The Clothes That Make '10 Things I Hate About You'

In cinema, there are several different ways to connect the audience to the message. Specifically, costumes can be used to display a character’s personality or characterization of themselves by others without ever using a single line of dialogue. 

In “10 Things I Hate About You”, the clothes are tailored to each character and their own desires throughout the film. Directed by Gil Junger, this Shakespearean adaptation revolves around two sisters in high school who both navigate new relationships while they struggle with old wounds. 

Throughout the movie, the two sisters that the film revolves around represent two opposite ends of the same spectrum. On one end is Bianca, the younger of the two, who represents naivety and innocence, coupled with curiosity and intrigue at the unknown. 

Because of this, Bianca is often seen wearing dainty, floral patterns and lighter colors. It is a recurring theme in the film that Bianca does not want to be treated like a child, but part of her character is playing up to her dad’s inability to see her as anything but that. 

Kat, however, slowly begins to wear fewer cardigans and is shown wearing clothes that aren’t necessarily more revealing but definitely show more skin.

With Bianca’s outfits throughout the movie, she mixes feminine, girly pieces with clothes that were still considered chic or trendy in the ’90s for a teenager. However, there are brief moments during the exposition that the audience sees Bianca’s attempt to dress in a way that will make others take her seriously. 

More specifically, at the party that both she and her sister, Kat, attend; Bianca shows up in a short, deep red dress. This is a great example of Bianca’s character being shown through her clothing as curious but too naive to grasp or recognize the gravity of her desires (that is, being pursued by Joey Donner). 

By the end of the film, Bianca seemingly embraces both her newfound teenagerdom and her limitations to her freedom. We see this in the climax of the film, prom, where she wears a hot pink top with a matching pink tulle skirt. She is still enjoying her childhood, represented through the femininity of the pink, but also learning to incorporate her own style as she grows, represented through the two-piece prom dress. 

In contrast to Bianca, her sister Kat often favors camouflage-patterned clothing and cargo pants. Whereas Bianca relishes in how she looks, Kat tends to dress in more modest clothing without sacrificing her own style. 

In terms of color, Kat usually shies away from pastels or bright colors. This is another testament to both sisters as characters because it reemphasizes that Bianca’s world is full of color or hope, and Kat’s is pessimistic and jaded. 

As the audience, we later find out that Kat consciously goes out of her way to dress like the opposite of a picturesque normal, teenage girl that Bianca seems to strive for. This is also an example of both of their characters and their vulnerability throughout the film. 

Whereas Bianca is often shown in more revealing clothing, Kat wears cardigans and baggy pants or long skirts. By showing the difference in these characters and how they dress and act, one can argue that as the film goes on, Bianca gets more comfortable with who she is as a person and begins to wear more cardigans and jackets over her clothes. 

Kat, however, slowly begins to wear fewer cardigans and is shown wearing clothes that aren’t necessarily more revealing but definitely show more skin. This is a testament to both of their journeys throughout the movie, as Kat begins to show more vulnerability both mentally and physically as the plot develops. 

At the prom that Kat was originally boycotting, she shows up in a blue slip dress. This is the ultimate moment of vulnerability for her, as she puts her own desires aside in order to try and make amends with Patrick Verona, her love interest throughout the film. 

In one of the final scenes, Kat is shown reading a poem that she wrote to her class. What is significant here, is that for the first time she is seen in white. As the character struggles to get through her heartfelt poem, the audience is seeing Kat as Kat feels: Naive. 

This movie receives high praises when discussed, and for good reason. The characters are endearingly flawed, and the setting encapsulates the feeling that spring brings which is a hopeful, fresh start to be something more than what you were.

While the clothes aren’t a huge focus in the film, realizing that even their outfits deepen the characters as more dimensional than they were is just another reason to (re)watch this film and look for something else that others may have missed.