Welcome back to another Fashion Analysis post! In my Fashion Analysis posts I analyze five outfits and how they work (or don’t work) for the wearer’s body type. Today I’ll be analyzing some clothes that Lara Jean Covey wears in the movie To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. Beware spoilers for the movie!
Lara Jean’s Body Type
Lara Jean Covey is played by Lana Condor. I’ve seen some debate online about what body type Lana has, but I think she’s a Romantic. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Kibbe Body types, I recommend reading my Basics of the Body Types post and then taking the test to see which body type you have.
Outfit #1
Airport Look
In this outfit, which she wears when she sees her older sister off at the airport, Lara Jean is wearing:
- Cat eye sunglasses
- Striped turtleneck
- Light wash jean skirt
This outfit sets a pattern for many of Lara Jean’s looks in this movie, which is that she wears a lot of Soft Gamine lines rather than Romantic lines. I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand I think it’s done to give her a more youthful look for the movie, which I can appreciate since Lara Jean is 16 years old. But I also do love it when characters are dressed in their lines.
In this outfit the Soft Gamine lines look a slight bit awkward on Lara Jean. The first thing that jumps out at me is the fit of the jean skirt, which is rather straight, so it doesn’t fit her rounded lines. A skirt with a softer shape (for example a skater skirt) or a skirt that has the same silhouette but a softer fabric would’ve worked better.
The other thing that really jumps out at me is the stripes on the turtleneck. The outfit would’ve felt more cohesive with her body type if the top was just a solid color.
Outfit #2
First Day of School Ensemble
In this outfit, which Lara jean wears on her first day returning to school, she’s wearing:
- Dark flannel shirt
- Grey t-shirt
- Camel shorts
- Burgundy knee high socks
- Black combat boots
Again, this is another outfit that has more Gamine lines, but it would only take one change to instantly make it better. If I were magically able to style this outfit on Lara Jean, I would get rid of the flannel shirt and the grey undershirt and replace it with a burgundy top that has some softness to it, similar to the top below.
This top has some ruffling and a little bit of lace on the shoulders. In addition to the softness, it would keep the color palette more cohesive. It also doesn’t show a lot of skin around the chest and shoulders, which is a trend with Lara Jean’s tops.
Alternatively, to keep more of the vibe of the original outfit, Lara Jean could wear a black camisole and pair it with a burgundy cardigan that appears later in the movie.
Outfit #3
Contract Look
This look, which Lara Jean wears while negotiating her fake dating contract with Peter, is my favorite in the movie, because it works really well for her lines! This ensemble consists of:
- Pink varsity jacket
- Pink tropical print dress
Varsity jackets can usually be pretty tricky to style for most body types, but especially Romantics, however this one is perfect! The material is a lot thinner than varsity jackets are typically made of, which gives this more of a sweater look than a jacket one, and keeps it from looking stiff and awkward on Lara Jean. The collar and shoulders are also perfect! They both have very soft, curved shapes, which really complements Lara Jean’s Romantic lines.
The dress is great too! The silhouette is excellent, as it hugs the torso and then flares out into a soft and full skirt. I love the look of fuller skirts on the soft body types, I think it works wonderfully. While the print of the dress is not my favorite for a Romantic, the rest of the outfit works, so it doesn’t throw off the look too much.
Outfit #4
Party Look
In this outfit Lara Jean is wearing:
- Navy blue dress with a white collar
- Blue varsity jacket with flower embroidery
- Black platform shoes
This is another very Gamine-ish outfit, though I do love this style of varsity jacket for Lara Jean. The embroidery is a nice touch!
The dress is the thing that I dislike most. It’s got a very straight silhouette, so if I were to change one thing it would be to make more of a flared skirt silhouette for the dress, like in the previous outfit.
Outfit #5
Confrontation Outfit
This is the outfit that Lara Jean wears when she confronts Jenn in the bathroom at school (sans pea coat) about leaking the hot tub video. Here, Lara Jean is wearing:
- Burgundy cardigan
- White button up shirt
- Grey pullover
- Blue and yellow plaid skirt
- Yellow over-the-knee socks
- Black platform shoes
This outfit… I don’t hate it, but I don’t love it either. It definitely has some good pieces, but it feels like a bit of a melange of colors and lines, so it doesn’t work super well on Lara Jean.
Let’s start with what I do love: the bottom half of this outfit. The shoes are cute, a little chunky for a Romantic, but they have rounded shapes and they’re just shoes, so they aren’t super obtrusive.
The over the knee socks are great too because they’re a light color, so they don’t create a whole lot of contrast against her skin. I also like the skirt because it’s made of a soft material.
But then we get to the upper half of the outfit, and it just starts to look off. The sweater, though it does have a rounded neckline, obscures Lara Jean’s lines. Although it fits her well objectively, it doesn’t look like it does. It just looks wrong. There is also absolutely no waist emphasis because of the pullover. If the pullover was gone and there was waist emphasis (say from tucking the button down into the skirt) this outfit would look so much more harmonious with Lara Jean’s lines.
Most Soft Gamine outfits will still look okay on a Romantic, because they’re both pretty soft body types, so there is some overlap with their lines. However, there should ideally be waist emphasis in the outfits that a Romantic wears, and I think that’s where Lara Jean’s wardrobe falls short.
That’s all for this week! Next week I’ll be doing something a little bit different. Thanks again to my friend Samia for helping me out with line edits for this post!
Cozy Rebekah 
Loving this series so far!
One thing I might be interested in is going a little more into how these fashion choices relate to the stories or personalities of said characters. For example, when you said they dressed Lara Jean gamine to look young—maybe she’s uncomfortable with certain styles and tends to dress in more conservative, boxy clothing? Or the somewhat mismashed colors and patterns reflect her still developing a style as a teenager? I don’t know if literary analysis is really your thing, and it might be more spoiler-y, and but I think that extra layer could be cool.
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