“Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin” costume designer Megan Stark Evans is reimagining the fashion from the popular franchise for the reboot. To do so, she pulled together an extensive and well-researched wardrobe for main characters Imogen (Bailee Madison), Tabby (Chandler Kinney), Faran (Zaria), Mouse (Malia Pyles), Noa (Maia Reficco), and Karen and Kelly Beasley (Mallory Bechtel).
With over 400 costume changes in season one, there is plenty to unpack and connect back to the original series that debuted on Freeform in 2010. The setting has changed – Rosewood was brought to life from a stage in LA, while Millwood is imagined as a blue collar factory town filmed in Upstate New York – and so too has the wardrobe.
Evans, who previously worked on Oscar-winning “Sound of Metal” and FX’s “A Teacher,” noted the distinction to POPSUGAR via email. “Our ‘PLL’ is more grounded, a mix of gritty realism with fun, teen fashion,” she said. “The original ‘PLL’ used a lot of heels, short fancy dresses, and light jackets since they were often shooting indoors. We were shooting exteriors in 0-degree weather with snow on the ground. This makes style more natural by default.”
High heels are no longer a staple in their stylish repertoire. “Today, it’s all about cool chunky sneakers, block heeled Mary Janes, menswear-inspired footwear like loafers, tough flats, or platform combat boots. Our Liars are exploring mysteries and running from A in the gritty terrain of Millwood, and they can’t do that in spike heel platforms.”
However, Evans was still influenced by some of the early characters developed by I. Marlene King. While she didn’t speak to the original costume team, she was sure to draw subtle connections. “You could say that Tabby has shades of Spencer’s (Troian Bellisario) preppy style shown through her edgy menswear, Noa translates some of Emily’s (Shay Mitchell) sporty style, and Karen is inspired by Alison’s (Sasha Pieterse) consistent use of the colour pink and perfectly composed outfits,” she said. “Rosewood varsity jackets even show up in the carnival episode, and the group of Rosewood High girls shown at the carnival are directly inspired by the original PLLs.”
Evans confirmed that over half of each character’s costumes are vintage or thrifted, and she also tapped small designers for a unique, high-low look that emulates everyday street style.
Ahead, she shares her mood board for the entire cast, along with a few personal behind-the-scenes shots.
HBO Max / Karolina Wojtasik
Imogen Adams
“Imogen (Bailee Madison) is a strong girl, but going through a very fragile time in her life, and I wanted her costumes to reflect that,” Evans explained. “I imagine she harnesses the strength of her ancestors by wearing vintage items, like 1960s dresses and shoes from her grandmother’s attic, and soft sweaters from her mom’s closet. She shares some key necklaces with her mom, and these become a security blanket for her; they never leave her neck for the duration of the season.”
For Imogen Adams’ wardrobe, Evans drew inspiration from Mia Farrow in “Rosemary’s Baby,” searching for watercolor pastels and handmade details like embroidery and lace. Chunky cardigans layered over delicate dresses was a popular combination, with knee socks and Mary Janes completing the look.
For clothing brands, Evans shopped mostly at Dôen, The Great, Tach Clothing, Hatch Maternity, and Mango. For accessories, she turned to Sydney Evan for her jewellery, Collégien for knee socks and tights, and Carel and Drogheria Crivellini for shoes.
HBO Max / Karolina Wojtasik
“[The maternity industry] caters to women in their late 20s to 40s, so finding things that fit into my costume design for Imogen was tricky.”
As Imogen, Madison wore various stages of a faux pregnancy belly throughout the series, leading her to eventually begin feeling like she was actually pregnant, experiencing back aches and sore feet. Due to her discomfort, Evans and Madison made the joint decision to start transitioning her character from short vintage dresses to more knit leggings and overalls for function.
“The maternity industry is full of basics, and generally caters to women in their late 20s to 40s, so finding things that fit into my costume design for Imogen was tricky and required thinking outside the box,” Evans said. “We built things for her, heavily altered vintage pieces, or dyed and customised things to fit her style.”
HBO Max / Barbara Nitke
Tabby Hayworth
“Tabby (Chandler Kinney) is the strong female lead in her own movie, aka her life. She’s obsessed with film, constantly quoting her favorite movies, and is a tough girl who has already been through a lot. Her menswear-inspired style and heavy jewelry reflect the exterior toughness she wants to portray,” Evans said. She added that she was inspired by ’80s and early ’90s characters like Annie Hall, Angela Chase in “My So Called Life,” Sloan from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” and Ducky from “The Breakfast Club.”
