← The Who What Wear Podcast
The Who What Wear Podcast
Clueless Costume Designer Mona May on 30 Years of Fashion Influence and Letting Girls Be Girls
00:36:04
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- [00:01]
T-Mobile Salesperson
Oh hey, welcome to gift wrapping.
- [00:02]
Mona May
Whoa.
- [00:03]
T-Mobile Salesperson
So is Saldana.
- [00:04]
Customer
Hey, can you wrap these please?
- [00:06]
Mona May
Wow.
- [00:06]
T-Mobile Salesperson
IPhone 17s.
- [00:07]
Customer
You splurged at T Mobile. You can get four iPhone 17s on them. The new center stage front camera is amazing for group selfies. It's the perfect gift for everyone.
- [00:15]
T-Mobile Salesperson
I'm the worst. I only got my mom a robe.
- [00:17]
Customer
Well, it's better than socks.
- [00:19]
T-Mobile Salesperson
So I have to trade in my old phone, right?
- [00:21]
Customer
No AT T Mobile. There's no trade ins needed when you switch. Keep your old phone or give it as a gift.
- [00:27]
T-Mobile Salesperson
Incredible.
- [00:28]
Customer
In fact, wrap up my old phone too for my aunt Rosa.
- [00:31]
Mona May
Forget that.
- [00:31]
Customer
Aunt Liz will be jealous.
- [00:32]
T-Mobile Salesperson
Sounds like my family drama.
- [00:34]
Mona May
Oh, I got it.
- [00:35]
Customer
I'll give it to my abuela. I'll take reindeer paper with.
- [00:37]
Podcast Host Kat Collings
Hey, where are you going?
- [00:38]
T-Mobile Salesperson
To T Mobile. The holidays are better. AT T Mobile get four iPhone 17s on us. No trade in needed when you switch plus four lines for just 25 bucks a line. And now T Mobile is available in US cellular stores with 24 monthly bill credits and four eligible board ins on essentials for well qualified customers. Bought a paypal with taxes fees and $35 device connection charge credits and imbalance due if you pay off early or cancel. Contact Us Finance Agreement Twitter Fee 56 GB $830 required Visit t mobile.com.
- [01:12]
Podcast Host Kat Collings
Welcome to the who what Where? Podcast, your direct line to the designers, stylists, beauty experts, editors and tastemakers who are shaping the ever evolving world of fashion. I'm who what Where Editor in Chief Kat Collings and and today senior fashion and social editor Tara Gonzalez is chatting with costume designer Mona May. Mona has numerous credits since getting her start as a costume designer in the 90s, but she's best known as the great mind behind the fashion in the movie Clueless. Thirty years after the film's release, Mona joins us to look back on how she designed more than 100 different looks on a tight budget. She recalls how she worked with Clueless writer and director Amy Heckerling to blend thrifted clothes with high fashion. She breaks down how she sourced some of the standout pieces from the girls wardrobes, like Cher's iconic red Alaia dress and Stacy's dramatic larger than life hats. Plus, she tells us about her new book, the Fashion of Clueless that takes us inside her sketchbook she used when designing the unforgettable looks we see in the movie and features exclusive interviews with the Clueless cast. It's all coming up on who, what, where.
- [02:25]
Podcast Host Tara Gonzalez
Well, thanks Mona for chatting with Me, I'm a big fan of your work and just so excited to talk to you and so excited for this book. So I figured maybe we can just start at the beginning. And I would love to hear a little bit about how you ended up doing costume design and if that was something that you always wanted to do.
- [02:43]
Mona May
Well, you know, I was one of those kids who drew as a little girl. I was drawing princesses and many outfits, little mini collections already. Lucky. My parents really supported it as a kid. I grew up in different countries. I was actually born in India and I lived there till I was three and then I moved to Poland and then Germany. So, you know, I was always surrounded by different cultures. In the first years of my life, I got to see saris and the beautiful colors and I really, really loved that. So that influence of early childhood, I think had a really big mark on me. I really wanted to be a fashion designer. Really, that was my dream. So that's what I pursued. I went to school in Europe and Paris and Milan and London and then I really set my eyes on the States. You know, I kind of was very fascinated by different fashions here. So I ended up in New York and then California. I went to fashion school here in la. And while I was in school, you know, you hang out with all kinds of people, artists. And I had friends at USC film school. And at one point they came up to me and said, hey, we're doing this little film, Sartice's film. You have clothes, right? Being in fashion school and always having fashion parties, I mean, it was the 80s, so we were always dressing up to go to clubs. It was a full on thing. They said, sure, yeah, absolutely, I have clothes, you know what you need. And they handed me a script, short film. And from that moment I was hooked. It was so interesting to me to actually create characters, Personas, to dive into people's psychology, who they are. It was so much more than fashion. It was really fun. I also really loved the collaboration how on movies you're not just at home drawing a thing, you really are talking to the director, you're connecting with the production designer, you're connecting with the dp. Get that really suited my personality as well. So that was it. I did that film and then I never stopped, truly. I was just like in my little van with my kid, going to sets at 5am, showing up.
