Class & Generational Wealth in Legally Blonde 

Damn, you went hard on this and I deeply respect you for it. As someone who also loves but has a lot of deep thoughts about movies like this, and this movie specifically I was so glad to hear you articulate things I couldn't even quite describe. I mean the concept of generational wealth presentation based on fear was a whole new idea for me, like the divide between presentation was clear and the feeling of wealth security, but that being a reason behind why conspicuous consumption became unfashionable? Blew my mind. I just thought it was purely to differentiate old money status from new, cause new money can buy whatever's trendy but like you said, only old money gets to decide what's classy

What’s is the name of the movie in the beginning when the girl walks out the door?

@@missmessysexydoggy1739 it’s from Teen Witch which is a terrible movie lol, it’s just the only vaguely related movie i had on my drive at the time

There is absolutely a connection between the east coast and old money, most of which dating back to around the 19th to 20th centuries, which was roughly the most popular era of westward expansion in the US. While the majority of US citizens in these developing states were farming and laboring, the east coast became an even more concentrated center of wealth when it was already the center of political power. There's a reason more than HALF of our presidents came from strictly east coast states. You did a wonderful job with this video.

I used to live near Browns campus in Providence and noticed that amongst students there were very few blondes! I actually commented on it to my partner 😂

Same, it challenges the idea that in order to be taken more seriously and be perceived as more intellectual, a woman needs to diminish her femininity and behave and dress more masculine. There's nothing wrong with a woman who wants to exhibit more masculine than feminine traits (many find it better suiting to their personality anyway), but women who thrive being very feminine shouldn't be discriminated against either.

It's not a metaphor

I didnt take it as a feminist message. It was a "dont judge a book by its cover" story. She was a ditzy blond who didnt take anything seriously and gives lap dances to her professors to get A's and expected to sit around in glamour for the rest of her life. She only tried to change herself superficially to impress a guy. And she really changed her mind because she found that she actually enjoyed being challenged. Everyone thought they had her figured when really she was just blooming on her path. It wasnt about her being a woman, it was about her being a dismissed stereotype.

@@shihoblade It was both. The ditzy blonde stereotype itself, as well as all the ridicule Elle gets for her girly fashion, personality, and priorities, tie back to sexism and how "excessive" femininity is frowned upon as not smart or serious. Elle spends a significant part of the movie toning down her personal tastes bc of this, but at the climax, it's her "frivolous", feminine knowledge that helps her save her client. So the message of the movie is both. Or rather, it's all one and the same - "don't judge a book by its cover" IS the feminist message, bc the reason ppl looked down on her cover to begin with was subtle sexism.

@@irisa198 Thank you for your view. I agree. If I can have a couple minutes, I'd like to present my case. 1) It's not about the style being masculine vs feminine. Girls didn't dress in a masculine way to be accepted as professional. Pastels and autumn/winter colors were both worn by both sexes at that time. It was about perception, East Coast serious vs West Coast frivolous. 2) Thematically, Elle was knocked because she typified the blonde, ditzy California Girl that East Coast people act like they hate. So, being feminine isn't truly the film's issue. It's that Harvard Law students don't see being from Los Angeles, perky, and wearing pink outfits as Serious. 3) To fit in, Elle was forced to visually conform at first to be taken seriously rather than be the butt of jokes, picked on, and left out. But, once she became more confident, you see her reassert her old self in the courtroom scene, dressed in pink LA style, with her blonde hair flowing, and a big smile on her face. Elle Wins By converting back to Being Herself. As proof, recall the scene when her classmates introduced themselves. They were feeding kids in Africa and building houses with Habitat For Humanity = serious; Elle was president of her sorority = not serious. The word "serious" is spoken and inferred often in the film. There's even a girl that looks like she's from San Francisco, considered a "serious" city with "serious" people -- unlike LA -- who fits right in with the image, and even has contempt for Elle as a brainless LA Barbie doll. This hints at the Northern vs Southern California rift. 4) Monetary amount and age doesn't really seem to be the issue either. Elle has the same Amount of money as most of her monied Harvard classmates, so she's not judged on being nouevau riche. Actually, I don't recall that being said in the movie as a fact at all. Even the woman accused of murder wasn't judged on that. She was targeted for being a young LA Barbie doll obsessed with her looks (a Marilyn, like Elle) who intruded in the father-daughter relationship with her sexuality. And so: It's the Way Elle expresses herself, her personality, that rubbed them the wrong way. They harass her about it from her arrival until she Conforms in looks and Proves herself in the classroom; proving that she's Jackie, not Marilyn (as Warner told her earlier). The Conclusion: This video seems to forcibly apply current standards to the norms of a different time, place, and social identity while adding today's obsessed over themes as a focus of the film where there aren't any, or barely touched upon. Doing that could be -- what's that word again? -- problematic, creating a tone deaf alternate reality to the movie. Caveat: Then again, it's been a long time since I've seen Legally Blonde. PS. Stanford, West Siiide

