“Clueless” Fashion Designer Mona May Talks Inspiration
Graphic by Agnes Lee.
There were many great looks at the 2021 GRAMMYs (did you see Taylor’s dress?), but few generated more hype on the internet than the outfits worn by Harry Styles. Styles has been a fashion icon for years, and his bold looks don’t really come as a surprise anymore, but one of his outfits for the award show is embedded with history. Styles’s red carpet look included a hint of yellow plaid that is iconically known to be from the 1995 film “Clueless.” We all know it when we see it, but who is the mastermind behind this look? It’s the queen of 90s fashion herself and well-known costume designer Mona May. Mona May is the designer behind “Clueless” and over 70 other films and television shows. May agreed to speak with STITCH about her experience in costume designing over the phone in February.
Mona May got her start in costume design mostly by chance. Although she always knew she wanted to go into fashion design– studying both in Europe and New York City, she never considered designing for films until she was asked by friends in film school to do costumes for their movies while living in L.A.
“I totally, immediately got a bug,” May says. “It was more than just creating a beautiful outfit, it was telling a story.”
In addition to Clueless, which was her first feature film, May has styled some of the most camp costumes for films and television today– including everything from “Enchanted” to “The “Wedding Singer” to Peacock’s new reboot of the 80s show “Punky Brewster.” May even had her hand in totally digital costume design for her work in “Stuart Little 2” where she, like in many of her films, gave Stuart a makeover.
“I push for creativity, so I think I am sought after because I want to bring something fresh to the table,” May says.
When we speak, May is on the set of her latest project, “Mixtape” in Vancouver. She excitedly spills the plot for the upcoming film, which follows a young girl connecting to her deceased parents through a mixtape in a town in the northwest in 1999. Although time period and the script are two huge things for May to consider when costume designing, it is not the most important.
“It’s 1999 but the people might dress like it’s the early 90s because they don’t buy a lot of [new] clothes. They buy one good jacket and they wear it for 10 years,” May says of her process in picking designs for “Mixtape.”
One of May’s favorite parts of designing for films is diving into the psychology of characters and who these characters, in “Mixtape” or any of her films, might be. She describes herself, in the early stages of designing, as somewhat of a psychologist as she tries to create pieces that bring her characters to life. May says the people working around her on film sets, such as the directors or production designers have (obviously) limited fashion knowledge, so she often works off of ideas and vision boards.
May also emphasizes the importance of maintaining close relationships with the actors she is costuming. She strives to ensure her pieces are comfortable and feel right for the characters the actors are trying to portray. For May, a close relationship with the actor makes costuming easier and her designs better. She even says she bounces ideas off of Drew Barrymore when they work together.
“I am there for them to find the character. Costumes are a tool for them to become the character,” May says.
The best part of the process for May is the fitting, when her work really comes to life. She describes the moment when her costumes finally come together for her actors and herself as something magical.
“Sometimes it’s so powerful you even have goosebumps on your arm,” May says.
May’s designs continue to inspire with their eccentricity. May credits the wide adoration for her designs in Clueless to her mixture of high-end fashion with 90s grunges– which while done out of necessity at the time because of the film’s budget, became her staple in costume design.
“Not having a lot of money was the mother of invention,” May says.