- [04:36]
Podcast Host Tara Gonzalez
And I feel like it's so interesting too because like you said originally you thought maybe you'd be a fashion designer and now you're at a Place where movies are such an influence for fashion designers. And like, movie fashion is such a big influence. So it's just really cool that that ended up being your path. And then obviously, Clueless, big moment for you.
- [04:53]
Mona May
It was dream come true in a sense, because it was fashion and film. When Amy wrote the script, we actually met on a different and we just connected creatively. She was like my creative soulmate, truly. And when she wrote Clueless, she called me up. She's like, this is job for you. It has all the elements, you know, it has the colors. I want it to be colorful, I want it to be fun. It has to be fashion forward. You have to come up with new fashions that people are not wearing it. So it really was like, oh my God, to work on something that connects two of my loves.
- [05:21]
Podcast Host Tara Gonzalez
And I'd love to know, like, as you were reading the script, did the fashion the way that it was going to look, did you immediately have this kind of kind of vision? Like, what was your initial idea of what it was going to be? And then what it ended up being.
- [05:31]
Mona May
You have to remember and your audience have to go back to 1994. You know, I'm truly. That was grunge era. And me and Amy went to high schools for scouting locations. And we looked around and it was just like, so sad. We were just like, oh, my God, this is so depressing. So the way that Amy wrote the script, it was really about rich Beverly Hills girls, right? So they had any amount of money to spend on clothes, and they probably went to fashion shows and had their daddy's American Express to shop with. So I didn't really have a blueprint. When I read the script, I had to be kind of a detective. I had to go to the Runway shows. I have to see what Paris is doing for Milan is doing what London is doing. Because, number one, I was creating a whole new look that didn't exist. So I had to really find out, okay, what's cool right now, what are the next trends that are going to be happening? Because everything happens six months later, a year later, when everything finally filters in. But I think the biggest challenge was to take these high fashion concepts that but then translate them into high school. They were 16 year old girls. And as a costume designer, you really have to dive into the character who is Cher, who is Dion. You want the characters to be alive in a sense. You know, there's so many people who are now Cher's or they want to be Dion for Halloween because you're connecting with these characters in the book.
- [06:46]
Podcast Host Tara Gonzalez
I thought that that was so interesting that you guys were like, okay, we'll go to high school. And then you saw what everyone was wearing, and it was like, okay, this doesn't exactly fit the narrative. But I think what made Clueless so special, too, was that you really did strike the perfect balance, as you just said, between high fashion and aspirational fashion. That felt new and exciting, but then also there was still like a reality in it. And I feel like you did such a great job grounding it in this universe that you guys made while still making it really fun.
- [07:12]
Mona May
It's like a hyper reality. I mean, nobody dressed like this in high school. Maybe now people do, right? But then there was the first movie. There was no movie about girls, you know, and fashion and those pre Legally Blonde, we were the forerunners. I mean, we were really breaking the ground for those movies.
- [07:27]
Podcast Host Tara Gonzalez
Totally. Did you have any specific designers or fashion shows of the time that you remember that you felt really inspired by?
- [07:34]
Mona May
Well, Chanel was designed by Lagerfeld at the time, and I think that those collections were so fabulous because it was kind of like biker girls in Chanel. So it was kind of like that street, but high end. And that's what really inspired me. Vivienne west would always inspired me because, I mean, the way that she thinks about fashion, she always breaks it down. It's something so interesting. People dressed very differently then. People were either punk rock or they were rockabilly, or they were like, oh, Versace head to toe. You didn't have the high and low fashion. So that was something very different that I was able to bring to the film, in a sense. I also didn't have a lot of money. It was another big movie, basically. Amy tried to make this movie for a while, and every studio she went to, they basically said, oh, movie about girls, forget it. Put some boys in it. We'll do it.
- [08:19]
Podcast Host Tara Gonzalez
Oh, my God.
- [08:20]
Mona May
Finally, Paramount, Sherry Lansing and Scott Rudin, they were like, okay, do it, but it's probably going to fail anyway, right? So they just gave us, like, $25 million, and they didn't really care enough to really supervise us, which was really great. It gave us a lot of freedom, I think, with Amy. Amy had a very, very strong vision about that world, and I think that's why the movie is also very successful. She knew that they had to be high fashion. She wanted to be very feminine, girly, you know, kind of the opposite. What was on the street? The characters were so developed in the film. I mean, like, you Love all of them. You remember all of them. And then she cast it so beautifully, too. I mean, Paul Rudder, Lisa Sil, Stacy Dash. I mean, you can't ever exchange these actors. I mean, there was no another Alicia Silverstone with her beauty. And Brittany Murphy, like, yeah.