also, this analysis is really wonderfully detail-oriented. good job

He also always has his martini. Even at Elle’s graduation. It’s like a part of his costume. 😂

I also think that the reason dad’s outfit resembles the style and image of “old money” while still missing the mark, is because he most likely also encountered a lot of class insecurity around people in his career and had to adapt to look more like them.

thank you for watching! :) definitely took a couple viewings before i had that "aha!" moment

It was actually one of the first things I thought of, because I also ran smack into the class wall at college, and while I'm not of the "wrong-kind-of-rich" class division, I definitely recognized the "I have no idea what the rules are here and they don't make sense anyway" vibe. And the divisions within classes are very interesting, too, when looked at intellectually (there are also different modes of being poor, and even different modes of being middle class)--just not always when being experienced.

@@babs3241 I noticed it but I'm British and my parents come from very different classes. My mother's family are upper-middle class today but her parents came from upper class homes. Unlike her siblings, my mother didn't go to Cambridge. She married at 18 years old while attending a university and had 3 kids during this time. My cousins from my mother's side had horses and had sea/oceanfront properties in England, Ireland and the Canary Islands. My father grew up in a single family home in East London taking care of his younger sister. He's not educated but was a fireman. His grandmother came from the workhouse. My uncle (Dad's sister's ex) ended up in prison for 10 years for armed robbery. My aunt and cousins lived in a council flat and used to throw bricks as commuter's cars. I had very extreme differences in how the world looked depending on whether I was with my Dad's family or my Mum's family. Getting to university I felt very torn. Following the script felt disloyal to my father, but rejecting it felt foolish. I mostly just kept to myself. I always feel othered.

Now I need to re-watch with the Great Gatsby in mind lol!

Most Americans have no idea what social class actually looks like. They tend to think that having the most money makes you top of the food chain, but that's really not the case. Elle is probably wealthier than the majority of her peers, even at Harvard, but wealth doesn't buy generations of connections, good breeding, etc. It goes the other way too. I came from a WASPy old money family that isn't super super wealthy anymore, but the attitudes are the same even if the bank statements change. I've run into a lot of cultural barriers with my husband's family, who are pretty squarely middle class. It's a lot of little things. I was horrified that they took his ten year old nephew to Disney World, when they've never taken him to an art museum, the theater, etc. I'm horrified how many toys the kids in the family get at Christmas. In my family we got comparatively few toys, lots of books, and checks for our college savings accounts. Even when it comes to travel or holidays, education, even in a broad sense, always comes first. They care about new cars and keeping up with the neighbors. Old money doesn't care about keeping up with the Joneses, you *never* buy things to impress people, and you don't replace things until they're worn out. When they travel, the go somewhere inexpensive and stay at the nicest hotel in town. Old money is the opposite. You go somewhere lovely (Paris, Florence, etc.) and stay somewhere convenient and clean. We've been together for eight years, and their lifestyle is still really foreign to me.

I think it’s just a bout being a female blonde and facing extreme sexism. I went blonde for a summer and people were far lest respectful Maliki get blonde jokes and honestly it makes me scared of going blonde again. Will I not be taken seriously ? Is my brunette hair my blanket from further discrimination?

Exactly! We see Elle being sexualized at every turn, particularly during that application scene. Men feel like they can ogle at her and even grope her just because she's pretty and blonde. I also think that she's talking about people thinking that she's dumb, which extends from that sales lady at the mall all the way up to her Harvard law professors. It's not "anti-blonde" in a very literal way but rather talking about the sexist attitudes that she has to deal with due to her hair color and also by the way she dresses.

It’s also the double standard of women and femininity in male dominated spaces. It’s why Elle wearing bright (pink) and extremely femme styles immediately marks her as “dumb blonde” and everyone treats her like it.

