The Story Behind Elle Woods's Most Iconic Looks in Legally Blonde's Prequel, Elle
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Elle Costume Designer on Storytelling Through Shades of Pink and the Legacy of Elle Woods's Style - YouTube
If you grew up obsessed with Legally Blonde and have spent the last two decades wondering exactly how Elle Woods became Elle Woods, this episode is for you. Sara Byblow is the costume designer behind Elle, the new Legally Blonde prequel series that takes us back to 1995, when a 16-year-old Elle is trading Bel-Air for Seattle and figuring out who she is—in pink, plaid, and everything in between. For the latest episode of The Who What Wear Podcast, Byblow shares how she sourced upward of 70 looks for young Elle, how she used different shades of pink to track Elle's emotional arc throughout the season, and how she found enough plaid to dress an entire cast of Seattle high schoolers—plus those iconic pink heart shoes.
To read excerpts from the full conversation, scroll below.
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When did you realize you wanted to work in fashion and costume design specifically?
I've always kind of been in clothing. When I was really young, like 13, I was as tall as I am now, which isn't very tall—I'm only about 5' 3 1/2". I was scouted to model, so I did that for a very short time, and then they realized I wasn't going to grow at all. But I loved being on set and everything to do with that, so I went to school for fashion. After that, I started working in retail at a clothing store for a while, and I had my own clothing line on the side.
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It was actually while I was working one day that a friend of mine, who worked on the production side of things, came in and started buying multiples of everything—like three of the same shirt. I asked her what she was doing, and she said a designer friend of hers needed help, and she didn't know what she was doing. I told her to give the designer my number—I was always down to help. I got a call about a week later to come work on a show, and it just kind of snowballed from there.
Can you share how you landed on that pink dress for Elle's entrance at her sweet 16 party?