- [09:06]
Podcast Host Tara Gonzalez
It's so funny to think that at a time that they wouldn't have wanted to make this film, considering how it really is one of the most iconic, I mean, for fashion, obviously, and then just in general, it's like an iconic film that I think people watch again and again and again. And it still holds up. Like people reference it all the time.
- [09:20]
Mona May
You know, I think also at the time, audiences were ready for this. I think that women were ready for it. I think when the movie came out, it was like, okay, let's take off these baggy clothes and let's put our little feminine, beautiful empire waist dresses with cap sleeves and a line skirts and our little twin sets. And the way that I look at fashion, even though I went to the runways and I looked at the high fashion, maybe it's being brought up in different countries. I see things timeless. I really love these clothes that really fit women, that make you feel good. It's that outfit that fits you really well that you come out and you, like, feel so good. It gives you power in a way. It's really important to me. And I think you see it thread in all my movies. You know, Rami and Michelle, Never Been Kissed, Wedding Singer, Enchanted House Bunny. I get to do these movies about women, and I want to give them this pride and the femininity things that I think we deny ourselves, that the world tells us not to do.
- [10:13]
Podcast Host Tara Gonzalez
Totally. And speaking of the characters, I would love to know, when you were kind of honing in on individual personal style, how did you decide what each character's look was going to be and how it was going to be distinct? Like, I'd love to hear a little bit about. How did you decide what their personal style was going to be?
- [10:29]
Mona May
Well, it's interesting, number one. It's in the script who these characters are. Who is Cher? She's the number one in school. You know, she rules. She controls the world and she controls herself. She has to be the mom to the dad and like everybody. So I think for her, we knew that it has to be very preppy, maybe very tailored put together, you know, so it's. A lot of times it's more emotional really than thinking, like, I'm gonna put a jacket on her or what that is. Things had to be Very tailored, I think matchy in the way she says in the movie how important her shoes, everything is in place. And I think that also tells a story in the film immediately who she is. So I think, why the yellow suit in the beginning? Because it's a suit. It's power, right? Why the Empire little dresses with little cap sleeves and little matchy purse. And always the Mary Janes to be very sweet. A certain kind of length of the dress, too. And also, nothing was over sex. You know, we always made sure everything is just very proper, too, because they were 16 years old. And that was very important to Amy. You know, now fashion is so different with Alicia, she would come into the fitting with two dogs in her sweatpants. So teaching her how to wear the clothes, you know, high fashion, really understanding what that is. Because actor really, when they come into the fitting, they kind of like a blank page. And then we start putting the clothing on and the character comes through. It really is like a laboratory. This is one of my favorite part of my job, really, in the fitting. This is when you find out what really is going to work, like with the yellow suit. I bought a blue suit, plaid, that was beautiful. I thought, oh, my God, that's going to be amazing. And, you know, I actually picked up the Jean Paul Gaultier suit in a store, and I was like, I don't know. Is that going to work with blonde hair? Like, we usually, as blondes, don't really wear yellow. But there was something so vibrant, and I love color. Color talks to me, and I think it's energy. So I'm like, let's get it. And in a fitting, when Alicia put that suit, like, I mean, we all had goosebumps. It was like, this is right. This is the queen bee. This is the ray of sunshine. This is the moment in the movie that you meet her in a quad with all the green outside, with all the people crossing. She's going to pop. It's the Catholic school uniform on steroids in a way, because everything is grounded in reality. Like even this scene when they are in the gym, it starts with the black and white shorts and skirt, but then goes crazy. So that's the process. And Stacy, she's a little older, she comes from New York. She comes into the fitting and we can put bright colors on her and vinyl and leopard. So all of that just, again, bubbles up. And it was high and low, which was really cool. And what was so fresh, I think that specifically with Stacy's character, I was able to kind of really shop thrift Stores and rave stores on Melrose Avenue. That was really huge at the time. And then go a little bit designer and really mix it up. And then Ty. I mean, that was such a beautiful character. Brittany Murphy. She was 17 when she came onto set. I mean, she was just like this magical, being so old for her age, in a way, and really understanding the character. She said to me, mona, don't make me pretty in the beginning. I just really want to have this arc. I want to be the ugly duckling and then become the mini me Cher, and then find myself in the end. It's a long winded answer, I think, to your question, kind of how it all comes together.
