to show his maturity as a person. Friends also used Joey to convey the prevalent gender stereotypes in fashion with the episode of the unisex bag and women’s panties both being enjoyed by Joey, the character representative of the traditional forms of masculinity in the show.
Phoebe
Pheobe is perhaps the most quirky, fashionably futuristic and experimental friend. In the earlier seasons, Phoebe wore a lot of retro style and vintage dresses showing her versatile and creative personality. She does not shirk from experimenting new styles or trying on odd looks like attaching a Christmas décor on the front of her dress when dressing up for Ross’s office party. Overtime, she is shown to wear an orange faux fur coat and outfits with uncommon combinations of clothings and accessories. She portrays a vibrant look similar to her personality that makes her stand out among others. Pheobe’s personality was framed to be empathetic and artistically creative for example her understanding the meaning of the poem “The Empty Vase” while most of the others were not able to. This difference from the crowd is reflected in her clothing as well. Overtime, Phoebe also settles down and marries like most of her other friends, but her fashion style, though at times conforming, always stood out one way or another.
Chandler
Chandler’s clothing more or less represented his tactical, logical and clever personality. He was also probably the least experimental in fashion reflecting his personality that lacked in confidence throughout most of the show. He generally stuck to the norms in terms of fashion but nevertheless had a good taste in outfits. Chandler avoided challenges most of the time like retaining his office job for a long time before becoming confident enough to quit and pursue a career of his choice. Chandler was never seen wearing anything out of the ordinary and was also careful when it came to spending money unlike his other friends. He did apply the lipstick for men and kept the weird dog shaped statue to appease Joey and Ross respectively.
Monica
Monica is probably the classiest and most elegant but at the same time simple in her choice of clothes and style. She mostly wore basic and dark or dull shades of colour in the earlier seasons reflecting her perfectionist and mature personality. Monica does occasionally sport red for special functions that make her stand out unlike her usual blend-in outfits. Over time it can be noted that she wears more colours like purple, orange, pink etc showing her growth in personality and more confidence in herself after becoming successful in her career.
By Aiswarya Annie Santhosh (1733123)
Friends & Fashion 