Fashion choices that were as outrageous as the plotlines.
Today marks the 20th anniversary (feel old yet?) of the premiere of the iconic Sapphic series The L Word. It was honestly love at first sight when we were introduced to Bette (Jennifer Beals), Tina (Laurel Holloman), Dana (Erin Daniels), Alice (Leisha Hailey), Shane (Katherine Moennig), Marina (Karina Lombard), and yes Jenny (Mia Kirshner). While the show certainly experienced its ups and downs it had a huge impact on queer culture and remains an important part of that legacy even today.
The L Word was often an unbelievably bad show, but when it was good, it was so good. The same could be said of the characters’ wardrobes, which spanned the early to late '00s and tapped into some regrettable trends along the way. Still, Shane’s skinny ties and oversized men’s shirts or Bette’s classic pantsuits feel as relevant today as they did when the show aired. Here’s a chronological look back at 45 of the most unbelievable but completely memorable outfits on the show.
All photos courtesy of Showtime.
1) Unbelievably Good: Shane in the second part of the pilot.
What better way to kick off this list than with Shane’s skin-tight leather outfit that made us instantly fall in love in the second half of the pilot episode?
2) Unbelievably Bad: Alice’s terrible graphic t-shirt vest. (S. 1 Ep. 5)
The early to mid 00s were a time of many terrible fashion trends, among them the awful graphic t-shirt. Alice kicks it up a notch by wearing one over a '70s inspired button up. Bonus points for Dana’s awkward ruched shirt.
3) Unbelievably Bad: Marina on terrible graphic t-shirt day. (S. 1 Ep. 5)
Alice was not the only one to fall prey to the bad graphic t-shirt trend this episode.
4) Unbelievably Good: Dana’s brocade dress. (S. 1 Ep. 6)
Normally pink brocade dress equals curtains, but this dress fits like a very tight glove, so clearly there are some exceptions.
5) Unbelievably… Good?: Alice pretending to be a republican. (S. 1 Ep. 9)
When Alice shows up at a Republican lunch to support Dana coming out to her parents, she dresses the part. It’s a terrible outfit, but it’s so spot on that it would make a pretty amazing Halloween costume.
6) Unbelievably Bad: Dana’s mom-matching white pantsuit. (S. 1 Ep. 9)
I am of the camp that Dana/Erin Daniels looks good in pretty much everything, but the whole we-could’ve-lived-the-same-life symbolism they’re going for in this episode is a little too on the nose. We get it. They don’t have to wear the same suit. Also, all-white outfits make me nervous whenever someone eats.
7) Unbelievably Both: Marina’s crop top is the size of Alice’s bandana. (S. 1 Ep. 9)
I am not against Marina wearing a super tiny crop top, so good for her. But Alice’s green bandana is taking me back to my eighth grade yearbook photo in the worst way.
8) Unbelievably Good: Bette’s chainmail necklace. (S. 1 Ep. 11)
Bette tends to wear a lot of well tailored pantsuits and trench coats, but this look is a little riskier and definitely paid off.
9) Just Unbelievable: Jenny’s grocery store uniform. (S. 1 Ep. 13)
Grocery store uniforms generally bad, but this is just unbelievable, because I’m still not entirely convinced Jenny actually worked at the grocery store. This outfit was also appropriately bad for her terrible manatee/beluga whale story and boring relationship with footnote Gene Feinberg.
10) Unbelievably Good: Candace’s dirty secret affair overalls. (S. 1 Ep. 14)
If you’re a contractor, it’s good to be able to pull off a pair of overalls. Clearly Candace does well enough to catch Bette’s wandering eye.
11) Unbelievably Bad: Tonya and Dana’s merge. (S. 1 Ep. 14)
We may not know who killed Jenny, but we all know who killed Mr. Piddles.
12) Just Unbelievable: Jenny at work for all of three minutes. (S. 2 Ep. 1)
Jenny clearly does not last long at jobs where she has to wear a uniform. This job seems to last all of three minutes. Props to Hank Fifty-Nine for their cute orange dresses though.
13) Unbelievably Good: Robin’s wedding suit flashback. (S. 2 Ep. 2)
Remember Robin? Played by Anne Ramsay? Dated Jenny? No? That’s okay. She didn’t get a lot of screen time. She did have an unsuccessful wedding flashback in this amazing suit though.
14) Unbelievably Bad: Tina’s striped poncho. (S. 2 Ep. 2)
I know she’s trying to conceal a pregnancy here, but maybe the least flattering item of clothing in the world wasn’t the best way to do it.
15) Unbelievably… Good?: Carmen’s hat. (S. 2 Ep. 3)
Before fedoras were the official uniform of Men’s Rights Activists everywhere, Carmen actually pulled them off. Is this a thing we should take back? Maybe we should wait another 10 years until the trend dies out completely and then try again.
16) Unbelievably Good: Helena’s introduction. (S. 2 Ep. 4)
Our first introduction to Helena was, of course, unbelievably stylish.
17) Unbelievably Bad: Tina’s pink poncho. (S. 2 Ep. 5)
Apparently Tina loved her striped poncho so much that she went out and bought one in baby pink too. How can revealing your pregnancy possibly be worse than wearing this?
