Jawbreaker is a satirical, revolutionary film of the tragic tales of high school. It uses raunchy-extreme plot points in tie with ’90s haute couture and casual wear to emphasize the psychological tribulations of social hierarchy in high school. Throughout the film, we see major plot points correlate to the fashion choices of the characters. Tragedy, celebration, novelty, backstabbing, and more can all be analyzed through textiles.
The Girls
The main characters of the film are Courtney, Marcy, Julie, and Violette (Fern).
Courtney is the leader of the group. She is domineering, manipulative, and sadistic. She sets herself apart from the other girls with her ghostly pale skin and dark hair. She is usually seen in the most put-together outfits, using monochrome, two-piece sets, and matching her makeup to the color of her clothes.
Marcy is Courtney’s second in command, only because she does everything she asks and can’t think for herself. So much so that her own father points it out to her. She is always well dressed but never dressed better than Courtney, she has a light spray tan and a blonde bob.
Julie is a semi-independent thinker. She realizes what Courtney is doing is wrong but she still wants to desperately be in the group. It took aiding and abetting in her friend’s murder to get her to exit the group. She has long blonde hair, a light spray tan and nice, casual outfits throughout the film.
Violette, A.K.A Fern is a loser nobody until she sees the girls trying to disguise Liz’s dead body. In an exchange to keep quiet, Courtney offers to completely redo her look, to make her one of them. Fern is seen in neutral-toned baggy pants, oversized sweaters, ill-fitting bangs and long, straight brown hair. However, Violette is Courtney’s creation, her monster. She is usually seen in pink, feminine clothing. She has short, bleach blonde hair, but is almost as pale as Courtney.
The Costume Design
The film begins with three popular girls playing a prank gone wrong on their other popular friend, Liz. They dress in ski masks and shove a jawbreaker into Liz’s mouth and duct tape it shut to keep her from screaming as they shove her into the trunk of their car. The extreme prank was to tie her up to a pole in her pajamas but when they reach the pole and open the trunk, they find Liz dead, having choked on the jawbreaker.
After finding Liz dead in the trunk, the three girls head to school as if nothing has happened. Courtney uses aggression and dominance to force the other girls to act as if nothing is wrong. When parading down the hallways, Courtney is wearing a monochromatic red outfit, what looks like a corset dress with a short-sleeved cardigan over it, red heels, and a red handbag. Marcy wears a green halter top with a plaid blue-green midi skirt, green heels, and a blue clutch bag. Julie wears a blue-green plaid tank top, a blue leather skirt, blue heels, and a green purse. Julie and Marcy both wear gold necklaces while Courtney wears no neck jewelry. Julie and Marcy wearing similar color schemes and Courtney wearing something completely different represent the dynamic of the trio. Julie and marcy even look alike with their spray tans and blonde hair but Courtney stands out completely with her bright red outfit, pale skin, and dark hair. It’s as if Courtney is the only thing giving them a real identity.
After making a trade-off with Violette, Courtney, Marcy, and Violette strut down the hallways together, Violette conditioned to take Julie’s spot. Courtney is wearing a monochromatic purple outfit, a cropped, long-sleeve cardigan and capri pants with purple heels, a purple ascot, and a purple clutch. Marcy wears a floral pink and orange dress with a yellow cardigan, pink heels, and a pink clutch bag. Violette wears a light pink floral dress, hot pink heels, and a yellow bag. Violette has also changed her hair to a bleach-blonde pixie cut. The semi-synchronization between Marcy and Violette’s outfits showcases that Violette has now replaced Julie in the trio, but has been conditioned to stay in her spot, to not overshadow Courtney. Later in the scene we see Julie, who’s wearing a blue jacket, a peach top, and dark blue jeans. Julie’s outfit is modest in comparison to what she normally wears, a sign that she no longer wants to be a part of the trio or that she’s paying respect to Liz in a way.
As Violette sits into her new identity, she grows more popular with the school crowd. Later in the film we see Violette lounging on the hood of her red convertible blasting music surrounded by people. She is wearing a monochromatic pink outfit, a crop top labeled “bitch” to match her vanity plate, disco pink pants with a matching pink jacket, pink sunglasses, but a blue necklace. This is the point where Courtney sees her as a threat, Courtney wears a blue mock-neck top with a bright red skirt and red tights. While Violette appears to have taken her spot, the blue necklace symbolizes that she will never be Courtney as it doesn’t match the outfit and Courtney doesn’t wear necklaces. Courtney then exacts revenge by outing Violette as the loser that was Fern to the entire school. Julie, taking pity on Violette and knowing she’s a kind person, teams up with her to take Courtney down at prom.
At prom, Courtney wears a monochromatic outfit, an ice blue dress with a matching shawl and headpiece. Marcy wears a pink dress with a purple fur piece. Julie wears a blue dress with blue flowers in her hair and Violette wears a pink dress. Courtney’s ice-blue look represents her faux-innocent portrayal. She doesn’t wear all white because she’s not innocent, none of them are. But in the right light her ice blue look passes as white, and her outfit lets her pass as innocent in her final moments before her inevitable defeat. We see her inevitable defeat seconds before it occurs when she’s crowned prom queen and the gold tiara sits atop her head, ruining her monochromatic look. It showcases that something doesn’t match, something isn’t adding up.
Throughout the film, we see many fashionable looks from all the girls. Courtney’s monochromatic fashion sets her apart as the leader, the one with all the power. Marcy’s consistency to match color with someone else exhibits how she can’t think for herself, that she’s a follower with no independence. Julie always wears blue of some sort, she has a mind of her own but can be mellow. Violette claimed pink since the day Fern ceased to exist, a bright color to battle Courtney.