Vanderpump Rules
Vanderpump Rules
By Emma O’Keefe
Bravo’s hit Real Housewives of Beverly Hills spinoff Vanderpump Rules is being recast and rebooted after 11 seasons. The show began airing in 2013, starring Housewives star Lisa Vanderpump and the staff of her restaurant SUR in West Hollywood. SUR standing for “Sexy Unique Restaurant,” of course. The show followed an incestuous friend group of waitresses, bartenders, and busboys at SUR who lived with each other, slept with each other, and cheated on each other. As the cast received reality-TV fame and money, and cheated on each other too many times to all remain friends, they left the restaurant and drifted from each other. This led to the demise of the show, but nothing can take away from those glorious original seasons.
Cheating, fighting, and way too much drinking made reality-TV gold, all while the cast members wore tacky, trendy, and sometimes terrible outfits and hairstyles. In this article I’ll take you through some pivotal moments from the golden seasons (from season 1 in 2013 to season 7 in 2019) where cast members were wearing something they could only get away with in the year it aired.
Jax’s Chunk Sweater
Season 1: 2013
Season 1 revolved around Stassi and Jax’s breakup. When Jax crashed Stassi’s birthday trip in Vegas he arrived in a white chunky knit sweater which he would soon rip off to fight Stassi’s new boyfriend, Frank. The sweater may not have stayed on for long, but its legacy will last a lifetime. It launched Jax’s short lived sweater line collaboration with brand XCALIBUR, and the original is now framed at the Bravo clubhouse.
Ariana’s Braids
Season 2: 2014
Ariana Madix joined the cast in 2014. If you forgot that The Hunger Games were a thing at this time, any appearance Ariana made on the show this season would remind you. Katniss wore a fishtail braid into the arena, and Ariana wore her braid into the arena of SUR where Kristen Doute would accuse her of sleeping with her (then) boyfriend, Tom. Both prospects are equally terrifying.
Scheana’s Crop-Top Wedding Dress
Season 3: 2015
“Sometimes life gives you a really good gift, like knowing that Scheana is wearing a crop-top to her wedding.” Scheana’s crop-top wedding dress. Iconic. Her hair was ombre and her heart was pure. Stassi called this outfit “the ugliest effing wedding dress I’ve ever seen in my entire life,” among other terrible things
Brittney’s Romper
Season 4: 2016
In 2016, rompers had taken over. If you couldn’t decide whether to go formal or casual, a romper was the perfect inbetween. Brittany Cartwright arrived in West Hollywood with nothing but a romper and a cheating boyfriend by her side. She applied for a job at SUR, but Lisa Vanderpump was not happy Brittany had brought a romper rather than a resume.
Tom’s Hideous Everything
Season 5: 2017
This season Ariana is making a cocktail book! Naturally, her boyfriend Tom Sandoval (you may know him from #Scandoval when he cheated on Ariana with Raquel in season 10) had to get involved. As Ariana films content to promote her book, Tom corrects her bartending skills and shouts out name ideas for the cocktails, all while wearing baggy capris, a chevron shirt, with his “skunk” hairstyle. Eventually, Ariana concedes and the book becomes Ariana and Tom’s joint venture: Fancy AF Cocktails: Drink Recipes from a Couple of Professional Drinkers.
LalA’s Lala Shirt
Season 6: 2017-2018
A graphic T-shirt and a choker. The essentials in 2017. A graphic T-shirt covered in faces that look like you (also wearing chokers) only takes this look to the next level. In this scene Lala Kent reveals that castmate Katie Maloney’s husband cheated on her. If you need to drop a bombshell on your friends and ask them that age-old question, “Are you trying to get popped?” this outfit is perfect for the occasion.
Rachel’s Statement Dress
Season 7: 2018-2019
Rachel had been in the background of seasons 5 and 6, but made waves this season as she defended her controversial boyfriend, DJ James Kennedy, to the rest of the group. This earned her a spot at the reunion where she wore a lace dress topped with big mesh ruffles on the sleeves, and referred to herself as a beauty queen. Way to make an entrance!
You couldn’t get away with wearing this dress without getting some sneers today and sadly, Rachel didn’t get away with it at the time either. As she entered the room the faces of the cast turned into smirks and eye rolls. Ruffles may have been in style in the 80’s but they really weren’t a thing in 2018. Neither were tie-like long hanging belts. Really none of this was in style, but Rachel wore it with pride anyway.
These outfits may seem ridiculous now (and some of them always were) but they fit what was trending at the time. Most cast members wouldn’t wear these looks today and probably wouldn’t be so nasty to each other either. Scripted shows can work as time capsules of fashion but those characters have stylists and are usually wearing an elevated or exaggerated version of what was worn at the time. If you need a history lesson on what people were really wearing, Reality-TV is the way to go. These were real people's very sincere attempts at looking fashionable. They may not have always looked super stylish but we’ll probably look back at what we’re wearing today and feel the same way.
If you want to know what was trending in fashion in the 2010’s, I’d recommend watching Vanderpump Rules. If you are simply looking for great Reality TV drama I’d also recommend watching Vanderpump Rules.