I Dressed Like Rachel Green From 'Friends' For A Week & Here's What Happened...

#1

I went back to it earlier this week to get some outfit inspiration from Rachel Green, I was surprised to find that she wasn't always the style icon I vaguely remembered her being. She wore some seriously cringeworthy items. Think ugly peasant blouses, cargo pants, platform flip flops, dresses over pants, mom jeans, and a surprising amount of argyle. A lot of it can be chalked up to the style of the time, but still, my eyes started to hurt.

I did notice, however, that Rachel wore a surprising amount of clothes that I happen to have in my closet. For example, she wore a lot of white sneakers, black mini skirts, simple fitted tees, plaid skirts, and various denim pieces (like skirts and jackets). Personally, I feel like Rachel always looked best when she stuck to timeless, classic pieces. Plus it made my job a lot easier, since I had no problem recreating that kind of outfit, even more than a decade after the show's run.

Rachel even managed to make me want to go shopping a few times during this experiment. She looked cute and casual in fitted baseball tees, and she always looked chic and put-together in a sleek grey mini dress or one of her many wrap-dresses of the later seasons. I made a mental note to add these items to my own wardrobe in the future, but for the most part, I managed to recreate her outfits using only clothing I already owned (with one exception, but we'll get to that).

Without any further ado, here is my week of dressing like Rachel Green.

Day 1

For the first day of this experiment, I decided to ease into it with an outfit that I would normally wear. Rachel wore a white button-down under a black pinafore dress in Season 1, Episode 15.

As far as I could tell, she accessorized this outfit with a black purse and black tights. I couldn't see her feet, but I did notice she wore black knee-high boots a lot during the show's run, so I went with that. Of course, her boots were hideously shiny, and I just can't have scrunchy patent leather boots in my life, so we differed slightly there. I also left out the brown suede jacket that was seen in this episode, because she only wore it for a moment and, um, it was fairly ugly.

How I am Looking?

The best part of Day 1, however, happened on my way home. "I'll Be There For You," the Friends theme song, came on the radio. I can't remember ever hearing it come on the radio before, so I took this as a sign that the experiment was meant to be. The universe was sanctioning my decision to dress like Rachel Green for the week. No, the universe was telling me I was Rachel Green for the week.

I wore this to run errands and do some work at Starbucks, which is sadly the closest thing that my town has to a Central Perk. I felt very put-together in this outfit, and it even made me feel slightly more productive than usual. Thanks, Rachel!

Day 2

Next day, I decided to tackle a Rachel Green outfit that most sane humans would agree only she can pull off. In Season 3, Episode 9, Rachel dresses down for a game of football. Check out how cute she looks in a backwards baseball cap with pigtails, two fitted tees layered to look almost like a baseball tee, oversized sweats, and dorky socks and sneakers. It's all so normcore, and yet she makes it look cute and sexy.

I couldn't replicate the exact outfit, but I did my best to stick to her color scheme: green, black, and white. I borrowed large sweatpants and a baseball cap from my brother. Sadly, pigtails were out of the question unless I wore a wig.

I don't know about this outfit, honestly

I don't know about this outfit, honestly. It wasn't great for exercising; I went for a run and got extremely sweaty and overheated. I also didn't feel particularly cute. Maybe it's easier to pull off the sexy tomboy thing when you have long hair, but with short hair, I just felt like a boy. And It doesn't workout nicely.

Day 3

This next outfit was more my speed: All black, put-together, and a little revealing. Rachel wears this chic outfit in Season 4, Episode 14 for some hardcore flirting at work. I'm not sure if this was a dress or a top paired with a skirt; I went with the latter. This was the first time that Rachel made me go shopping; she made me realize I badly needed a black miniskirt in my wardrobe. I found one for only a few dollars at the thrift store, and it even had a bit of a leg slit like hers.

All Black!

I paired this outfit with sheer hose (Rachel's favorite, and actually kinda sexy) and a choker. Don't ask me where I found a choker in my house in 2016, but I did, and I hated every second of wearing it. I would wear this outfit (minus the choker) on a date in a heartbeat. I don't think I would wear it to work like she did, but maybe that's my fault for wearing a top that's much more low-cut than hers. This outfit got a lot of looks, as you can probably imagine. It was the polar opposite of the previous day.

Day 4

I took things down a notch for day 4. I was starting to miss my regular wardrobe, so I combined two basic outfits from Season 10, Episode 7 ...

one more..

... and Season 3, Episode 9.

This is a typical Rachel outfit of a striped top paired with a black miniskirt, plus with a denim jacket on top for warmth.

I Feel Comfortable In This.

I forgot to wear tights, but I made up for it by adding knee-high boots that Rachel would have been proud of. This was close to what I normally wear, so I felt comfortable all day.

Day 5

What would this experiment be if I didn't recreate Rachel's schoolgirl outfit from Season 1, Episode 19? Isn't It true?

And It looking Cool

Like any self-respecting '90s girl, I own a plaid miniskirt. I borrowed a white turtleneck and white knee-high socks from my sister, and added clunky black shoes similar to the ones Rachel wore.

I definitely felt like I was playing dress-up in this outfit, and felt uncomfortable when I went out in public. "Sexy schoolgirl" is not a style I'd want to endorse, and I didn't even feel like I pulled it off as well as Rachel did. My mom liked this dress when she saw it, though. I don't know what to say about that. Maybe she has more nostalgia for my Catholic school days than I do.

Day 6

This outfit, from Season 10's 3rd episode, is what convinced me I had to do this experiment. These tie-front tops are so popular right now that I just bought one myself a few weeks ago, so I got a kick out of seeing it on Rachel Green. She looks damn hot in this outfit.

It's Little Hot One.

Mine is actually a dress, whereas hers is a top. I wore it out to a bar that night, and my friend reported that every guy took a good look when I crossed the room. That doesn't usually happen to me, so I attribute it entirely to having criss-crossing threads over my cleavage.

Definitely wear this style if you want a guy to look at your chest. It worked on Joey. LOL!

Day 7

Finally, Its the time to end of the experiment. I was so ready to be done, so I picked something comfortable: Rachel's outfit from Season 7, Episode 6.

Rachel wore a lot of long leather jackets very Matrix style and I'm sorry to admit that I have one that's very similar. I paired it with a plaid shirt, unbuttoned like hers to show off a black bra, along with another choker necklace and black pants.

And Its Over!

Wearing this out and about made me wonder why I own such an outdated jacket. I also wished, for the seventh time this week, that I had Rachel's hair. I think, in the end, to really pull off Rachel Green's style, you simply need to have that hair.

Overall, however, I think Rachel's style can be easily replicated today without looking too outdated or costume-y as long as you pick the timeless elements (black miniskirts, denim jackets, T-shirts and button-downs, plaid skirts, LBDs) over the not-so-timeless pieces (two words: denim bib). So if you're looking for style inspiration, you could look in worse places than Friends episodes. You might find yourself randomly singing "your job's a joke, you're broke, your love life's D.O.A." a little too earnestly for more than a week afterward, though. Don't say I didn't warn you.