Friends Fashion
“I'll be there for you, cause you are there for me too.”
Most people throughout the world might instantly recognize this popular lyric from the Hit 90’s show Friends.
Whether people are fans of the show or not, many know that the television show Friends has become quite a sensation and a key figure inlaid-back our modern pop culture. While the first episode aired more than 20 years ago, its relevance is still very impactful for our entertainment world and remains one of the most-watched and re-watched shows in television history.
From an amazing central cast and guest stars, hilarious and emotional moments, as well as iconic scenes and phrases, Friends has everything we may want from a show to help us entertain ourselves and even to help us through a rough time.
While Friends is very influential in shows and other forms of entertainment, its cast and iconic garments have impacted the world of fashion greatly.
In honor of the recently released Friends Reunion, which is now streaming on HBO MAX, let's reminisce the most iconic looks and fashion news that Friends has given us through the last 20+ years since its release.
The “Rachel” Haircut
via NBCUniversal/Getty Images
While Jennifer Aniston herself was not a huge fan of her popular hairstyle used through the first and second season, many fans believe this haircut to be one of the most iconic impacts that her character of Rachel Green has had in the fashion world. As the show was aired, many fans and even celebrities tried to recreate and imitate the popular haircut, though Aniston herself admitted for the haircut to be very difficult to maintain. Even so, fans still even to this day believe this haircut to be quite unique for its time and beautifully styled and presented on the gorgeous actress.
Rachel’s Iconic Outfits
While The character of Rachel Green is known for her kind-hearted, strong and prevailing nature, her love and passion for fashion is another attribute that is crucial to her character. As Rachel develops, her love for fashion remains the same while she uses this passion of hers to push her forward in her career in fashion which has served as an inspiration for many of us in the fashion industry and for many adults starting their lives on their own. Throughout the show, she has given us many iconic and incredibly beautiful outfits that have constantly remained in style, so much so that fans from all over the world have begun to recreate the most iconic pieces seen worn by Rachel Green in the show.
Monica’s Iconic Outfits
While every Friends fan knows that Monica Geller’s passion involves cooking and not fashion, her character has provided very iconic and fashionable styles which many fans love to recreate and analyze today. Whether it is the laid-back style involving trendy 80s and 90s peaks of fashion, or just recreating a certain outfit makes fans feel more connected to the characters in a personal manner, in this case being Monica Geller.
Fans from all over the world feel that the show would not have been the same if it weren't for the iconic outfits used. Paloma, a writer for College Fashion, dressed up like Monica Geller for an entire week and recorded her experience to be very pleasant and comfortable. She said that “The outfit answered whatever the day demanded and this was a big help to me, to be honest.”
While Monica Geller’s character is very perfectionist and organized, she is known to be ready and make the best of whatever the day has in store for her, and for Paloma, she felt as though the outfits were just like this which was very interesting to read.
Phoebe’s Iconic Outfits
via NBC/Getty Images
Carefree and fun-spirited, Phoebe Boufette’s iconic outfits embody her true and wonderful personality. Phoebe is known to be witty and a very peculiar but incredibly sweet and brave character of the group. While most people will tend to view Rachel or even Monica as the fashion icons, Phoebe makes a fashion that is exclusive to her, at least back then, but as time passes, we see people in our current times embracing the simple freestyle that Phoebe wears throughout the show. Free People, a retail fashion brand, is the company that I believe replicates Phoebe’s fashion style the most. As a fashion studies student, I have learned that staying “fashionable” can mean staying “trendy”, but at the same time, I believe that it is important to dress according to our personality because like Phoebe, we can make our sense of fashion unique and more personal, even if other people don't quite grasp it. I believe Phoebe’s fashion style was ahead of its time, which is why nowadays more people are considering Phoebe’s outfits as more iconic and relatable.
Boy “Friends”
Ever dreamed of being one of the boys? Lydia Rose, a known inspo influencer made many fan’s dreams come true by replicating some of the best outfits that Chandler, Joey and Ross wore throughout the series. Each boy certainly dresses according to their personality throughout the series and makes their style very fashionable even if it was not intended. During our current time, many fans have even opted to dress more inspired by the outfits worn by the boys throughout the series than even the outfits that the girls wore, which I found to be wonderfully designed.
Iconic outfits and fan’s recreation of the outfits were not the only important fashion impacts that friends had.
via Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren also released a collection of garments inspired by the television series in honor of the 25 years since Friends was first released. The garments were quite popular and sold rather quickly as, each garment was inspired by the character’s styles which satisfied a lot of fashion and Friends enthusiasts alike.
There is no denying that the impact of Friends on our modern pop culture is very great and relevant, even despite being quite an older show. Friends has been loved worldwide since its release and the many years after and while the main cast and all the other important guests remain television’s and pop culture’s favorite group of FRIENDS.