@@user-ok2xn1fy5i sheesh imagine people that born with a certain type of hair like coily or curly, same shit being called nappy hair, dirty, and unprofessional when it's on your DNA and you can't change the hair type, you CAN change the hair color. This movie is a joke lol

I interpret this movie as that being the thesis. As someone else said she is sexualized throughout the movie. There is no way that it was unintentional. They may just not have had the vocabulary to say it in the early oughts

Yeah I went to a school that had very wealthy families and really you didn't see labels or anything of the sort to signify wealth but tailoring, high quality materials and perfectly fitting clothes really identify the people with generational wealth. It's kind of understated, but one you really look you can tell how expensive those clothes are.

@@martinasophiaisaksen3034 those fabrics look heavy right? I don’t know how to describe it but they have a sturdy feel to them.

@@princessirulancorrino4695 And then they casually have senators having a beer on a Sunday BBQ lol

@@andreblackaller3560 Some of them yes. Basically they look very well made as in there is no fraying, no bad colouring, the weave isn't too wide? Not sure how to describe that but if you look closely it doesn't look thin and there are no little holes between each thread, the thread isn't too thin and if it is there are no lose threads, and things don't look... Transparent. Like you shouldn't be able to see wear and tear on the clothes and undergarments that aren't meant to be seen can't be seen through the material. And you're right, a lot of them drape very nicely but i think that has more to do with good tailoring than the fabric itself.

@@andreblackaller3560 yes. It’s why I started paying for quality vs quantity. A little more money but fewer items over all. You take care of those pieces and they’ll last you ages. Even if it’s hard to afford you save and buy one or two pieces. A lot of it comes from thrift stores so it’s easier to afford. Just about finding a good balance between amazing quality for hand tailored and great quality at an affordable price. Don’t need to be wealthy to have nice items. Life is more than clothes and our houses. It’s about experiences and family.

yes!! So well put

I don't know. I think the whole "trophy wife" thing belongs to new money. Old money men usually marry old money women who are well-dressed, but not flashy.

@@lorrilewis2178I'm not sure there is just one sort of trophy wife. If the definition is that they help raise a man’s status, the trophy wife of a rockstar may have a clothing brand and modeling career While the one of a fifth generation senatorial family may have gone to Spence, got a degree in art history at Cambridge, etc.

YES! So while Vivian might still be feminine shes not a blonde or obsessed with pink. She wouldn't be caught dead saying or wearing the things Elle says or wears. And all of that is internalized elitism and misogyny. Even down to the shape of Vivian's tops, how often she wears pants, and the color palette relying heavily on blues and purples as accent colors which opposes Elle's with pinks and reds. It's exactly as you put it, "men dominated high class spaces"

@@archervine8064 The old money man doesn't consider his wife a "trophy" though. He just thinks he's marrying someone of the same class. Plus, he's so established via his family legacy, that he doesn't need to have his status raised in the first place. See the difference?

You would love the musical. Instead of Elle telling Warner to take a hike, she actually thanks him for setting this all into motion. It's one of my favorite parts and a shame the movie didn't find it important

@@DirtyPrancing I’ll try out the musical. Thank you!

She's definitely one of my favourite characters of all time ☺️

Right?! I loved all the things you mentioned but my favorite thing about Elle is her integrity and character. You can be any class of wealth and severely be lacking in integrity.

I love that she ends up with a guy who is level-headed and secure and views her as an equal, not arm candy. Warner very obviously never viewed Elle as more than an asset to his success, and he constantly acts as if he has something to prove. Emmett, on the other hand, constantly looks at her with a mix of awe and huge respect, never talks down to her, and engages in intelligent, reciprocal conversation. The two couldn't be more different!

I loved that because the juxtaposition of the two's ability to navigate the different cultural standards of new v. old money or west v. east coast really ties into why I like Elle so much. Even when Elle tones down her style and adopts the more layer heavy, grey toned outfits, she still maintains her sense of self through her style in a way that Warner never does. She might wear a grey toned outfit, but she'll wear a pink scarf to go with it, and that always made it feel like Elle was utterly authentic. Whereas with Warner this effect is used to show how performative and fake he is.

Warner was code switching. He is not so much a fake as he’s more a chameleon with no sense of self so he molds himself to his environment. This can be interpreted as phony but some may think of it as self preservation.