- [13:42]
Podcast Host Tara Gonzalez
Something that you said that was so interesting to me is that when you were doing the yellow Jean Paul Gaultier, iconic, obviously, arguably, like the most iconic look from Clueless, that it almost like it didn't happen.
- [13:53]
Mona May
And it's now on the COVID of my book.
- [13:56]
Podcast Host Tara Gonzalez
It's so funny that sometimes those things that you think aren't going to work end up being the thing that works the most.
- [14:03]
Mona May
You have to be open. I think as an artist, I think you have to really just allow the process to happen. I think that if you already know, you don't know. If you think you don't know, because there's so many elements, especially in filmmaking, really, you don't find those things till you really are there in that moment. And then you have to think of the whole movie, like Dion and share together and then tie together. So then you have a whole another puzzle of putting the outfits together, make sure they look great in the scenes.
- [14:30]
Podcast Host Tara Gonzalez
Did you have any other moments on Clueless where you were like, that's probably not gonna work, or maybe some kind of look or piece that kind of came together in an unexpected way?
- [14:40]
Mona May
I don't know. I think this was really the most pivotal one for me. It was always searching for things. It's like the Alaia dress, too. We were like, what are we gonna do? It's Christmas. And at that point, I wanted for her to be a little bit more grown up and a little bit sexier. Like, okay, she's really trying things out. And I didn't want anything to be too tight and too. Just overdone on her again. It's so important to just have that. That youthful girliness. And I saw this Alaia dress, and I love his fabric. It's just such a perfect material. It's, like, thick and holds you. And the neckline was so beautiful. It was square and very open. But I didn't have the money at all. I was like, I can't. I can't afford it. So I had to actually find somebody who speaks French. We called the atelier. We said, we're doing this movie with this beautiful ingenue, Alicia Silverstone. Would it be at all possible to maybe get the dress? And they said yes. So they lent us the dress, which was so incredibly amazing, and we got to put it in a movie. And then Amy wrote the line, and then we introduced Alaia to the world in America. It was so amazing. I think high fashionistas knew a lie, but not people in, you know, smaller towns. Maybe New York, Louisiana. People knew about it. It was phenomenal. But I have to tell you, I was so scared when she had to get on the ground in that dress. I mean, we were basically like, there's nothing is going to happen, so we can return the dress.
- [15:59]
Podcast Host Tara Gonzalez
Oh, my God. I didn't even think about that.
- [16:01]
Mona May
And it was so funny because I got to design the jacket. It was the Mona May original with the little peplum and the feather boa color and the little matching purse. I love that outfit, too. You know, it really has a lot of meaning to me to have this prolific designer. I mean, I think he's one of probably my top 10 designers in the world. His vision was just so incredible. The 80s 90s when he was in his power. It was just so beautiful, his work.
- [16:25]
Podcast Host Tara Gonzalez
And I feel like it's also what you were saying about the Jean Paul Gaultier suit, how it just ended up being so emblematic of clueless. I feel like that Alaia moment, people quote it all the time, and I don't know if you ever saw that. I think in the last year or so on, like, TikTok, that little sound bite became, like, a trend where people were, like, doing recreations of, like, you don't understand. It's an Alaia, and they would do it with, like, different fashion pieces.
- [16:47]
Mona May
So great.
- [16:47]
Podcast Host Tara Gonzalez
So to your point, that that was a magical moment that you created. And I feel like whenever I have something on or something that I'm like, that's really beautiful. I'm like, you don't understand.
- [16:55]
Mona May
This isn't a. Oh, I'm gonna tell Amy this. I have to tell Amy Heckling about this. You know, she was so prolific. I love her so much. You know, to have a director like this who loves fashion, who allows you to dig into your soul, you know, I was able to really bring everything out of my heart and kind of my brain onto the screen, and it Was like the crazy hats, everything, the color. The genie came out of the bottle and she encouraged it, which is very different. Some directors don't like color. They don't want to have any hats because they can't see actors eyes. And I think also for the actors, how much fun we had. Paul Rudd first movie. Alicia Silverstone, you know, biggest role. Brittany Murphy, also one of the first roles. We were young and we were like, oh my God, this is just the coolest. It was such a pivotal moment in our lives that we are so connected to this day. I mean, I picked up the phone to Paul Rudd to interview him for the book and it was just like yesterday. Something so early in your career that had such a strong impact, you just bonded forever.
- [17:54]
Podcast Host Tara Gonzalez
You were talking about all of the really great hats. You also have a very great hat on right now, might I add. Obviously, I feel like Dion's character had that incredible hat that I think I read in the book was inspired by Chanel. So I'd love to kind of hear a little bit about what you loved about hats as an accessory in Clueless and what were like maybe some of your favorites.
