Fashion Analysis: Dionne from Clueless

Welcome back to another Fashion Analysis post! This week I’m analyzing Dionne from the movie Clueless, as a followup to last week’s analysis of Cher from the same movie. In this series I take a look at 5 outfits that a person or character has worn and explain how they do or don’t work for the wearer’s body type. Note: there will be some very minor spoilers for Clueless in this post.

Dionne’s Body Type

Dionne is played by Stacey Dash, a Soft Classic. At first I thought she may be a Flamboyant Gamine, but after some research and analyzing her photos, I find that she looks her best in Soft Classic lines, and she seems to have a very blended bone structure with softer flesh and facial features.

If you’re not familiar with the Kibbe body types system, I suggest taking the test and finding out your own body type, and then reading my basics of the body types post before returning to this post.

Outfit #1

The plaid look

This is the match to Cher’s yellow plaid outfit. In this outfit we see Dionne wearing:

• White, black, and red hat
• White crew neck shirt
• Red cardigan
• Black and white plaid blazer and skirt set

This is a very animated ensemble, but what makes it work without being overwhelming is that all of the colors match. In fact, it’s quite a limited color palette, consisting of only 3 colors (red, white, and black) so it isn’t visually overwhelming.

This plays a huge role in how this outfit works for Dionne’s body type. Plaids typically have multiple colors, so sticking with a plaid pattern that only has black and white (and a bit of grey from the overlapping colors) makes this outfit look a lot more minimal. The only bright color she’s wearing is red in both the cardigan and the flower on her hat, which also helps tone down the ensemble.

Overall, the silhouette of the ensemble is pretty flattering for her body type. I would only make a couple of small changes to her clothes, such as a rounded lapel for the blazer instead of a sharp one, and I would ditch the hat. Cher was right, the hat is just too much.

Outfit #2

The matchmaking look

In this outfit Dionne is wearing:

• Blue choker
• Blue t-shirt t-shirt
• Red vinyl skirt
• Red clutch

A counterpart for Cher’s matchmaking outfit, Dionne’s outfit is a bit more toned down in this scene, symbolizing how she wasn’t quite as invested in the matchmaking as Cher was. But just like Cher, her outfit does have some red in it! I wonder if the two girls conspired to wear the red, the color of love, while trying to play matchmaker for their teachers? After all, it wouldn’t be the first time they’ve matched outfits, since the plaid on their first day returning to school were definitely a coordinated effort.

You know what else is coordinated? The colors of this outfit! Yes, as someone who has spent ages color coordinating her own closet, I will not ignore color coordination in an outfit. Especially when it involves my favorite color, red. My favorite detail about this outfit is that Dionne has worn red lipstick to match the red in her skirt, which really ties her makeup into the outfit. She wouldn’t have looked as put-together if she hadn’t worn it.

The last thing I want to touch on is Dionne’s hair throughout the movie. She seems to keep her hair in small braids throughout the film, and I think it looks great on her! The braids create a smooth silhouette to her hair, which looks great on members of the Classic family.

Outfit #3

The black + neon look

We see Dionne wearing this on the day that Dionne and Cher meet Tai. While both girls are wearing gym clothes in the scene where they first meet Tai, later in the same day Dionne is wearing this look when she convinces Tai to let Cher give her a makeover. In this outfit Dionne is wearing:

• Black headband
• Black leather (?) jacket and skirt set
• Black, magenta, and yellow crop top
• Dainty gold jewelry

I have to admit, I’m not fond of this outfit. While the color coordination looks great and the jewelry is perfect, the silhouette and materials don’t work.

Immediately the first thing I think of that would improve this outfit is switching the leather (or vinyl? I’m honestly not sure what material the set is made out of) to a softer material, such as a knit set.

Something else that would improve this outfit is either changing the silhouette of the crop top for a shorter neckline, or going for a solid color instead of all the color blocks.

Overall, the outfit as it is would work better for a member of the Gamine family, but with just a couple of small changes it could work well on a Soft Classic.

Outfit #4

The preppy/academic look

The scene in which we see Dionne wearing this outfit is right after Tai’s makeover, when all the girls are back at school. All three of them are wearing preppy, sort of scholarly looks, and I think it was their way of establishing that Tai is part of their little friendship group now. In this outfit we see Dionne wearing:

• White headband
• Burgundy two piece set with a white collar and cuffs
• White over the knee socks

Here we can see how simplicity shines on a member of the Classic family. Less really is more in their case, and this outfit shows off that quality spectacularly. It also demonstrates how polished color coordination looks on members of the Classic family! The white headband, collars, cuffs, and socks tie everything together and elevates it from just an outfit to a full-on ensemble.

If I magically could, I would only make one very small change: A tiny bit more shaping to the waistline.

Outfit #5

The dressed-down look

This look is actually something that Dionne is wearing in a scene where she’s helping Cher prepare for a date with Christian. Since Cher is fairly dressed down in a denim look while preparing for the date (from setting up lighting to choosing a dress), we can assume that Dionne is also dressed down, choosing a comfy and simple look. In this outfit Dionne is wearing:

• Light blue headband
• Light blue polo t-shirt
• Blue and yellow plaid skirt

I know that everyone likes to cite Blair Waldorf from Gossip Girl as the queen of the preppy headband look, but let’s just take a moment to acknowledge that Dionne did it first.

This outfit is actually my favorite of hers in the movie! The color palette is super cute and it suits her really well, and the simplicity is just perfection. Again, less is more when it comes to Soft Classics, and this outfit makes for really good inspiration for Soft Classics who love the preppy look.

That’s all for this week! Next week I’ll be analyzing 5 outfits worn by Tai in Clueless, so if you enjoyed this post then stick around. Thanks for reading, and thanks to my friend Samia for helping me with line edits!