In terms of its fashion, Dick functions as a kind of grab bag of different looks from the past century. But it’s an exaggerated version: beehive hairdos and cute-bordering-on-silly hats reflect the film’s frequent forays into sheer ridiculousness. I don’t want to give the plot of the film away for any who might not have happened upon it yet, but let me just say that there’s one particularly patriotic red, white, and blue look at the end of Dick that seems to sum up the movie’s ethos: When in doubt, go big.
DICK, from left: Kirsten Dunst, Michelle Williams, 1999, ©Columbia Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection©Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
“While some of the Watergate references might go over a modern teen’s pierced, tattooed, green, bald or braided head,” wrote a reviewer in The Washington Post in 1999, “those who’ve seen All the President’s Men will know enough to recognize the caricatures of ‘Woodstein’ and the plumbers.” On behalf of ’90s kids everywhere, I’m offended! Personally, I think we’re more than capable of dyeing our hair or shaving our heads and still recognizing a political allegory. And it might just be that our attention to self-expression makes us especially attuned to the sartorial delights of this classic film.