- [18:12]
Mona May
I'm a hat maniac myself. It's my signature. I'm always in hats and always wore hats very early on. Caps. And coming from Europe, I think we wear more hats maybe in Europe. My dad wore hats. He was a very debonair man. I feel like it brings something to an outfit, something like one more step. Something that's so stylish in a way. And I love when you think of the 30s and the 40s and all the different hats. I mean, I don't know, I cry when I see those hats, like when I find them in the thrift store still. And just the beauty that women wor the gloves and the hats and everything was so put together with the purse, you know, so it's. It's more glamorous to me. So I wanted to bring that little bit of that glam to the film and Amy was completely open to it. So at every opportunity I had, I was trying to bring a head, especially Dion and, and Stacy really loved it. She really got into it. I don't think it was so much share. She was more the headband girl. So finding a head like the Chanel head, I found that I. I think it was Neiman's. And the hat is made by a designer that still operates and designs hat in New York, KOKKIN K O K I N and he actually just recreated the hat for me for this whole 30th anniversary, so we were able to have the hat around. But it was really Stacy, when we put the outfit together, her black and white suit to go with Cher's for the first day of school, because we thought with Amy, oh, they'll probably call each other. What are you wearing? Oh, I'm wearing my suit and that hat. When I brought the hat to the fitting, and Stacy was like, oh, yeah, let's do this. Let's do this. So you have to imagine the hat by itself looks kooky and crazy and so oversized. Right? It's like a Halloween hat. But look at Stacey coming out in the first scene of the movie in the hat, in her outfit. I put the vinyl lapel on the suit to kind of add a little matchy moment there. She carries it off, right? I mean, she knows about fashion, so any head that she wore in a movie, she gave it, and that was so cool. And, you know, I put heads on almost every extra that I could. It was just fun. I want people to come out when they watch my movies to be inspired. And, I mean, now people wear it for Halloween.
- [20:15]
Podcast Host Tara Gonzalez
And it's so funny because even when you were describing her style and how it was a little bit different than Cher's because she had a little bit more vintage and thrift items thrown in, and that sensibility of, like, high and low and mixing old and new, once again, you were very ahead of your time with that, because I feel like now that's how everybody wants to dress. Everyone's wearing vintage clothing with high fashion and wearing pieces that they thrifted with. Something very expensive from the Runway, Balenciaga bag or whatever.
- [20:42]
Mona May
With my flip flops and ripped jeans.
- [20:44]
Podcast Host Tara Gonzalez
Yeah, exactly. So is it crazy for you to see that something that you guys did on the film now is the way that people are dressing? And obviously, the film also inspired the way that people dress right after the movie came out. Like, how is that for you to see that reaction?
- [20:59]
Mona May
I mean, it's insane. It's truly insane. And the feeling is so incredible because I am half kind of fashion designer in my heart, too, to be able to set trends through the film in a way. I mean, think of the gym outfit for Cher, the white T shirt with the black tank top on top. People didn't wear that. I mean, and now it's like you buy it together. You know what I mean? This is, like, in everybody's wardrobe. That is so amazing to me that the fashion's kind of stood a test of time, that there is really still in the inspiration there, the fashions are still very wearable and timeless. And I think it's something that I have as my point of view. I think that I inject that into all my movies. This kind of timelessness of the Sophia Lauren of the 50s and the breakfast at Tiffany. The black dress, that kind of timeless. The peacoat, the beret. As I said, a line skirt. Like, those things that just really are go to pieces and put in a way that I think translated over the years very well in a feminine way.
- [21:57]
Podcast Host Tara Gonzalez
Yeah, no, it's incredible. And I feel like even when I do a rewatch, I'm like, oh, I should wear an outfit like that, like, or I should pick up on different styling things that I want to do. And I know that obviously, Cher, I think she wore, like, 56 outfits. Ultimately, 63. 63. Okay. Wow. I was like. I was close.
- [22:15]
Mona May
It's buggling how many changes the girls had. And 45 for Stacey. And then we had Amber. And then, don't forget, all the extras were dressed head to toe because they also showed up as grunge in the morning. So we had to dress them to fit this world that we've created of high fashion in Beverly Hills. So everybody came through the wardrobe in the morning and got the outfit, got the hats, got the backpacks, got accessories. Because when you look at the scenes in classrooms, when you see the scenes in the quad, it's all the same kids. It's from the same world.
- [22:42]
Podcast Host Tara Gonzalez
Do you feel like there was any looks that were your personal favorite? Like, of course you have the plaid suits, like those, like, everybody talks about in the Alaia moment. Really iconic. But are there any other ones that maybe that you don't see people, like, talk about as much?