When shopping for Tabby, Evans scanned the likes of Alex Mill, Rachel Comey, Gelgud for vintage film tees, and Re/Done for earth tones and embellished or printed separates.
Jewellery was largely sourced from Laura Lombardi, Twelve New York, Justin Clenquet, and Hannah Jewett, while Evans pulled boots from Viron and Dr. Martens.
HBO Max / Karolina Wojtasik
Faran Bryant
Faran Bryant embraces dance wear as her everyday aesthetic, a style choice Evans ties to her passion for the art form. “Faran (Zaria) is poised as a classic ballerina with a modern twist, and wears her identity as a dancer like armor,” she says, noting there will be a shift in Bryant’s style during the last three episodes of the series, tied to her character’s development.
Evans looked for soft knits that move with the body, along with velvet and sheer fabrics to add texture. Lace-up details and ties in unusual places added dimension to her clothing, sourced from Live the Process, Free People, RubiaWear, J.Kim, Aerie, Isalis, Find Me Now, and Aritzia’s Babaton.
Faran’s palette consisted of mostly ballet pink and lavender, with leg warmers, pearls, and delicate floating bead necklaces from Voons and Chan Luu jewellery as accessories.
Courtesy of Megan Stark Evans
Faran’s Black Swan costume was designed and constructed entirely by the wardrobe team. “I’ve never designed ballet, so it was a unique challenge,” Evans said. “The costume is creepy, yet beautiful, incorporating high-shine paillettes, hand-shredded fabrics in different tones and textures, and real feathers.”
HBO Max / Karolina Wojtasik
Mouse Honrada
Evans hopes viewers will be inspired to embrace whimsical style once they see Mouse’s (Malia Pyles) wardrobe. She wears ’90s windbreakers, granny square sweaters, hand-knit scarves, tech necklaces, and beaded jewellery with abandon. “Her moms are overprotective and want to keep her a little kid due to something tragic that happened to her as a child, so we leaned into that with her costumes,” Evans said.
Brands worn by Pyles in the show include Max Wowch, Lisa Says Gah, The Falls, Dauphinette, House of Sunny, Collina Strada, Urban Outfitters, and Farm Rio.
Pyles’ jewellery was pulled from Susan Alexandra and rings from Mon Cher Moi.
HBO Max / Karolina Wojtasik
Noa Olivar
“Noa (Maia Reficco) is a track star who has fallen on difficult times, so I mixed a lot of vintage jerseys with tennis and schoolgirl skirts to show off her great legs,” Evans said. “1970s denim with lots of holes and patchwork and super beat-up sneakers reflect her economic position as well as her feisty spirit.”
Standout elements of Noa’s closet include racing stripes, a distressed brown leather aviator jacket, tracksuits, striped tube socks, and her signature silver hoops. She embraces a color palette comprised of “jersey” colors such as red, yellow, green, and denim blue.
Evans shopped Adidas, Stoned Immaculate, Urban Outfitters, Ciao Lucia, Cloak & Dagger, Tory Sport, Out From Under, Nike, Bombas, and Staud x New Balance for Reficco’s wardrobe.
HBO Max / Barbara Nitke
Karen and Kelly Beasley
“As the viewer becomes more confused as to who is Karen and who is Kelly, their style meshes together.”
“Karen (Mallory Bechtel) is the classic, impeccably put-together high school mean girl who is always in short skirts, heels, and pink or yellow,” Evans explained. “Kelly [also played by Bechtel] is her twin, a less-cool version of Karen who doesn’t wear heels and is typically more plain Jane than Karen, wearing longer hemlines and slightly different shades such as light blue and cream.”
Even still, she sourced the same distinctive pieces for them both, looking for argyle, ruffles, chain belts, friendship necklaces, cropped twinsets, and cheerleader skirts. “As the viewer becomes more confused as to who is Karen and who is Kelly, their style meshes together to help push that storyline,” she said.
Evans based the Beasleys on the aesthetic we see in “Romy & Michelle’s High School Reunion,” “Clueless,” and “Mean Girls.” She shopped Maje, Alice & Olivia, Majorelle, Aqua, Brandy Melville, Sandro, and Jonathan Simkhai for Bechtel.
Shoes were sourced from Steve Madden and jewellery from nostalgic brands like Yam, Anita Berisha, and Marland Backus.
