“The beautiful cannot be responsible for the havoc our looks create.” Short, sassy and the it girl of “That ’70s Show,” Jackie Burkhart not only knows she’s the most beautiful, but also the best dressed. “That ’70s Show” was a sitcom centered around the lives of a group of teenagers in rural Wisconsin in the ’70s that’s filled with humor, drama and an amazing costuming department.
While Mila Kunis’ Jackie starts the show as Michael Kelso’s annoying, cheerleader girlfriend, she quickly forces her way into the group and audiences’ hearts with her harsh sarcasm and girly charm. Yet, throughout her high school experience, she never seems to have a day where she isn’t perfectly put together.
Early Daze
In the earlier seasons, Jackie’s looks are meant to reinforce her bubbly, younger nature through the use of bright colors, vibrant patterns and pigtails. Often, she is also sporting an ascot as the perfect accessory to portray her preppy side. Her early outfits are always carefully color coordinated — for example, matching a pink beret and pants with pink accents in a red sweater.
Jackie’s looks especially stand out in these earlier seasons, as she’s always overdressed in comparison to the rest of the group. While all of her coordinating accessories of the ’70s assemble adorable ensembles, they also serve to isolate her as a true member of the group. As Jackie grows up and into the friend group, we see a shift away from the elaborate hairstyles and more extravagant accessories like knee socks or ribbons in her hair.
Decade of Denim
Whether it’s overalls, dresses, skirts or the prolific ’70s flares, Jackie knows how to style all denim with ease. Vogue writes that during the ’70s “Denim was on everybody and every body,” but not just anyone could style it in ways that felt unique, quite like Jackie could. It’s easy nowadays to overlook jeans as just the basic choice, but in her stylings, jeans became a statement piece.
Her choices of denim throughout the series remain memorable and fashionable, with some of the best being her jean dresses. They look like something out of a dream thrifting experience from the real pockets to the overall fit and flare. Jackie also suffers no lack of cute tops to style underneath or alongside any of her denim apparel.
Skirts, Dresses and Gowns
It doesn’t take a formal event as an excuse for Jackie to get dressed up, just waking up is reason enough to look as cute as possible. While one of her most iconic looks of the series is her lilac purple prom dress and all of its sweet and girlish accessories, there are so many other styles of hers to be jealous of.
Her prairie dresses and hippie maxi skirts are very much pieces of the era with their floral patterns and lacy detailing adding more vintage charm. She has such a variety of clothing and aesthetics from the period represented in her looks, however, due to her wealthy status, she is on top of all the latest styles.
Donna & Jackie
Out of the group, Jackie is easily the most fashion forward amongst her more laidback friends. The only other girl in the friend group, Donna, still has a dream wardrobe, but often dresses more practical as she isn’t as concerned with appearances. It’s often a joke in the series to contrast the two styles and behaviors of the girls, but both provide cute and stylish examples of fashion at the time.
Donna’s more tomboyish attire gives the audience a look at an entirely different aesthetic. However, her outfits tend to be more of what one thinks about the average ’70s teenager dressing like, while Jackie’s looks are what we all wish we could afford to be wearing in any decade.
Which of Jackie Burkhart’s outfits would you be “borrowing” first? Let us know on X @VALLEYmag!
Related
http://www.valleymagazinepsu.com/its-giving-cher-70s-fall-fashion-inspo/
http://www.valleymagazinepsu.com/undefined-era/
http://www.valleymagazinepsu.com/where-to-look-for-the-70s-look/