- [22:55]
Mona May
You know what? There's one that's actually Alicia. Yes. Silverstone favorite, too. And she's in the mall with Christian. She's wearing a little green empire waist dress with her little matching purse. It was so of the time. And it was a little bit of Emma. Emma. Jane Austen homage. A little bit, too, in some little way. It's just so simple. But I think that any girl in a world can put this dress and feel amazing. The cap sleeve is just. I think it's such a perfect cap sleeve is one of my favorite things. Seriously. Like, I make everything. My cup sleeves. I'm, like, always, like, rolling everything up, because I just think it's. It shows the perfect little part of your arm. I love that little cute dress. And it's such a sweet scene of them shopping Together as buddies. And, you know, I love the twins. So there's one scene that she comes to daddy, she brings him tea, and it's a beautiful leather, a line skirt with a cream twin sweater set. And it's just so simple. I think her hair is put back with a little cream scrunchie. I mean, it's just so girly. And those are the moments where we wanted to kind of show her as very soft too. You know, Cher, she has so much heart. So it's not always this outer Persona that she had of control and reigning the school. But really there was so much love and softness. I don't know, there's so many outfits. I mean, it's just really, when you go through it, it's like a conveyor belt of outfits.
- [24:10]
Podcast Host Tara Gonzalez
Yes. I'm currently redoing my closet, and my big dream would be if I was able to have the little, like, machine that she has in her closet.
- [24:18]
Mona May
Like a dry cleaner. That's what the dry cleaner said.
- [24:20]
Podcast Host Tara Gonzalez
Yes. Right. And I feel like it's so funny because I feel like to this day, people are like, ugh. I thought by 2025, we would all have the clueless closet, the little, like, TV thing to do all of that, which is, like, so funny.
- [24:30]
Mona May
I think we've tried. I mean, I've worked with the app Fitted, and they actually are kind of successful. They collaborated with Paramount, so they were able to scan kind of the clueless outfits so you could actually put together your new combination and then also scan your own clothing and then share with friends and stuff. So it's pretty cool app. It's called Fitted.
- [24:50]
Podcast Host Tara Gonzalez
Okay, I need to check this out.
- [24:51]
Mona May
It still takes time. You have to photograph your stuff. So you have all the pieces in a computer that you can do mix and match.
- [24:58]
Podcast Host Tara Gonzalez
I'm gonna look into this after I get off the call. At the time, like you said, the budget wasn't huge, so you were trying to figure out, like, how to get all of these things. And I know that there was like, obviously John Paul, Gaultier, Alaia. Was there any other kind of like, high fashion pieces that you remember being like, oh, my God, I'm so excited that we get to have this?
- [25:15]
Mona May
Yeah. There was Dolce Gabbana, the Christmas outfit for Dion that was really cool, but I really didn't have the money. It was a really challenging design project. It really was, because there was just so much clothes and I had to scout it. I had to go to the thrift store, go to the mall. I mean, contempo Casual, if people remember, it really was kind of like that search. But I think what was really important, and I think that's something that maybe your viewers should note too, that everything was tailored. So no matter what piece that I bought, even it was a 99 cent, it was tailored perfectly because then it looks couture. But I think that's something really important to us now. I think, especially women. There's so much fast fashion that doesn't fit well. It's just badly made. You know, really understanding your body and knowing, okay, maybe I need to roll up the sleeve, or maybe my hem is too long, maybe I need to take it a little bit in the waist. Those are the things that I think will make your clothes look more expensive because maybe you have to work with your proportion of your body. So maybe you have to get a high waisted pen. But then if you hem it, like shorter, then it's a really cool, cool look with boots or loafers. So I think taking the clothes that you have and giving them a little bit new life. I would love to do these kind of seminars, like, really go into somebody's clothes and go, okay, this is great. Don't throw it out. But if you just hem it or if you take this blouse a little bit more in or crop it, you know, so it's kind of sustainable in a way that you can rework your things and then you feel better too. That's the personal power we want to have in life. Like, oh, my God, this makes me feel good. I'm walking in, I don't have to think about it. It's like, you want to be in the moment. Present. Yeah.
- [26:54]
Podcast Host Tara Gonzalez
Okay, so the key to the Sharon Dion look is some really good tailoring. This is very useful fashion information. And then I would like to talk about the Dolce and Gabbana look and.
