20 Years Later, the TV Show Girlfriends still defines my dream wardrobe

I’m almost ashamed to admit that I watched Kenya Barris’ Blackish (2014-2022) before Mara Brock Akil’s Girlfriends (2000-2008) jumped onto my radar. As a Noughties teenager bouncing between boarding school and London, it just wasn’t an American sitcom that I or anyone around me watched in its heyday. I felt the dearth of well-dressed Black women on TV since The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’s Hilary Banks, Ashley Banks, and Lisa Wilkes acutely so, when Girlfriends finally hit Netflix following the 2020 Black Lives Matter resurgence, I gave the cult series a long overdue shot. The real revelation was that I was far more interested in what Joan Clayton, Toni Childs, Lynn Searcy, and Maya Wilkes wore and how I could recreate it than their memorable character arcs, which were sometimes too painfully relatable as a Black woman entering her 30s.

As pivotal as the ever stylish Tracee Ellis Ross was to both seminal shows, swapping one middle-class African-American identity reckoning as Joan (a romantic lawyer and Girlfriends den mother) for another as Rainbow Johnson (Blackish’s quirky anaesthesiologist matriarch), Hollywood costume designer Stacy Beverly is the visionary common denominator. The LA-based FIDM graduate extended and elevated Girlfriends’ entertaining storytelling by outfitting each woman through years of complex friendship dynamics and major life moments, dismantling decades of racist and tokenistic portrayals of Black women on screen. Joan’s style is “eclectic and classic fashion” and she wore “lots of pencil skirts [at work] because Tracee has a great body… We would find vintage pieces and mix and match with high-end pumps and really great blazers,” Beverly shared on the Girl With a Bamboo Earring podcast in 2018.

Ultimately Beverly’s Girlfriends style direction doesn’t feel like costume. It’s a relatable high-low mix, culturally accurate, and extremely authentic because she was a Black woman styling other Black women and she was aware of how unforgiving TV angles and lighting can be. Numerous Reddit threads, blog posts, articles, and dedicated Instagram accounts celebrating and dissecting Girlfriends looks to this day prove how hard Beverly’s influential looks still resonate. “I’m so impressed and happy that it did make an impact because we really did the work,” added the costume designer on the podcast. “We would catch apartment sales, flea markets, resale stores, different little boutiques and we would comb the ends of the earth because we didn’t get the budget to really make it happen.”

For me, Girlfriends demonstrates how to translate the same looks of that era, which I’d admired on Paris Hilton and Destiny’s Child or in Mean Girls, into real life with personality. Each episode was a Black Girl Magic masterclass in dressing for your mood, skin tone and body shape, while accentuating your best features, and I consider my own style a fusion of Joan, Lynn and Toni. If you’re ready to discover or rewatch Girlfriends for Noughties style inspiration, don’t let Google fool you. Sadly the show is no longer on Netflix or Amazon Prime in the UK but there is a dedicated Pluto channel. Here’s a breakdown of my all-time favourite Girlfriends looks to shop and get you started.

Joan Clayton, Jeans and a Nice Top | Season 1 Episode 15

Rather than going for lawyer-turned-restaurant-entrepreneur Joan’s excellent corporate tailoring accessorised with luxury handbags or a knockout party look, my favourite outfit of hers is more low-key but easily dressed up. As the four girlfriends chill and swap sex stories in her living room, and she debriefs them on her disappointing encounter with sex addict Sean, Joan is dressed in an ombre red round-neck popcorn top with elbow-length sleeves and indigo jeans. Also known as the universal ‘Jeans and a Nice Top’ style formula that was all the rage in the early 2000s and took over red carpets for better or worse.

Joan wore a khaki camouflage version of the same top two episodes earlier but, if you’ve watched the opening credits and all eight seasons, you’ll know that Joan turns heads most effortlessly in red. The staple Y2K texture makes this iteration all the more memorable. Hello Chet Lo. She’s sitting down and her dark jeans look high-waisted and cut pretty straight. With her natural curls swept back into a ponytail and her radiant skin bare, no other jewellery is needed besides a bracelet – Tracee Ellis Ross has said publicly that she loves a clean ear or a bare neck – and brown boots poke out of her jeans legs. According to various sources, many of the clothes Joan wore in the first season came from Ross’ own closet, due to Bevelry’s limited budget, so there’s a real chance that this winning look did too.

