The early 2000s was a hard time for everyone, just ask Nicole Richie’s wardrobe. Between the tracksuits and the thongs, it was tough to navigate. While Will & Grace may have stormed through stereotypes and trampled on television taboos it is still one of the worst repeat fashion offenders to have ever appeared on the box.
There’s argument to say that the show, which is reportedly returning for a 10 episode run, purposefully committed sartorial crimes. The sitcom tracked the friendships between gay lawyer Will Truman (Eric McCormack), straight interior designer Grace Adler (Debra Messing), her lazy married assistant Karen Walker (Megan Mullally) and flamboyant failed actor Jack McFarland (Sean Hayes). There’s reason to believe the show’s costume department wanted to hit back against the Queer Eye For A Straight Guy philosophy to show a more nuanced view of gay men. Or, maybe it was just the early Noughties, and everyone dressed rubbish.
Over the course of its eight years on TV, the show won 16 Emmy Awards and as outgoing Vice-President Joe Biden once said: ‘Will & Grace probably did more to educate the American public [on gay people] than almost anything anybody has ever done so far.’ So, while it hasn’t enjoyed the constant reruns of Friends and the virtual meme-d afterlife of The OC its importance lives on. However, not in the style stakes.
Ari Gold’s Wardrobe
In a time before Entourage and before Jeremy Piven became the philandering* Mr Selfridge* he was an ex-beau of Grace’s who dressed like the first ever F*ckboy.
Enter Cher
Mid-comeback Cher had a cameo dressed in a rhinestone white leather jacket, which makes you think the wardrobe team confused the guest star with Dolly Parton.
Grace’s Date Night Dress
Here we have a classic example of too many trends and not enough taste. The tapered fit, textured fabric and Tangoed colour is the very definition of frumpy.
Barbara Bush is Back From The Dead
As much as we adored Karen’s sloppy mess of a character, she had a habit of making a Chanel-esque suit look like the hell personified.
The Cliché Breaker
Jack McFarland’s one-man parade of flannel shirts tucked into chinos is an instant slayer of any BS stereotypes that all gay men dress well.
I’m a Creative New York Intellectual
As a popular interior designer, Grace was meant to understand proportion, textures and colour, yet her smorgasbord of accessories and daytime LBD is fighting to dispel this myth.
The Hermes Defacer
Right before the election and the announcement of the show’s return the cast reunited for an election-themed clip. And, of course, Karen has now become a Trump supporter and a vandaliser of expensive handbags.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.