- [27:02]
Mona May
How that came to be very last minute. It's like, again, you know, this is not a movie where you have a huge budget, not a lot of time. I have two months to prep. Wow. Getting the actors sometimes last minute, not a huge crew. So we have to, like, scour. Some things really just pop up out of nowhere. You're just like, okay, we have the lineup, but we still don't have a great Christmas outfit, you know, And I had an assistant named Vicky who was just like, so smart and has such a great fashion sense. Kind of punk rock meets, you know, high style and. And they're able to see things and bring them in to me because it's like, okay, we maybe had so much burgundy already for her. We already maybe had too much bright colors. What would be right for that moment in between everybody. And works with Cher's red dress and work with the dress that Amber is going to wear. So that outfit just like pop out out of nowhere. And Stacy loved it. We always did the hair accessories, worked with the hair people. We did the braiding to match the flowers. It's such a collaborative process, filmmaking. You know, it's not just me putting an outfit on. It's really the actor, it's the director, the hair and makeup people, everybody coming together. And I think that movie is testament to this, how creativity and being in sync, really what it means. And I want to talk about the dp Bill Pope, who is now famous director of photography. The way that he shot this film too. When you think of movies like wide shots, close ups, right? He was genius. Genius. And that was probably something that him and Amy came up with. He took the camera and he was like a fashion eye. I mean, truly. It was like an E commercial. You know, you saw the earring, you went down her leg, right? You saw wide, wide shots of them walking together. You see the shoes, you see the accessories. You look at the backpack skin, the call like you. Your eye goes to it. So that's was also so beautiful that we saw everything that I prepared, we are able to actually see. So it was like a feast for the eyes.
- [28:55]
Podcast Host Tara Gonzalez
I do kind of want to talk a little bit about the shoots, since you were talking about the details and the accessories. Obviously, people weren't wearing high heels or pumps to high school. But Sharon Dion have really great shoes and they do wear high heels. So I'd love to kind of hear how did you decide what shoes they were favorites as well?
- [29:12]
Mona May
Amy was very adamant, Amy echeling that we don't do spiky heels. She was like, these are my girls. They are 16. So the heel just was maybe this high. And it was always stuck heel. So that's why I went for the Mary Janes. It was nothing really pointy. There was nothing adult like, about the shoes. And I stayed with Charles David, which I think is still around maybe, right? Charles David, like a brand that was pretty conservative in a way, but it just had all the little T strappy white Mary Janes, the chair wearers. And I think a lot of. Even the heels that that Stacy wears, I repeated a lot of the shoes because we just didn't have the budget. And I think it was okay. It was very important, I think, because we wore a lot of the white stockings and white over the knee and knee highs and stuff. That a lot of the shoes ended up being white was really simple in a way. I didn't really overthink it. And it was not like a fashion show of shoes really. It was more practical too. They had to, you know, it was cute too in Alicia Silverstone had to learn how to walk and, and be share and flip the hair. And I didn't want to give them something that's like unwearable and now they teetering. And then we had certain shoes like the red shoes that get stained on the Christmas party. So there was something very specific. It was also Charles David actually we found a little T strappy, but it was stuck heel. Very young and timeless. I love things that just are in your closet. I used to wear Agnes B. From the day. And like we. Right. We used to. I mean she was in the movie and she still in my closet.
- [30:39]
Podcast Host Tara Gonzalez
Those shoes are very in style.
- [30:41]
Mona May
Yeah. The ballet flats, they were not really that big at the time. I needed a little bit of a heel too for the girls to go with the fashions. You kind of wanted to have them walk differently than if you own the flats. I think there is something about it. I like a little heel.
- [30:53]
Podcast Host Tara Gonzalez
Yeah, the shoes are great. And it's also funny because like you said, it was more of like a budget constrain that you were like, okay, we can't have like a ton of different shoes. But it helped I think also ground the outfits a little bit in reality because most people, you have some really good pairs of shoes that you can wear all the time with like a bunch of different things. And you mentioned Agnes B. So now I have to ask, wait, is there any Agnes B. Because I love Agnes B. Cardigan.
- [31:15]
Mona May
I. I think that cream cardigan that I talked about was Agnes B. I don't know. I just love her shape. She just knows the shape so well, how it fits a woman.
- [31:24]
Podcast Host Tara Gonzalez
Such a great shape.
- [31:25]
Mona May
Her little jackets, like I still have one kind of a knit black jacket that just really, really fitted. Very narrow sleeve, three quarter, two button, small lapel. I mean it's kind of 40ish inspired, but like forever. It's like just throw it on with anything with your little mini skirt or jeans. And it's just her clothes were also very comfortable.
- [31:48]
Podcast Host Tara Gonzalez
So comfortable. It's like the best cardigan I own. So now I'm like, I didn't even realize that the clueless girls also understood the power of an Agnes V. Cardigan.
- [31:56]
Mona May
So.
- [31:57]
Podcast Host Tara Gonzalez
But it's Funny, because as we've been talking, Obviously even in 2025, I feel like the clueless fashion is still as relevant as ever. And it's the 30th year anniversary and everything, but I'd kind of love to hear about. How did you guys decide that you were going to work on this book? And what are you most excited for people to see in it?
