It’s the show on everyone’s lips. Serving Netflix-watchers around the world with heart-warmingly raw relationships, humorous attempts to navigate adolescence and some undeniably retro fashion inspiration.
Sex Education is doing everything right. A witty and bold British coming-of-age comedy about student struggles, school secrets and of course, sex. It achieves a light-hearted and sensitive portrayal of many relevant topics surrounding sex without being superfluous. All of this whilst providing an explosion of vibrant throwback styles.
It’s rare to find a show set in current times that doesn’t revolve around iPhones, pop-music and current fashion trends yet Sex Education’s 80’s vibe – whilst being relevant to many teenagers and adults today – allows the audience to escape from the mainstream and focus solely on the diverse and layered characters within the show.
Whether it’s her distressed fringed jacket, jet-black fish nets or chunky biker boots Maeve stands out within the dynamic and energetic style of her peers.
Maeve Wiley, Mooredale’s fiercely autonomous, mysteriously complex ‘punk’ never fails to provide us with edgy outfit choices. Whether it’s her distressed fringed jacket, jet-black fish nets or chunky biker boots Maeve stands out within the dynamic and energetic style of her peers. She manages to look expertly coordinated by focusing on texture to create variety within her monochrome outfits.
Leather and denim are staples for Maeve and complete her youthful and angsty vibe. Even when attending Mooredale’s annual ball Maeve sticks to her grungy roots by wearing a jet-black mini dress with a sweetheart neckline to soften the look for the occasion. Despite its simplicity, this is stand out look for Maeve. This is why Maeve’s fashion sense is so well loved, because its totally effortless.
All rules of fashion are abandoned when it comes to Eric and we love it.
As a stark contrast to the existential angst within Maeve’s style, we have the lovable and hilarious fan-favourite Eric who embraces all things clashing and patterned. A standout moment from the series is undoubtedly his tangerine co-ord paired with a matching hat, which he wears to his first house party. In fact, Eric is the king of monochrome but would never play it safe with black and white, often delving into bold colours to express himself and his sexuality. Using fashion to express himself does not stop there. When he attends prom Eric adorns an intricate jewel toned Nigerian-Ghanaian suit complete with a striking emerald head wrap to display his pride for his culture.
Eric’s daily attire changes to reflect the many dimensions of his personality, however, it always involves some form of pattern mashups, whether it is a bright purple embroidered retro bomber jacket with a Ghanaian inspired yellow patterned shirt or a colour block sweater with floral patterned trousers. All rules of fashion are abandoned when it comes to Eric and we love it.
Now we come to Otis who although appears super awkward and somewhat confused, he does have some strong fashion moments. Now I’m not claiming that he has half the vibrancy of Eric however, his muted colour pallet and tonal sweats is more reminiscent of the 60s and this fits perfectly with Otis’ character.
A focus of the show is Otis’ inexperience within his teen years, portraying him as ‘behind his peers’ and this is reflected within his fashion. Otis’s fashion sense develops with his character and by the end of Season 2 he dabbles in a bit of pattern clashing. Although nothing like Eric, he can be commended for trying something new.
Elegance is something Jean achieves on the daily
Finally and arguably one of the most effortlessly fashionable and style-oriented members of the cast is Dr Jean Milburn.
Not only does she educate a generation of misinformed teens (much to Otis’ embarrassment) as a highly successful and experienced sex therapist, she does so whilst sporting the most professional polished pantsuits. Elegance is something Jean achieves on the daily with her emerald green puffed sleeve jumpsuit featuring multiple times (and blowing us away every time!).
So now we’ve established that sex education was not only necessary to break down the barriers of talking about the taboo topic of sex, but also for giving each and everyone of us some serious retro fashion inspiration.
Sex education truly does have something for everyone.
Francesca Wormald
Featured Image courtesy of putri macan via Flickr. Image License.
Main Images courtesy of sexeducation asabopp gilliana via Instagram.
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