This is just blatantly wrong.

i actually forgot about that aspect of the musical! i haven't seen it since i was in middle school and they played it on MTV. might have to give it another look. i think in my mind, rich west coast people tend to be more new money and rich east coast more old money, but no idea if that's statistically accurate. i've never been out west but over here on the east coast it's crazy the lengths rich people will go to seem not just not-rich, but like, fully poor, like it's a fashion statement or something.

oh dope, i had no idea it was free on youtube! that's kinda crazy

I think you're right, epecially since west coast money is often new money by definition because it was settled by Europeans much later than the East Coast.

@@maxteeth Yeah someone posted that mtv recording and it hasn't been taken down! you should check it out

@@NiaJohnson101 It's not just a settlement thing. I think the West Coast is a hot bed for new money because of the entertainment & tech industries. The major pioneers of the Digital Age (which took off around the 1980's) are North of California. Celebrities (who often live in Southern California) are also new money and part of their job is to perform their wealth. I'm sure there more examples but I cant think of any right now.

oh i absolutely agree, a lot of those "earned it" stories just read as "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" bs. but i do think it's easier to make the audience relate to a character who starts off more like them

@@maxteeth tbh I was a little bit put off when you mentioned it in the video. Whether or not I root for the character has everything to do with their personal qualities and nothing with their financial circumstances.

@@maxteeth It’s funny because the phrase “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” was originally a sarcastic way to say it’s as impossible to advance your socioeconomic status as it is to pull yourself up by your bootstraps. Which makes sense! No one can lift themselves up off the ground by pulling on their bootstraps!

ooo that's so cool. I didn't know that at all because I haven't seen the musical yet. Thanks!

This is another way the costuming is so genius--even when she tones down her look she still has that very branded Elle-ness about her in all kinds of little details. It's not as obvious but it's always there and she never becomes this bland clone of who she thinks everyone else thinks she should be.

totally agree, there are so many aspects of movie production that go unnoticed--partly because if done right a lot of this stuff is subconscious. i have another costume design video coming real soon, hope you'll enjoy it too!

ditto. Movies are a bubble, and the savvy director/staff can do so much with that. Really great to see you unpack a pop movie with the nuance any well-thought-out movie deserves....not just the so-called arthouse or critic's picks. People don't realize that 'pop culture' is never just fluff. It's a great reinforcement of, and a mirror to, our culture's hierarchies, customs, etc. keep up the good work, please!

just saw you commented on a bunch of them, thank you so much! it really means a lot 💜

yes! and i think some of the Dolly Parton similarities may have been deliberate-Sophia De Rakoff (the costume designer) says in an interview that she and Reese bonded over a love of Dolly, so i think it's very possible that that leaked into the costume choices. in general i think the costumes in this movie say soo much, which is so appropriate for the subject matter!

honestly this makes alot more sense, because in all the movies and tv shows we have seen prior to legally blonde, i can easily say, if the character was blonde, rich and liked or wore pink, 90% of the time it is likely she was the villain. Of course there are different ways in which the upper class new or old money dress, however I do not think the explanation that she is insecure in wealth is why she dressed more boring. Pink is not considered a serious colour, even now, which is the main reason she slightly changed colours.

Also femininity is still looked down upon today, so when Warner asked Elle if she got into Harvard, it was more him implying her stupidity rather than her wealth. Also style trends, and true sense of style play a big part in this too, ngl i have personally have seen plenty of families that are old money dress similarly to Elle because they do not care and are more educated in the realms of fashion compared to families that are old money but do not have a keen eye for what meshes together well which explains an easy cop out for preppy outfits which are very easy to style and still look good on most. They get the old money vs New money thing correct but only to an extent. I think the general idea of this is normally seen from an outside perspective, obviously i'm not super educated on the upper class of the west coast and east coast old or new money vs old money, and how movies and tv shows portray this.

even in 2021 you get some guy on youtube telling people, if you have old money you dont dress flashy etc, but they wear clothing that would not even last a month because it is "inconspicuous" and screams extremely wealthy and people eat this up. Apologies for the 2000 replies. 😊

