In news to make you feel properly old, 90s Nora Ephron rom-com classic You’ve Got Mail is turning 20 on December 18th, making us nostalgic for AOL, IRL bookstores and, well, Kathleen Kelly’s wardrobe. The hardworking children’s book seller, played by Meg Ryan, was to a 2018 eye extremely stylish. You might not have realised it back in 1998, but fast-forward to now, and her seemingly sensible skirts are suddenly the objects of your affection.
you've got mail fashion style meg ryan
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Outfitted by Oscar-winning costume designer Albert Wolsky, who has showcased his talents working on everything from Bugsy to Maid In Manhattan, Kathleen Kelly was 90s normcore. The black mock turtlenecks, neutral cashmere twinsets and seemingly never-ending scarf collection provided a simple, stylish way to keep warm against the wintery Manhattan chill.
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We mustn't skip past the mock turtlenecks too hastily, of course, because Kathleen Kelly certainly didn't. Her wardrobe staple, she wore them to work, on dates, under cardigans, on their own… whether she had a closet full of them or owned one and stuck to a fast laundry cycle we'll never know. What we do know is that they (it?!) never failed her.
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Kathleen Kelly knew great tailoring. From the aforementioned knee-length skirts, to her chic mannish slacks, her soft knits were always balanced out with a more structured piece on her bottom half. She really knew how to layer and looking at old photos of Meg Ryan on set only makes us regret hiding under a duvet coat all winter.
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Heck, even her loungewear was spot on. Sporting the kind of perfectly oversized, matching pyjamas that make you want to join her for a (platonic) sleepover, Kathleen Kelly flirting on AOL is a far cry from us swiping on Bumble in an old T-shirt and sweats on a Sunday morning.
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And then the spring came, and Kathleen Kelly shed her layers for… well, some lighter layers. That linen, full-skirted frock, teamed with yet another cardi, brought the romance that we had started to worry would never come until she had a schmaltzy rom-com scale snog with Tom Hanks and they lived fashionably ever after. The end.