Lili Reinhart’s Head-Turning Red Dress In ‘The Love Hypothesis’ Is Only $248
Fashion
Fashion
In “The Love Hypothesis,” studiousness does not discount style. Beneath the lab coat, Lili Reinhart is dressed with a flair for the feminine, as costumed by Myriam Hanahem.
High school students have served as rom-com fodder for years, but “The Love Hypothesis” is tackling a new, unexplored corner of academia: the bright-eyed PhD student and her roommate’s harsh (and very, very hot) young professor. Costuming a cancer research scientist requires different wardrobe choices from your average rom-com lead, but costume designer Myriam Hanahem managed to make Olive’s (Lili Reinhart) wardrobe feel feminine and expressive. “It's great to show personality in a field where you expect women to be part of the furniture,” Hanahem says.
Olive (Lili Reinhart) and Adam (Tom Bateman) in "The Love Hypothesis."
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The vigilant and reserved Olive exudes quiet confidence in pared-down but girly and playful silhouettes. Hanahem gravitates towards lace-lined camis, high-waisted denim, and a Reformation dress (that's sure to be sold out by the time the film releases) for the character’s most memorable looks. Picking up emotional cues from the book, Hanahem conveyed Olive’s softness through color scheme, pairing her in a lot of “soft and sweet” colors like pink and yellow-green. In one such outfit, Olive wears a chartreuse cardigan over an Edwardian-inspired GAP camisole. Hanahem chose the shirt because it looked thrifted but was actually from GAP—as PhD students don't always have time to rummage through the Goodwill bins.
The Victorian camisole and cardigan moment is one of Hanahem’s favorite fashion outfit moments in the film, but not just because of the blouse. Hanahem designed Olive’s outfit to juxtapose against the harshness of Dr. Evil’s signature shirt and slacks style, with the look coming at a scene where the two leads meet in his office to discuss the details of their dating arrangement. Across the desk, Dr. Evil AKA Adam is styled in a stark black button-down long-sleeve and fitted slacks. Everything is methodically fitted to his body and so devoid of quirk to the point of it being quirky. “They have contrasting worlds,” Hanahem says, using the book as a guide for their aesthetic differences. “Adam is very proper and only dresses in black. Everything is super tailored and he has a lot of self control.” In contrast, Lily is described by Hanahem as being “more free, feminine, and fun,” as communicated by her vibrant color palette.
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Throughout the film, red emerges as an unintentional motif in Olive’s wardrobe. The most striking example comes midway through the film, when Dr. Evil escorts Olive to a staff party. For her top-of-the-staircase “look at me” moment, Dr. Evil arrives at her apartment to find her in an ankle-length red dress with a sweetheart neckline and rose print. The Bryson style from Reformation, in the now-discontinued Roseanne print, is paired with a fitted denim jacket and high heels that eventually come off as the evening unfolds.
Hanahem needed to stay in a “realistic world” for Reinhart’s wardrobe while still conveying character. She did so by selecting practical silhouettes, like a ringer tee or collared blouse that could hold up in a lab, with an interesting color and pattern. True to college students across the U.S., denim comprised many of Olive’s outfits, with jeans from Frame Denim and Slvrlake per Reinhart’s recommendation. Hanahem opted for a slim cut, but not skinny, silhouette, after deeming the wide-leg options “too fashion-y for what we were doing.”
Throughout the film, Olive wears black and red ballet flats interchangeably with sneakers. “They're kind of the new running shoe,” Hanahem says. Taking cues from what real university students were wearing around campuses in Montreal, where the film was shot, Hanahem incorporated true-to-life details like the Patagonia fleece and crochet keychain into Olive’s wardrobe. Throughout all of her outfits, Olive mixes high and low brands, pairing “a $10 cami mixed in with the higher-end cardigan,” as Hanahem explains, or in the case of the student party, a $650 crochet-lined Bode cami, selected by Reinhart herself, with high-waisted denim shorts.
In keeping with the novel’s central theme of STEMinism—a word Olive’s best friend Anh (Rachel Marsh) proudly, and literally, dawns on her chest in the form of a Steminist graphic tee—Hanahem wanted to combat the stereotype of scientists being boring and plain dressers. “It doesn't only have to be about your work,” Hanahem says. “You can be really smart but have fun with your wardrobe and show [a different side of] who you are by dressing up.” Anh epitomizes this very duality by sporting a tie-dye lab coat in class.