- [32:16]
Mona May
Well, I have to tell you that I've been waiting for this book for 30 years. It's been my dream to do this book that long since the movie came out, because I've always wanted to share the behind the scenes, how I came up with things. I think something. What's so cool about having a book that you can bring it home so you can be with the characters, you can like, look at the outfits, be with it, inspire you in some different ways that you're just seeing it on the screen. I think it's really cool to dive into this world in a very personal way that now you even have a more intimate connections with the character and their fashions and the details. And I wanted to be very inspiring. It's very much me, this book, like this joie de vivre and how we did it and talking to the actors, I mean, talking to Paul Rudd, and he was reminding me Mona, I used to wear my own jeans and boots. And I was like, oh, my God, I forgot about that. Donald Faison, he was like, Mona, after you started dressing me, I started getting dates. And Stacy Dash and Elisa Donovan, the process, how we worked together and how she was in the. Inspired by me pushing her. And then she was really open to that. So, like kind of that catharsis in the way of us working together and creating Amber. There's style guides. There are a little bit of like, okay, how to wear Cher in a modern way and what's out now. But it's still the same cardigan. It's still the same pieces. Maybe in a little bit different proportion than that. But there's so much color there. They're so vibrant. Anywhere where you open the book, I think you'll be, like, transported to that world and can be part of that world again. And I want people to get off their phones. I want them to actually open a book. And I think it's like a collectible item too. I think it's like really just. It's gonna look great on your coffee table. It's gonna be pretty. Pretty fabulous. But I'm very grateful and I want this to be part of the legacy of the film.
- [34:04]
Podcast Host Tara Gonzalez
It'll be a great way for people also to, you know, obviously people are still gonna be rewatching the film all the time, but I think in terms of getting dressed, kind of using it as a little bit of a style bible as well, you can just like, open up the page and be like, okay, I'm gonna pull this Dion look today.
- [34:18]
Mona May
Totally. Because there's so many pictures from behind the scenes. And one of the coolest things is we actually found the Polaroids because we took Polaroids on set of the costume continuity. So this is when actors stand on set and they show you like, okay, how do you. How many bracelets do they have? How do they wear the outfits? We found those at Paramount vault somewhere. So they survived 30 years. I haven't even seen them in 30 years. And so, like, the character Summer, remember her? She was so fabulous. She has a whole spread of her outfits that I didn't even remember since 30 years ago. All the cool things that she was very kind of. Rave girl and Harajuku girl and all the cool things that we put on her. And Paul Rudd in his own jeans and the plaid shirts and just so fun. Even pictures of Donald with his Superman necklace. So it's like all the little details that we forgot about are now in that book. I'm just so proud of it. I'm so glad that it's out 30 years later and for the 30th anniversary and bringing it all back.
- [35:20]
Podcast Host Tara Gonzalez
Yes. Thank you so much again for taking the time to chat with me and talk all about Clueless in the book. This is truly a dream come true. And I just feel like in 2025, Clueless is still as powerful as ever. So I'm so excited for everyone to read the book and hear everything that you have to say.
- [35:37]
Mona May
Thank you so much. Thank you. And please, readers, follow me on Itsmona Mae on Instagram. You can go to my website, too. There's a lot of cool process pictures, and it's just really interesting to see. If you want to dive a little bit more into the costume design world, there's another movie coming out soon called Street Smart, so that's going to be really cool. It's directed by Katherine Hardwick of thirteen and Lords of Dogtown.
- [35:59]
Podcast Host Tara Gonzalez
Oh, my God. So much coming. Amazing.
- [36:02]
Mona May
So much coming. It was lovely. Take care. Take care. Thanks so much.
- [36:04]
Podcast Host Tara Gonzalez
Thank you so much.
- [36:11]
Podcast Host Kat Collings
A huge thank you to costume designer Mona May. Make sure to subscribe to our show wherever you listen to podcasts so you don't miss an episode. And while you're there. I'd also be so grateful if you'd rate and review us. If you have guest suggestions or any other feedback, please drop us a line at Podcast Whoops. Or you can find us on social at WhoWhatWere. See you next Wednesday on the who what Where Podcast. This episode was produced by Hilary Kerr, Summer Hammerz, and Natalie Thurman. Our production assistant is Raven Yamamoto. Our editor is Koh Takasuki Chernevan. Our audio engineers are at Glen Canyon Audio and our music is by Jonathan. Leah, you.
- [37:08]
Podcast Host Tara Gonzalez
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- [37:09]
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- [37:21]
Mona May
Every style, every home.