@@lucyn3771 The whole point of legally blonde was to take the stereotype of the rich white blonde pink loving woman and spin it to be the opposite of what people expected. 1)The people who blatantly tell her she does not belong here are people whos family have gone to the school for multiple generations IE did NOT learn their way in and people who paid their way in IE Warner who was waitlisted and whos daddy had to deal with it. 2)There is a huge difference in old money and new money as someone who grew up dealing with both i can promise you there's a huge difference. for example someone like Kim Kardashian vs Dakota Johnson. Kim is new to Hollywood but Dakota comes from generations of famous and wealthy people. -old money vs new money is usually not so EXTREME but for the purpose of a short film it makes sense to make it even more obnoxious. 3)Why is it that pink is seen as not a serious color but blue, purple and green are? This is where sexism and wealth come hand in hand. Anyone who comes from old money knows this while someone new would not. -And even when Elle tones down she still wears pink and red for her accent colors which opposes Vivian's blues and purples. 4) Warner is asking her because he thinks she's stupid AT FIRST but the continuous belittlement and questioning makes it apparent that he realizes that she's smart and is now just trying to whittle her down. He goes as far as blatantly saying she doesn't "fit in" rather than implying she's dumb. 5)The broadway show takes this a lot further with a lot of statements and interactions that make it even more apparent, where it takes the hour and a half film and expands it to 3 hours doubling it in length and background information. -This is where she says where she grew up and that she's not trailer trash and Warner laughs in her face.

@@sofiarodriguez6768 I'm speaking from a first hand experience too, this analysis of saying Elle is insecure because shes not old miney because of how she dresses makes no sense to me. I think we agree, however I've never heard of the Broadway show, also her saying shes not exactly trailer trash, does not mean shes new money. Old and new money dress different depending on where they grew, and somebody who studied fashion or is interested in fashion will have a different fashion sense to the general population. Also climate, rich or old money people from different climates are nor going to dress the same as others.

Sounds like your friend was upper middle class at best. Or possibly nouveau riche. The old money upper classes usually don't buy new furniture, they inherit it, and it rarely ever matches, that's considered a middle class thing, to want matching furniture. They don't spend a lot of money on redecorating.

@@valeriemacias6285 agreed - it seems like old money furnishings pieces have an accompanying story/legacy attached….

From my understanding the people she meets when she first gets to Harvard are shown to not be incredibly wealthy, but even they look down on her for failing to meet their standards of wealth

someone else had also mentioned that the musical is a bit more frank about wealth! i saw it on tv as a kid but didn’t remember it being so different. i’m not much of a musical person but you guys are definitely making me want to check it out!

she wouldnt fail if it werent for her extreme femininity and new wealth attitude though. thats why i think this is really well thought out. like all of her failures are because of exclusion and belittlement on her femininity and how she uses her wealth to show it. we all know how to fail but plenty of rich white women fail and its the butt of the joke. here her failures are rooted in sexism and elitism.

@@sofiarodriguez6768 ya I can see that. Thank you

I agree with you 100%. I love all the comments as to other ideals this movie portraits.

@@sofiarodriguez6768 lo

I love Elle but she wouldn’t be able to go to Harvard if not for her wealth. Wealth means tutors, not having to pay for tuition, a fancy admissions video, etc. A poor Elle would be a completely different character.

I agree completely. I also didn't read the movie as new vs old money. I read it as east vs west coast. I don't agree with her statements on the nail salon, Elle is consistently nice to everyone. I believe the nail salon was an oasis to her fashion esthetic.

oh absolutely, i think elle’s relationship with paulette is so central to her characterization because they respect each other naturally in a way elle really has to earn with her harvard classmates. i kind of hate how accurate that is to real life, like how people from lower class backgrounds often need to prove that they belong in certain spaces whereas upper class people feel like they intrinsically deserve to be there.

@@maxteeth Ever read "Forever Barbie" and "The Language of Clothes"? I feel their bits about East Coast vs West Coast and class issues in clothes fit in with the analysis of Legally Blonde (and What A Girl Wants to some extent)

@@jessicavictoriacarrillo7254 i haven’t but i’ll definitely be checking those out! thank you for the recs...will also definitely be giving what a girl wants another watch 👀

@@maxteeth Ooooh and I have thoughts on Bridget Jones's Diary (misogyny, bodyshaming, racism, privilege, Karen's, internalized misogyny i.e. girl on girl crime)

​@@jessicavictoriacarrillo7254 you had be at "girl on girl crime". i think there's so much to be said for this period of early 2000s rom coms that was sort of the last big hurrah of the genre and peddled a very specific conception of love and gender. i'd love to do some more videos about that--maybe you should too! i'd love to hear what you think

i think she meant class as in the way old money people define it. more related to formality and subtle display of wealth. obviously us common folks define being classy as being kind, respectful and humble.

