13 Fashion Lessons Every Woman Can Learn From Legally Blonde's Elle Woods

Updated on 7/13/2016 at 2:15 PM

If you watched Legally Blonde as an impressionable youngster, there's a possibility you tried the bend-and-snap IRL or felt inspired to attend law school. But more importantly, the film offers a handful of fashion lessons that can still be applied today, like businesswear doesn't always equal stuffy suits, and orange can never truly replace pink.

So when Reese Witherspoon paid tribute to the film's 15-year anniversary with a sweet quote, we were inspired to look back at the movie that taught us so much. Read on for the tips and tricks we carried with us into adulthood, then check out how Reese nails street style on a regular basis.

Being Well Versed in Current Trends and Fabrics Makes You a Smarter Shopper

It helps Elle from being tricked by a sneaky saleswoman at the beginning of the movie.

"It's impossible to use a half-loop stitching on low-viscosity rayon. It would snag the fabric. And you didn't just get it in — I saw it in the June Vogue a year ago. So if you're trying to sell it to me for full price, you've picked the wrong girl."

BOOM — owned.

Friends Who Let You Borrow Clothes Are the Best Kind of Friends

For example: Margot offers Elle her lucky scrunchy to pass the LSATs. Like, how nice is that?!

The World Is Made Up of Jackies and Marilyns, but One Isn't Better Than the Other

To each their own, y'know? Classic or statement making — it just depends on your style! These two opposites end up as BFFs.

No Fight Is Worth Ruining Your Shoes Over

Even post-breakup, Elle would rather ride back with Warner than ruin her cute pumps while walking. Good call, girl — can you imagine the blisters?!

"Whoever Said Orange Was the New Pink Was Seriously Disturbed"

Solange Knowles may have shown us this color is completely wearable, but pink truly is a classic.

Businesswear Doesn't Have to Be Boring

Elle may be after a superserious job, but that doesn't stop her from going all out when it comes to her outfits. Instead, she finds the happy medium between fashionable and work-appropriate, adding ties to her menswear-inspired looks and rocking classic wrapdresses in bright pink.

If You Stand Out in the Crowd, Own It

Wearing a bunny costume to a noncostume party could potentially be extremely embarrassing, but Elle continues to show confidence — and then goes laptop shopping in it! Her pink outfits and floral-embellished accessories refuse to blend in with the crowd, and that turns out to be a very good thing!

Shopping Is a Great Way to Celebrate Anything

Think he's going to propose? Go shopping. Just got accepted to assist your professor on a major trial? "Excuse me, I have some shopping to do."

Find Your Signature Color and Own It

Elle's is pink. Kate Middleton's is blue. This is a style choice many power women have mastered.

Sometimes the Accessories Make All the Difference

If there's one trick Elle uses to spice up all her outfits, it's accessories. A cute hat, a necklace, and, in some cases, a tie can really take a look from meh to magical.

Furry Coats and Bikini Tops Are Perfectly Acceptable Sports Game Attire

And while we don't condone this, it may even catch your ex's attention while you watch on the field.

Sometimes, Fashion Knowledge Can Help Save the Day

Elle does make a stereotypical assumption that "gay men know designers, straight men don't" when Enrique points out her "last-season Prada shoes," but it turns out she's right — he isn't Brooke's lover. That's when the case begins falling apart.

Dogs Look Cute in Coats, Too

Bruiser's outfits are ones we'd totally wear ourselves.