Twenty-five years ago, in November 2000, millions of people around the world sank into their cinema seats, watching Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu, and Drew Barrymore in tight black leather vault fences to the sound of The Prodigy’s Smack My Bitch Up. The film “Charlie’s Angels” hit the big screen.

Critics called the spy action movie (and the feature debut of music video director McG) either “a film about pop rock and Coca-Cola” or “the most spectacular commercial for whitening toothpaste and shampoo.” But for The Blueprint’s fashion department, it’s above all a style bible of the late nineties and early 2000s. Let us pray!

A Two-Hour Music Video

In a nutshell, Charlie’s Angels can be summarized as: three super-agents working for the mysterious boss Charlie investigate the kidnapping of a tech genius and at the same time save the world from his own invention. Or put it this way: three conventionally beautiful women, cool clothes and cars, parties in trendy spots, and a playlist soaking up all the pop culture of that era-from Blur and The Prodigy to Fatboy Slim and Destiny’s Child. The second version wins, especially since it reflects the director’s own background-before the film, McG was solely a star of the MTV era; for example, the cult music video The Offspring – Pretty Fly (for a White Guy) is his work. The 24-year-old Drew Barrymore, a lifelong fan of MTV and the original 1970s Charlie’s Angels TV series (starring Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson, and Jaclyn Smith), persuaded McG to take the director’s chair for Angels. She also acted as a producer on the remake.

Not surprisingly, the spy action movie has little to do with the original but, as critics like to note, feels like a cool 98-minute music video. The director filled it not only with endless slow-motion hair flips (shot by none other than Titanic cinematographer Russell Carpenter) but also with visual references to great cinema classics-from A Clockwork Orange and The Shining to Godzilla and Star Wars. McG explained these references like this: “That bird on the race track, in the Cameron Diaz scene, is my tribute to director John Woo. The bird takes off and means something”.

Leather, Shorts, Two Guns

Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu, and Drew Barrymore trained in wushu, kung fu, and acrobatics under Cheung-Yan Yuen, the Matrix fight coordinator, to look badass in the action scenes. For killer looks in every frame, they relied on costume designer Joseph Aulisi, whose credits include The Pink Panther and Duplex. Surprisingly, the man who crafted 3,000 outfits in three weeks called it a “dream project.”​​

Aulisi designed 50 looks per Angel, embracing wildly eclectic styles-from stretchy action gear made of “dance” fabrics, to haute couture gowns, to playful theatrics like belly dancer harem pants, Thai masseuse robes, and Bavarian corsets with leather shorts for yodeling chorines that the spies donned. Variety once summed them up: “They can do anything. Except find men anywhere near their level.”​

By plot, Diaz, Liu, and Barrymore’s characters differ in personality but all embody early-2000s ideals: XS (or S at largest) and unapologetically sexy, like Diaz’s wet, unzipped-to-the-navel neoprene jumpsuit. Unlike the 1970s Angels, who inspired beauty salon visits over diets thanks to Farrah Fawcett’s feathered haircut (Barrymore nods to it in a few scenes), these empower through owned sexuality rather than embarrassment-perfect counter to male gaze debates. Men in theaters loved it too; the film became one of the top female-led hits among guys.

Power of Three

For naive ringleader Natalie, played by Diaz, Joseph Aulisi put together a wardrobe that’s a mix between the “main blonde” look and girl next door. So, on one hand, we see her at a disco scene in flared pants and a bright red one-shoulder top. On the other hand, she’s bouncing at home in front of the mirror wearing a cropped T-shirt and Spider-Man briefs. The costume designer himself praised Diaz’s long legs and toned arms, explaining why she loves wearing shorts and halter tops on screen.

The intellectual with a strong personality, Alex-played by Lucy Liu-is the queen of leather and tight, body-hugging clothes. This is clear from the first shots, when her character pulls blueberry muffins out of the oven wearing a black leather bustier-a great choice for an evening in the kitchen. Aulisi justified it because Liu has a gorgeous waist, which he highlighted at every opportunity, best seen in a slim leather jacket when Alex storms a villain’s office tapping a pointer on the desk.

The former rebel and redhead Dylan, played by Drew Barrymore, is often wrapped in a sheet after a night of love. Still, the costume designer said Dylan’s wardrobe was largely inspired by Barrymore herself, including items with a hippie vibe (like a floral wrap blouse with fringe) and grunge T-shirts with faded prints. The iconic outfit for Dylan-and the film overall-is the race jumpsuit unzipped to the waist paired with gradient-tinted sunglasses, a perfect early 2000s look and timeless outfit for escaping bad guys.

The power of three worked flawlessly: right after the premiere, the Los Angeles Times surveyed top stylists who noted things like Jennifer Palchinsky from MTV’s makeover show dressing clients in “jeans like Diaz’s” and even buying a pair herself. Hollywood stylist Philip Bloch, who dressed Halle Berry and Lauren Holly at the time, called the film a literal distillation of fashion then. Not surprisingly, 25 years later, it still holds true.