On the 5 August it will be 20 years since Noughties teen drama The OC first hit screens. The show, which followed the messy, glamorous lives of teenagers Marissa, Ryan, Seth and Summer, living in the affluent California surf town Newport Beach, was an immediate hit when it was released in 2003. The fashion was an integral aspect of why the show such a hit and was as important as the indie soundtrack in bringing this world to life.
The “Newpsies” wore Juicy Couture velour hoodies to travel from their McMansions to “yogalates”, Marissa Cooper was the teenager who wore Chanel to prom and Ryan Atwood and his white vest tops moved into the Cohen’s pool house. An honourable mention also goes to Seth Cohen for his band T-shirts and Chrismukkah jumper. From ruffled miniskirts to Uggs to super low-rise jeans; the programme was an originator and escalator of some of biggest trends of the mid-Noughties.
Costume designer Alexandra Welker is to thank for that. “When it came out, ‘casual California style’ was not a thing in culture,” says the stylist, who was inspired by ’70s and ’80s skate and surf culture. “But it very much became a thing.” In fact, while no designer would lend Welker clothes for a charity fashion show in the pilot – “we had to borrow things from Rent The Runway” – by the time season one got going? “Brands were throwing samples at us,” she laughs, explaining that they often turned them down. “There’s a Chanel dress that Marissa wears when she drunkenly crashes a car. I think we filmed her climbing out of a window in that.”
With The OC’s big anniversary imminent – and Y2K style very much back in the mainstream once again – Vogue caught up with Welker to get her tips for doing 2003-dressing the “casual California” way.
Know your Noughties California brands
“I got lots of pieces from sample sales and local designers. I would say two thirds of Seth Cohen’s T shirts came from Paul Frank, which was an up-and-coming brand at the time. We used Modern Amusement, American Apparel (such great basics), BCBG, Petro Zillia, Laundry and Corey Lynn Calter. Sue Wong and Tree did such great party dresses. I loved Serfontaine for low-rise jeans and super-soft stretch cords. Jessica McClintock is the brand all the debutantes wore to cotillion.”
When in doubt, get things cropped
“Something I did a lot with Marissa, and then with Anna, was get a blazer and crop it and shorten the sleeves to a bracelet length. That – with a short skirt or capris – became her uniform, especially for school.”
Tailoring is key
“There’s always a spillover period at the start of each decade where the styles of the previous are still going on. Guys were still wearing baggy or oversized clothing, which had been the big thing for quite some time. I really just wanted to make Ryan and Seth more interesting; slim things down, give them a little bit more of a late ’70s, early ’80s silhouette. I tailored everything: T-shirts, Ryan’s tanks… By the time we shot the 27th episode, things were starting to roll into the stores that fit better, that I didn’t need to cut down.”
Uggs, always
“I had adopted them as a comfort shoe for casts on productions, especially for things like The OC where the girls are also spending a lot of time standing around with high heels. We had a scene in the pilot with Mischa Barton (Marissa) and she was about to take off her Uggs to go on set. I just thought ‘I should put her on camera in them’. They were a surfer staple and, while her character wasn’t a surfer, she’s grown up in this beach culture, it felt normal. I think Pat Field put them in Sex and the City at the time too and suddenly they were on people’s radar.”
Clash your bag with your shoes
“At the time there was a rule of dressing that if you had leather shoes and a leather handbag they had to match. I started mixing and matching really bright shoes with a handbag of a different colour or metallics. That definitely permeated into culture. Asymmetric bags were a big thing. Claire Vivier was doing amazing handbags.”
Try DIY accessories
“Ryan’s choker was just a little piece of leather I’d had round my wrist. At the time I had a couple of boyfriends in a row who were musicians. One of the things that an old boyfriend of mine (and a couple of my other friends) would do is they would make impromptu jewellery for themselves with some guitar cord wrapped around their wrist, or a piece of leather wang. That inspired it. It was going to be around his wrist and then right at the last minute I put it around his neck on impulse.”
Get your high-low mix right
“The big thing we did on The OC, which 20 years ago was really novel, is what people now call “high-low shopping”, we’d mix a designer bag with flip flops from Target. That was both a way to make my television budget work and was how I was dressing at the time. I had a particular soft spot for Marc Jacobs and Chanel. We mixed that with a ton of vintage: pieces from mall stores like PacSun, Guess, and Bebe.”
Pointy flats over round toed
“I was using a lot of flats on Marissa because Mischa was pretty tall, and that was sometimes an issue with the camera. Because I’m a style child of the ’80s, we did a lot of pointy-toed flats. They’re a great shoe because they’re kind of dressy but you can do things in them. I feel like we kind of launched a bit of a trend there.”
Follow Summer’s lead…
“...with fitted dresses and lots of corset styling. I remember a tiny, pink, gingham strapless dress with a bow that she wore to Julie Cooper’s engagement party.”
Embellishment is essential
“It was a time of embellished and unusual T-shirts: bows, weird straps, buckles. I got one really good one from a sample sale that I just loved. It had interesting ruching, an asymmetrical hem, and raw edges, which were all big at the time but not always combined in such a good way. Perhaps it’s because it was a simple oyster colour? I styled it on Marissa with low slung cargos.”
And the one thing to avoid?
“Oh God, the skinny scarf, like the one Marissa wears with the CBGB T-shirt. Nobody needs a skinny scarf!”