18) Unbelievably Bad: Alice’s solidarity-wear. (S. 2 Ep. 6)
I understand that it’s incredibly difficult to find cute maternity wear, but why did Alice decide to sport maternity wear in solidarity with Tina? There are other ways to show your support.
19) Unbelievably Good: Shane’s skinny tie phase. (S. 2 Ep. 9)
Did everyone immediately go out and try to wear this outfit after this episode aired?
20) Unbelievably Good: Bette in suspenders. (S. 2 Ep. 9)
This is art. I’m going to frame this screenshot and hang it on my wall.
21) Unbelievably Good: Dana and Alice role-playing. (S. 2 Ep. 10)
Dana and Alice as Captain Stubing and Julie from The Love Boat is everything.
22) Unbelievably Good: Dana and Alice’s ongoing role-playing phase. (S. 2 Ep. 10)
The seasickness wasn’t enough to stand in their way.
23) Unbelievably Bad: Shane at a quinceañera. (S. 3 Ep. 2)
There’s something so wrong about Shane in pretty dress, but she’s doing it for Carmen so it’s actually one of her sweeter moments.
24) Unbelievably Good: Billie Blaikie’s 1920s style. (S. 3 Ep. 5)
Billie might have been a destructive tornado of a person, but he knew how to throw a good event, and that included his own party outfits.
25) Unbelievably Bad: Alice’s weird cardi-vest thing. (S. 3 Ep. 6)
Okay, so Alice was a little distracted by her best friend/love of her life dying, but this weird cardigan vest buttoned only at the top and the frumpy shirt make her look like she’s already mourning.
26) Unbelievably Bad: Bette’s I’m-not-pregnant-on-the-show coat. (S. 3 Ep. 10)
You know what really draws attention to a character’s torso? A freaking gigantic scarf and a shiny gold coat. There had to be a better way to hide the fact that Jennifer Beals was pregnant here.
27) Unbelievably Bad: Our heart, stomped on, on the floor. (S. 3 Ep. 12)
Carmen looks beautiful. Carmen’s mother looks like a boss. But we will never look at this outfit and have positive feelings.
28) Unbelievably in Need of a Wash: Shane’s lost weekend outfit. (S. 4 Ep. 1)
Cherie Jaffe is the worst (“It’s snow time!), and when Shane is around her, she’s also the worst. Clean yourself up and apologize to Carmen.
29) Unbelievably Bad: The L Word basketball team. (S. 4 Ep. 4)
The women of The L Word were smart, complex, scrappy, sure. But with the exception of Dana, they were not sporty.
30) Unbelievably Bad (For Shane): Feeling very Shane today. (S. 4 Ep. 4)
Bad for Shane. Good for the rest of us.
31) Unbelievably Bad: Alice trying all the trends at once. (S. 4 Ep. 5)
Alice’s outfits were hit or miss, but at least she always looked interesting. This is also pulled from the most epic takedown of Jenny in the entire show.
32) Unbelievably Good: Jodi’s sequin dress. (S. 4 Ep. 5)
Jodi’s dress prompts Bette to say, “My, my, you clean up nice.” Agreed.
33) Unbelievably Good: Alice and Tasha as a military couple. (S. 4 Ep. 7)
Alice is working with some pinup inspired vibes and Tasha is rocking a uniform before DADT was repealed. For a minute they were the most stylish couple on the show.
34) Unbelievably Good: Papi wearing Carmen’s fedora. (S. 4 Ep. 8)
Remember Carmen’s fedora from season 2? (It’s #15.) Looks like Papi and Carmen are directly connected on The Chart.
35) Unbelievably Good: Marina’s surreal reappearance. (S. 4 Ep. 9)
A musical of Lez Girls probably would’ve been the way to go considering how things turned out with Adele.
36) Unbelievably Good: Helena proving orange really is the new black. (S. 5 Ep. 1)
Why couldn’t we get that prison spin-off?
37) Unbelievably Bad: Adele’s first appearance. (S. 5 Ep. 2)
Adele might wear granny glasses and mom jeans (and be super evil), but you have to admit, she wouldn’t look out of place in an Urban Outfitters catalogue.
38) Unbelievably Good: Tina in a bowtie. (S. 5 Ep. 6)
When did Tina steal Bette’s stylist?
39) Unbelievably Bad: Adele goes 'Single White Female' on Jenny. (S. 5 Ep. 6)
All we can say is, “You should’ve listened to Max.”
40) Unbelievably Bad: Dawn Denbo and her lover Cindy. (S. 5 Ep. 7)
Oh, they were just so Miami.
41) Unbelievably Good: Team Dana. (S. 5 Ep. 10)
The Team Dana uniforms were good. The amount of plot progression that happens in this episode is even better.
42) Unbelievably Good: Jenny steals back the spotlight. (S. 5 Ep. 12)
Adele may have stolen her movie, but Jenny wouldn’t miss an opportunity to upstage Adele in a really good dress.
43) Unbelievably Bad: Bette is attacked by ruffles. (S. 6 Ep. 2)
No, this is not a pirate costume.
44) Unbelievably Bad: Jenny’s childlike regression. (S. 6 Ep. 6)
Jenny is having a full on mental breakdown at this point, though in her defense, Max’s hellish baby shower was Wonka themed.
45) Unbelievably Bad: Salt-N-Pepa-N-A Third Wheel. (S. 6 Ep. 7)
They did make it work though—at least for the duration of the dance.
