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On Monday, the Costume Institute's unveiling of "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination" will explore the church's influence on fashion, with a dizzying, 150-plus-piece display, running the gamut from antique garb on loan from the Sistine Chapel to offerings from the recent Dolce & Gabbana's Alta Moda collection. But in the spirit of the Met Gala's unpacking the ecclesiastical, it's also worth examining the church's street-level impact, particularly as the catalyst behind the ever-polarizing Catholic school uniform, with its white button-down shirts, pleated mini-skirts, and obligatory Mary Janes. Often bemoaned by its wearers as a hindrance on self-expression, it has, in many cases, inspired those that were at its mercy to get creative. (Just ask these Vogue editors). In fact, for many, the mandate has served as an impetus to do all of the talking above-the-neck, a phenomenon that has been captured many times over on screen, with Hollywood's omnipresent rebellious Catholic school girl trope.
Take Cruel Intentions, for example. In the film, Annette Hargrove (Reese Witherspoon), may look innocent with her swoopy, shiny, shoulder-skimming hair. But give her a newfound appetite for vengeance, not to mention a 1956 Jaguar XK 140 Roadster, and suddenly she's a bona fide badass, her mane matted and mussed to liberated effect. A similar defiant attitude was brimming beneath a bright blonde veneer in The Virgin Suicides, with The Lisbon Sisters' polished, pin-straight lengths indicative of their free—yet ultimately tortured—spirits. And then there were those who took a more dramatic approach to going against the grain, like Nancy Downs (Fairuza Balk) in The Craft, embracing a decidedly gothic look with a pale complexion, kohl-rimmed eyes, and blood-red lipstick, or, Lady Bird's Christine McPherson (Saoirse Ronan) with her box-dyed, muted magenta hair. But then, above all else, some just wanted to get their kicks, like Girls Just Want to Have Fun's Janey Glenn (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Lynne Stone (Helen Hunt), who didn't let their Catholic high school's dress code rain on their more-is-more '80s hair parade.
Here, a look back at seven Catholic school girls who came of age on screen—and let their teenage angst manifest in their beauty while they were at it.
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