There are times when, good Lord, I just want to punch whoever dressed her.
It definitely occurred to me to feel guilty about judging her, because we know she's poor and of course clothing options may be limited, but you can make a better match at any thrift store, and I'm not sure there's any excuse for that skirt.
She wasn't always such a disaster. At Eastland, when she wasn't wearing her uniform, she was typically wearing something practical like jeans with a plain, event-appropriate shirt and sometimes a jacket. Her riding gear was, of course, always appropriate.
Her day-to-day casual wardrobe stayed very reasonable through high school and in her first couple of years of college. She typically sported jeans or casual pants with a plain shirt (environment appropriate) and sometimes another layer. It's a good look. It's not unlike what I typically wear.
Dressed for the night at the Chugalug competing with Blair for men? Even there she does just fine (except for the incredibly stupid heels which we will not acknowledge).
But when it came to dressing up, Lord help the poor woman. For the love of all that is holy, just look:
I'd just blame her complete inability to dress up, but it's worse than that. Things really began to go downhill in season six with the jumpsuits. Let us not forget the jumpsuits.
Yes, it was the 80s, and they all had their indiscretions.
to this:
is gonna get it a little harder from me.
There was a lot of bad fashion in the 80's.
ReplyDeleteThe peasant dress Jo wore on her "date" to the cotillion only needed to have the skirt switched out for a kilt, and it was an exact match for Highland Scottish dancing costume.
The pink gown was not at all flattering, but I have serveral 1980's vogue designer sewing patterns with gowns like that.
The teal striped dress is definitely the best one of the bunch.
Those jumpsuits though, 80's jumpsuits are back in style now, but the ones Jo is wearing are terrible, and look like pjs.
I've re-watched a few season of FOL, and just wanted to comment on a few of the outfits, and the reasons Jo was wearing them.
ReplyDeleteThe peasant dress worn on the "date" to the cotillion - it was obviously something that Mrs. Garret quickly dug up for Jo to wear.
The pink gown worn to the dance at the Military Academy - a joke was made about the dress, and Jo stated that it was something she borrowed (I'm guessing from Blair), so the intention was for Jo to stamp around in a dress that didn't suit her, but did suit the event.
The Teal Striped dress - Blair gave Jo a total make-over and lent her the dress, in preparation for Jo meeting her new boyfriend's rich parents. Blair basically promised Jo that she would turn her into a Blair.
So I think that Jo is someone who is very comfortable with basics (that do look good on her)- jeans, button down shirts, blazers, jean jackets and has never been interested in "dressing up" or being up on current fashions or fussing. The terrible miss-match pink blouse and patterned skirt in the first photo may be intended to show what few items she owned and thought would be a good outfit for "dressing up" a bit. I believe that outfit was worn when her parents were visiting, and she was accepting an award, but it may have been for graduation weekend.
Honestly I think the last outfit pictured is good - sporty mixed with dressy, and flattering to Jo.
Greetings and thanks for this blog. I watched the show in the 80’s..... I started watching it in 1984.... and was smitten with Jo, do much I got a poster of her from, I think “Teen Beat”..... she could be wearing a teapot on her head, could not care less. (Was 15 back then) and she was insanely beautiful. I still watch the show on MeTV every now and then. It was well written, and funny, tackling issues that were not mentioned or dealt with back then.
ReplyDeleteCompared to the actors and actresses of other contemporary shows, such as Different Strokes ( I believe FOL is a spin off of DS), the FOL girls turned out pretty well.
Thank you for this blog, is quite interesting and well written.
Regards, Ed 🙂