Exactly right. True class is preserving the dignity of those around you regardless of their social status.

Right! She doesn't act superior just because her parents are wealthy unlike Warner, Vivian, etc.

I agree with you, except I wouldn't say that it felt like Elle knew what it was like to NOT be rich. To me what was so like-able about Elle was that she didn't know what it was like to not have money, but she didn't care in the way some rich people can. Vivian, Warner, and the other old money elites in the movie used wealth and class as social signifiers on whether or not someone was worthy of their respect. Elle respects everyone regardless of their wealth and social class, but instead choses to look at their actions.

i agree, i dont like how the creator provided no evidence as to how elle woods is new money. it is just a theory. it could very likely be she comes from a line of rich people. many celebrities are perceived to be new money, but they usually have connections from their family/parents. i think thats just a myth hollywood perpetuates to make lower class people feel that celebrities "work" for their positions, and we could too with enough talent/hard work, when thats not the case at all.

Someone finally said it.

wow, thank you for sharing this perspective! the US class system is so weird and complicated but having grown up in it, it really gets ingrained that it's "natural" somehow-even though obviously it isn't.

ooo this geographical fashion is another layer of analysis that could be a whole ass video

i think they totally missed this to push the narrative that Elle is insecure in her money. Especially since Elle likely has never lived in that area either, so her idea of what to wear would be slightly below average, since the whole going to havard was a spontaneous idea.

this is interesting! I will say though, as somebody who lives in England, for some reason we still tend to dress in pretty bright colours! At least, in the university setting, that is. But then again, we do have this psychological disdain for acknowledging the weather - we're determined to live our lives as if the rain didn't impact us.

Yes thank you. Also as someone who was born and raised in Boston, snobbery is not limited to those with money. There is also a brand of academic snobbery that's common in New England, which comes along with looking down on people (especially young women) who dress in a flashy way or put obvious effort into their looks because it's viewed as vapid and a waste of time that could be devoted to more important tasks (like studying).

yes! i think it was john steinbeck who said that originally, that americans view themselves as "temporarily embarrassed millionaires", and i think that self-image is exactly what enables us to relate to Elle Woods. thank you so much for watching!

the jackie vs marilyn example is an interesting one because it pretty well exemplifies the same old money/new money dichotomy that i talk about here: jackie was born into wealth and marilyn wasn’t. while it’s pretty indisputable that the main thematic focus of the movie is sexism, i think it zeroes in on bias against a specific type of type of femininity, because, whether intentional or not, most of the costumes in the film are heavily class-coded. i wouldn’t describe Vivian as less feminine than Elle-but becauses of her class, she is feminine in a way that is more traditional and conservative, and therefore less threatening to any existing hierarchy. it’s definitely an intersection and not purely a class issue though and i probably could have been a bit more explicit about that in the video. thank you for sharing your thoughts!

@@maxteeth I also think it has to do with the fact Jackie VS. Marilyn is a JFk reference he wanted to sleep around with blonde bombshells he needed a woman like Jackie Kennedy that would help raise his kids have him keep a solid image. Marilyn Monroe was seen as play girl and was used for powerful to sleep with. I like the video very interesting

@@moneymanagement24 for sure, the line is packed with historical context and really shows that Warner views women as tools to advance his career and goals rather than as real people. he is equally objectifying both jackie o and marilyn (just as he objectifies both vivian and elle), but the sexism is manifested in different ways

These takes aren't mutually exclusive. And the class analysis of this film was a new take that I had never thought about. Overall, I buy the thesis.

@@maxteeth It could also be interpreted as a critique against a variation of feminism that rejects traditional femininity and values masculine traits to be taken seriously in the world. I think the feminist in her class perfectly highlights this in her disdain of Elle, as she doesn't appear high class herself. New films are always being made with "badass" heroines who dress in black and don't need a man. The conclusion of the film fits better when you think of everyone's surprise when she wins the court case, not to mention she won thanks to her knowledge of hair care...a typically feminine market. Or their reaction to her carrying books and answering questions in class.

I felt like Elle's outfit on her first day represented her awkwardness in this area; of her denying her true self, trying to be "Harvard" without really knowing what it was all about. Reese Witherspoon looks great in everything but that outfit was a fashion disaster!