When fans go online to pay tribute to Amy Heckerling's 1995 cult classic Clueless, the film's fashion and slang are often at the forefront. Through the film's styling and language, Heckerling creates a cultural representation of female power. That sense of power and playfulness—achieved via feminine practices—still resonates with women today. Clueless commemorations are rooted in an appreciation of Heckerling's pastiche of fashion and slang. For instance, a widely shared YouTube video provides a montage of every outfit that protagonist Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone) wears in the film, while a boutique clothing brand dedicated its 2013 collection to the film's femmecentered styles. Heckerling transformed the pivotal plotlines of Jane Austen's 1815 novel Emma into a high school coming-of-age story, and set a new standard for the female-driven teen film. This essay will reveal that the oftquoted and most culturally-defining components of Clueless were, in fact, not particularly representative of teenagers of the time, but instead were molded by Heckerling as a means of ousting the male-centric teen film and grunge era with a cultural collage of decades of feminine fashion and slang as a femaledominant alternative. Rather than giving in to established approaches of the teen film genre, Heckerling proves to be a true postmodern master of pastiche, remaking classic literature under the guise of a present-day setting but with a retro representation that evokes the late 1970s and early ‘80s, from its bright attire to the lingual resurgence reminiscent of California beach babes and ‘80s Valley Girls. Cher, memorable for shopping and slang, uses these powers, often denigrated as superficial, to navigate societal hierarchy and gain power. Whether Cher is using a scantily clad outfit as an innocent seducer or her argumentation skills to go from average student to honor roll, Heckerling writes a tongue-in-cheek script that displays how young women can wield power.

Arguing against the Marcusian theory of consumerism as sexist, the feminist cultural critic Ellen Willis writes: