It has been 30 years since the classic movie "Clueless" was released. The film is beloved for its characters and iconic costumes, which are the subject of a new book called "The Fashion of Clueless."

Mona May, the costume designer behind the 1995 film 'Clueless,' appeared on CBS Mornings to discuss the enduring influence of the movie's fashion, coinciding with the release of her new book, 'The Fashion of Clueless.' May shared how she aimed to create aspirational yet relatable and timeless looks, moving away from the grunge style prevalent at the time and introducing vibrant, tailored outfits for the film's characters.

May revealed behind-the-scenes details, such as the iconic yellow plaid suit almost being blue, and emphasized the importance of tailoring and vintage clothing for sustainability and individuality. She noted that the film's costumes have become cultural touchstones, inspiring generations and remaining popular for events like Halloween. The book offers further insights into her creative process and the legacy of 'Clueless' fashion.

'Clueless' costume designer Mona May talks about movie's fashion looks

I don't know why John's going out with a high school boy. They're like dogs. You have to clean them and feed them and they're just like these nervous creatures that jump and slobber all over you. Ew! Get off of me! Ugh! As if! As if. Now you know why Nate was saying, rolling with my homies. We welcome you back to CBS Mornings. It's 8.30. Time for Talk of the Table. Why? Because we have a table we'd be talking. Today we're talking about the classic movie Clueless. Can you believe that it's been 30 years since its release? I can't either. The film is about a high schooler. Her name is Cher Horowitz and her best friends and the beloved, she's beloved for its characters and its iconic costumes. Those outfits, by the way, are the subject of a new book. It's called The Fashion of Clueless. It takes us behind the scenes, look at the creative process. Who developed this individual style of each character? Who? Who did it have been? Who is it? What her name is? The costume designer is Mona May. She wrote the book. Congratulations, Ms. Mona, and joins us in the studio. Congrats. Amazing. We did the yellow wall all in your honor. Thank you so much. It's so beautiful. So let's go back 30 years. You get the script and you write in the book. Number one, the book is fantastic. I love you take us behind the scenes. You get the script and you instantly fall in love and you go, God, I want this job. Because what did you want to do with this character? I wanted to change the world. I mean, everybody was wearing grunge. It was just, you know, sea of just girls and boys looking the same and baggy clothes. And when Emmy wrote, Emmy Heckling wrote the script about Beverly Hills girls dressing to the nines. I mean, they were, they were wearing threads from runaway shows in high school. Nobody dressed like that. So it was the best job as a costume designer and fashion person who studied fashion. It was a dream come true. Yeah. Because you said you wanted it to be aspirational, but relatable and also timeless. Absolutely. Wow. It was amazing to create something to inspire young women to dress differently. I mean, when the movie came out, everybody started dressing feminine and pretty and colorful. So speaking of colorful, the yellow plaid, which surrounds us, which is iconic, it almost wasn't yellow. What happened? What color might it have been? Blue. Because blue looks so good on blondes. I mean, blue plaid. I thought that Alicia Silverstone looks so pretty. You didn't like yellow on blondes? No. I just didn't know. I mean, I like blue sometimes, but that color, I picked up that suit because it was so vibrant. It was so happy. Yes. And when we put the blue suit on Alicia, it just didn't do anything. And she had to be perfect. In the first day of school, she had to be the ray of sunshine. And when we put the yellow, it was it. It popped. And you said that this look, it kind of summed up her ambition, her character's ambition. How so? Well, you know, she was the queen bee. She was the number one in school. She sure was. And, you know, very preppy, very kind of put together. You know, the suit was also very tailored. So it showed kind of how, you know, she was a little bit uptight in some sense, you know. Everything had to be perfect. So tailoring was very important. And it was a little bit of an armor. But it's almost like the costumes in this movie became a character. Back then, the accolades for you just went on and on. They call this one of the most stylish teen movies, putting it in the same category as Breakfast at Tiffany's, Wizard of Oz. And you said, I know, don't you marvel at that, Mona? It's amazing. I mean, truly, you know, to have such an impact on generations, because the mothers who saw the movie, you know, in the 90s, now their daughters love the film. And all the fashionistas and, you know, people, film people, I go to school and talk to the students. They are so inspired. They sometimes tell me, I went into this field because of you, because you inspired me. Thirty years later, here you are sitting here on CBS Morning. Tell us about plaid. I love plaid. Oh, plaid is everything. And it now seems to be current again. Oh. Because didn't it fall out now? It seems to be back, plaid. It's so back. I mean, absolutely. For fall, we should all be wearing plaid. All different colors. And it's tartan. You know, it's so, in a way, classic forever. You know, you can do bikting with plaid, like me in a suit. But you can do a little Burberry. You know, you can do a little headband. I know what I'm wearing tomorrow. Guys, look at how she talks. She goes, you could do. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. I'm going to hear her voice as I get dressed tomorrow. But speaking of classic and forever, vintage, you're a big fan of. How can everyday folks out there incorporate vintage into their look? That's a good question. I think it's such an important thing right now for sustainability. And really, you know, being able to maybe experiment. Because you can go to a thrift store and buy things that are cheap. And you know, you don't have to spend a lot of money. And try new fun stuff. You know, try new colors. But I think the key to wearing vintage is to alter it. Because I think this is. To alter it? To alter it. To really go to a tailor and make it fit you. Because this is what I did in a film. I didn't have a lot of money. There was not a big budget movie. Nobody wanted to make a movie about girls at the time. I mean, you know, we got picked up by Paramount. But they were like, okay, here's a little money. Do a movie. We don't know what's going to happen. Right. Yeah. So all the clothes that I got that were from thrift stores were tailored. So they look couture. They do. You wouldn't even know. Yeah. In a film, they're wearing, you know, vintage clothes. Yes. And you take us behind the scenes of the looks and what you were thinking and how it all turned out. And not to mention, 30 years later, people still will be dressing up as Clueless characters for Halloween. Oh, yeah. That's right. Yes. Which really is the mark that your looks are timeless. That's right. And you know what? It's babies in yellow suits. No doubt. It's everyone. So it's fantastic. I tried to find one today. I could not. It's so nice to meet you. Yeah. Great to have you here. Thank you so much. So nice to meet you. Mona May, the name of the book, The Fashion of Clueless is on sale now wherever you like to buy your books. Clueless, as you just heard, was produced by Paramount Pictures, part of our parent company.

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