50 shades of pink for Elle—and some for little Bruiser too

Outfitting the teenage version of a Y2k pop culture icon is a tall order. The Prime Video origin story spin-off of Legally Blonde follows Elle Woods (Lexi Minetree) as she transitions from her perfect life in sunny Los Angeles to being a social misfit at high school in gloomy Seattle. “The world fell in love with her 25 years ago. I had a picture of who she was when she’s grown up, so I had to put the puzzle pieces together, figuring out the things that inspire her to become that person,” says costume designer Sara Byblow.

Before sketching a single silhouette or sourcing a garment, Byblow immersed herself in the cultural landscape of 1995 through vintage issues of Cosmopolitan, Vogue, and Seventeen stacked beside high school yearbooks from Beverly Hills and Seattle. Every major runway from 1992 to 1995 was printed and annotated. Rather than asking “What would Elle wear?”, the team first asked: “Who would Elle have admired?”

The ’90s were the era of the OG supermodel. One reference, in particular, was surprisingly influential in the philosophy behind costuming Elle: Naomi Campbell’s now-iconic fall during Vivienne Westwood’s fall 1993 runway show, followed by her smile, recovery, and triumphant finish. “Elle is all about positivity and picking yourself back up, and that moment felt so Elle-coded,” Byblow says, adding that Claudia Schiffer and Gwen Stefani became references for the wardrobe of Elle’s mother, Eva Woods.

Unsurprisingly, Elle’s coming-of-age wardrobe bears the saccharine vibe of her Harvard Law School years, but there’s an added layer of preppy playfulness. There’s obviously a lot of pink—all 50 shades of it seen across soft argyle cardigans and pleated tennis skirts. Her trademark shaggy jacket becomes an armour of sorts as she navigates the turmoils of life at a new school.

But while the show might be based in the ’90s, the wardrobe isn’t frozen in time. Byblow was intentional about making the clothes still feel aspirational and relatable today: “I want people to watch the show, see a shirt and go, oh, my gosh, I swear I had something like that, or [see] that plaid shirt [and think] the first boy I kissed was wearing it. At the same time, I didn’t want it to be a documentary of 1995. We wanted it to feel nostalgic through a modern lens.”

The team achieved this by blending archival designer pieces (including Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent) and anonymous vintage finds with contemporary pieces that were recut, altered, and reshaped to feel familiar without becoming overly costume-like.

There’s more to pink

If the original films made pink synonymous with Elle Woods, Elle treats it as something far more nuanced. “I perceive it as visual storytelling. Rather than dressing Elle in endless shades of bubblegum, colour charts her emotional journey,” explains Byblow.

In the show’s opening scene at Elle’s Sweet Sixteen party, she appears in a saturated hot pink dress topped with an oversized pink bow as the most confident version of herself. The dress was designed alongside Sophie de Rakoff, costume designer of the original Legally Blonde films. “The two of us spent weeks sketching together, dyeing multiple fabrics to achieve the precise shade of pink. We even created a custom mould for the translucent heart that sits at the bow’s centre. It really felt like a passing of the torch,” Byblow recalls.

When Elle leaves Los Angeles for Seattle, the palette softens into blush knits and satin. On her first day of school, pale pink becomes a deliberate visual device, making her appear like “a fish out of water” against Seattle’s sea of greys. Then, when she’s at her emotional lowest, pink disappears entirely. “There’s a moment where Elle believes nobody likes her and she’s wearing denim,” Byblow says.

Easter eggs continue elsewhere

Reese Witherspoon famously kept much of Elle Woods’s original wardrobe after filming wrapped and even sent pieces back to the production as reference. Rather than recreating those looks outright, Byblow scattered subtle nods throughout the series for fans to discover. A red Bottega Veneta bag from the original films, for instance, reappears in the hands of Elle’s mother, Eva, imagined as a family heirloom that would one day be passed down. Tweed—another Elle signature—threads its way through the series in vintage Chanel minidresses and even a matching cushion, a playful wink to the character’s crafty streak.

“Elle is someone who loves DIY,” says Byblow. “What better way to show that than to build a pillow to match her look?” Elsewhere, familiar details quietly resurface: Elle’s iconic silver Return to Tiffany heart toggle necklace is echoed in rhinestone-encrusted chokers, and yes, she’s already taking notes with fuzzy pens.

Of course, Bruiser has his own wardrobe

Bruiser, Elle’s dog, was treated like an equally important member of the cast. The team began by taking the chihuahua’s full-body measurements before creating a stuffed replica, allowing miniature patterns to be drafted with the same precision as everyone else’s costumes. “We loved the idea of him matching the family,” says Byblow. Most of his fabrics were pulled directly from the garments they were recreating, including a miniature trench coat pieced together from the offcuts of Elle’s altered vintage Burberry coat. “The original fit Lexi almost perfectly,” she reveals. “We were only able to use the small bits left over from shortening it—it was just enough to make Bruiser his own matching coat.”

Tenniscore for non-tennis players

The show casts the spotlight on several ’90s It sportswear brands. Elle’s parents Wyatt (Tom Everett Scott) and Eva (June Diane Raphael) dress in a rotation of Ralph Lauren and Lacoste staples—think chunky cable-knit sweaters, Breton stripes, and rope belts. While Wyatt gradually adopts Seattle’s more subdued sensibility, Eva remains firmly anchored in the warmth and optimism of Los Angeles. “Eva maintains that LA look through colour and silhouette,” says Byblow. “With Elle feeling so out of place in Seattle, we wanted home to feel safe, and we tried to communicate that visually with Eva.”

Band tees for a new generation

If Beverly Hills was polished, colourful, and optimistic, Seattle represented an entirely different realm, steeped in the anti-fashion grunge movement of the mid-’90s. Read: plaid shirts, worn denim, and band tees.

Byblow approached dressing supporting characters in Seattle with the same obsessive level of research, studying yearbooks, concert photography, and the musicians who defined the city’s cultural landscape. Rather than recreating the era wholesale, she layered archival references with contemporary styling. Kimberly (Chandler Kinney), the resident mean girl, wears a vintage Bam Bam T-shirt—a nod to the influential Seattle punk band fronted by Tina Bell, often regarded as the “godmother of grunge”—paired with a modern skirt and cropped silhouette. Even the smallest details were meticulously considered. During camera tests, the team realised Elle’s pale pink dress disappeared against a backdrop of lockers and red plaid, prompting them to over-dye every plaid shirt to muted greys so the contrast would read more clearly on screen. As Elle gradually settles into Seattle, her wardrobe subtly absorbs elements: solid pinks give way to ginghams via pedal pushers and corset tops, almost as though she’s interpreting plaid on her own terms.

The almost entirely Gen Z cast embraced the research with enthusiasm. Every archival band tee became an opportunity to discover new music, every vintage label sparked a conversation about the decade it came from. Vans even reissued original 1990s logos for Dustin’s (Zac Looker) T-shirt at Carpet Mart, delighting the actors, who would routinely ask where pieces had come from and the stories behind them. Byblow hopes the series leaves behind its own fashion artefact in the same way Legally Blonde did. For her, it’s the bedazzled Nirvana T-shirt—a collision of Elle’s unabashed femininity and Seattle’s grunge spirit. “I hope people DIY it,” she says. “I’d love to see this generation bedazzling their own band tees and making them their own.”

Elle is now streaming on Prime Video