It’s the most exciting news for Friends fans (and who isn’t a Friends fan?) since Rachel Green decided to get off the plane. All six members of the Central Perk gang will be reuniting for a one-off special programme that will celebrate the work of director James Burrows. Could we be any more excited?
While Matthew Perry will be skipping the reunion due to theatre commitments in the UK (classic Chandler behaviour right there), the remaining five pals have teamed up to film a tribute to the director, due to be aired on NBC on Sunday February 21st.
We’ve seen every single episode approximately five thousand times (thank you, E4 and your Noughties programming schedule), but Friends remains the ultimate hangover-curing, mood-boosting comfort watch.
Thanks to the amazing Nineties fashions and hairdos on display, it’s also an inexhaustible source of style inspiration. To celebrate the return of Rachel, Ross, Chandler, Monica, Phoebe and Joey, here are the Friends gang’s most iconic fashion and beauty moments...
Rachel's (first) wedding dress
Yes, she may have been about to marry Barry, the man with all the charisma of Mr. Potato Head, but Rachel's off-the-shoulder wedding dress, complete with an appropriately princessy veil and rain-drenched hair, is at least as iconic as Kate Middleton's McQueen number. Someone give that girl a job at Ralph Lauren!
The Nineties lipstick
Decades before Kylie Jenner caused a worldwide shortage of Mac's Velvet Teddy lippie and Spice liner, the *Friends *girls schooled us in the fine art of the browny-nude lipstick. In fact, it's pretty rare that you'll see Rachel, Monica or Phoebe wearing brighter hues like red or pink. Top marks go to Rachel's ex-best friend Mindy, who's teamed her neutral lip colour with a pastel power suit and a sassy eyebrow raise.
Joey's man bag
Sorry, we mean man’s bag. When ‘The One With Joey’s Bag’ aired in 1999, Joey’s stylish accessory was very much an object of derision rather than desire. Fast-forward nearly two decades and similar styles are a mainstay of high end and high street fashion. Looks like Mr. Tribbiani can add ‘fashion visionary’ to his extensive résumé.
Phoebe's original onesie
Joey wasn't the only Friend with an eerie knack for predicting unlikely trends. Loungewear pioneer Phoebe Buffay wore a onesie way before the cosy all-in-one became a hibernation essential, accessorised with a pair of fluffy slippers and a looming sense of mid-twenties angst (we still don't have a 'pla...' either). A girl after our own hearts.
Ross's tanning hell
Unless you're blessed with naturally sunkissed skin, the chances are that you can sympathise with Ross's tanning predicament. 'The One With Ross's Tan' was basically a public service announcement, warning us pasty Brits of the dangers of counting 'mississipi-ly' in a spray tan booth.
The daytime wedding dresses
It's the Friends moment that totally encapsulates the daily struggle of the chronic overdresser. What could be more 'fashion' than wearing a full length bridal gown to sit inside and drink with your best pals? Nothing, that's what. An honourable mention goes to Monica for her controversial choice of black opaques.
Phoebe's corkscrew curls
She's the queen of weird and wonderful hair-styling (remember the 'Smelly Cat' video?), but our favourite Phoebe 'do has to be her loose (and enviably frizz-free) corkscrew curls. We can only imagine that Lisa Kudrow's backstage use of styling mousse rivalled that of a 'Fearless' era Taylor Swift.
Rachel's green dress
The slip dress was the ultimate in Nineties eveningwear, and no one wears it better than Rachel Green. This appropriately green style from 'The One Where No One's Ready' (or, the funniest Friends episode ever) has a special place in our hearts. Does this look like something the girlfriend of a paleontologist would wear?
Joey's extreme layering
Layering: impossibly chic on Instagram, impossibly difficult in real life, as demonstrated with aplomb by a certain Days Of Our Lives star. Granted, Joey was trying to enrage Chandler rather than get snapped by a street style blogger, but the point remains that there's a fine line between making a style statement and looking like you've tried on all your housemate's clothes at once (only a good look when you're trying to cheat your way around EasyJet's baggage allowance).
Rachel's up-dos
We all know that 'the Rachel' was the iconic style that launched a thousand copy-cat choppy layered cuts, but her wonderfully nonchalant up-dos deserve some serious recognition, too. This swept-back style is the hair equivalent of 'no make-up make-up' - simple in theory but deceptively hard to pull off in real life.
Phoebe's fur coat
At the time, we all saw Phoebe's orange (probably faux - she's a vegetarian after all) fur coat as further evidence of her 'kooky' ways. Now, when every fashion blogger worth her salt has been snapped wearing a fluoroscent-coloured, Monster Munch-inspired Shrimps number, Pheebs's choice of outerwear wouldn't look out of place at Fashion Week.
All the dungarees
The female stars of Friends must have done more for sales of dungarees than Kate Moss and Alexa Chung put together. Monica favoured more classic styles, while Rachel regularly went all out in cut-off styles and coloured versions, layered over crop tops or under baggy shirts.
The all-American sportswear
Way before athleisure was a 'thing' in fashion circles, Rachel and the gang were wearing their own lo-fi version of sports luxe. The whole gang seemed to own an enviable selection of retro football tops and sportswear (remember Rachel's Knicks jumper?), accessorised with an unhealthily competitive spirit in 'The One With The Football.' Who else but Jennifer Aniston could pull off those drawstring dungarees?
We're so glad to have you back, guys...
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