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Maya Wilkes, Going for gold | Season 2 Episode 4

We’ve all been Maya when she stumbles across a sale, falls in love with a dress she can’t afford, but still buys it, egged on by her girlfriends, because she works hard and deserves a treat. In this particular scene, the $300 midi dress that causes chaos for the married mother of one is shimmery gold, clingy with a cowl neckline, high front slit, ruffled hem, and open back with dangling strap scarves. There’s so much going on with this dress that it’s almost tacky but Maya looks so damn good in it, striding towards the mirror in ultra-high heels like a 90s supermodel, that even her fashionable frenemy Toni told her, “Maya, you just went from off the rack to off the hook.” Her initially disgruntled husband Darnell eventually forgives the purchase after seeing her in it.

When the shade, cut, and wearer’s body shape align, gold dresses scream special occasion and really pop off against melanated skin. From the bodycon baby blue halter dress in season 3 episode 6 to the plunging pink mini dress in season 8 episode 8, the assistant-turned-bestselling-author is queen of the sexy Noughties video vixen dress. It’s also evident here that actress Golden Brooks loved make-up, as Girlfriends make-up artist and Beautyblender founder Rea Ann Silva told Vogue, because the dress’ stunning effect is only heightened by Maya’s bombshell hair, statement eye shadow, and brown lipstick. Apparently Brooks’ velvet-like skin inspired Silva’s brand’s Bounce foundation and ‘velveteen matte’ descriptor.

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Toni Childs, Rich Stepmother Duties | Season 2 Episode 10

It’s so hard to pick just one look for the funny and materialistic Antoinette ‘Toni’ Childs, naturally the Carrie Bradshaw of the group fashion-wise if comparing Girlfriends to Sex and The City. Jill Marie Jones played a boujie baddie who put a colourful designer spin on timely trends as she ascended the real estate ladder to open her own brokerage and battled marital woes. Vintage Jean Paul Gaultier (season 2 episode 5), patchwork trousers (season 1 episode 17), and that white pinstripe skirt suit (season 3 episode 23) for starters. The look that stands out most brought chic fashion influencer Chrissy Rutherford’s monochromatic Portuguese wedding look from October 2024 to mind.

A brown scarf wrapped around her head (unexpected Cadbury chocolate colours) upped the glamour of a streamlining violet knee-length dress, along with dark oval sunglasses and a small leopard-print tote bag. Very modern-day Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly in Breakfast At Tiffany’s and also serves as a more demure option for a Selling Sunset agent. Toni is bonding with her date and single father Randall’s daughter Courtney and, giving off rich stepmother vibes, the drama queens swing by Joan’s in matching outfits after grabbing lattes. Face framed and finished with a strong lip, Toni’s sassy hair flick isn’t revealed until she takes off the scarf. But before we can get too excited by the prospect of more twinning looks, Randall breaks up with Toni later in that episode because he thinks she’s a bad influence on Courtney.

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Lynn Searcy, Sporty Spice | Season 5 Episode 4

To label Lynn’s style as purely sexy bohemian does her a disservice because the character’s outfits were as diverse as her various jobs and living situations. The free spirit with five post-graduate degrees feels ever so slightly Phoebe Buffay from Friends-coded too and dabbles in goth and biker aesthetics but she also had a sporty streak worth showcasing. As Juicy Couture peaked with now-iconic velour tracksuits in every colour during the Noughties, Lynn offered her own take on the off-duty look with a brown zipped-up track top with a yellow stripe on the sleeve and matching fitted bottoms, red Converse, gold sunglasses, and a messenger bag slung over her shoulder. Comfortable yet dressy tracksuits were so popular at the time and Wales Bonner’s own label and adidas styles create the same stylish effect today.

Now working as a robot street performer who paints herself silver, and a Spanish tour guide, Lynn drops off Joan’s car keys and her girlfriends are increasingly worried about her change of behaviour since meeting her birth father. Another memorable time Lynn wore a tracksuit was in season 2, episode 3 when she moved into a garage apartment wearing a more casual yellow cropped hoodie with red high-waisted bottoms. The fact that both Lynn and actress Persia White were vegan meant she didn’t wear any animal products on her face or body. Her hair was usually artfully tousled, as with this look, or had braids, locs, and colour pieces creatively incorporated.

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