Costume, Hair & Make-Up in 90210 - Naomi and Adrianna

Naomi and Adrianna are best friends, but the first few episodes show a complete contrast in characteristics, especially in their costume, hair & make-up and the way they present themselves.

Naomi exudes confidence and this is shown especially through what she wears. The first time we see Naomi, she comes across as the spoiled, popular, rich girl.

Ryan Matthews (about Naomi): “C’mon man it’s a birthday party for a spoiled little princess”
Annie (to Naomi): “You sound like a spoiled brat.”

She appears to be selfish and shallow, and is described as "a hot, spoiled, rich girl" who dominates the social scene. While this appears to describe her in a nutshell at first, her character slowly shows a deeper emotional level that reveals why she is the way she is. Throughout the series her character develops and we learn the truth behind her facade.

Despite people’s perceptions, Naomi has an ‘I don’t care attitude’ as shown when we first see her. She’s late to class, strolls in, fails to apologise, is on her phone and has an attitude especially when the teacher introduces her to Annie. One of the main things that we notice about Naomi is her clothes. In this part of the first episode she is wearing a green corset top, a white jacket and tight, skinny black trousers. She’s also wearing white high heels, a white bag and lots of accessories to match. Her outfit looks expensive and all goes well together. Her hair and make-up is also perfectly done. This all shows that she cares a lot about what she looks like and likes to stand out. She is very fashionable and feminine, and as we gradually see more of her, we can see that she tends to show more skin than other characters.

In episode 3 (The Bubble), Naomi is wearing short black shorts, black boots, a black top and black leather jacket. She accessorises this with a red belt, red bangles and red earrings. She’s wearing black nail varnish and her hair and make-up is immaculate. Everything is colour coordinated and shows that she is a perfectionist. The colour red makes bold statements about her personality and represents her fiery side. This is especially important as she wears this outfit when she visits Gail – her father’s ‘other woman’ – and argues with her.

At dinner with her father, she is immaculately dressed, and gives an impression of maturity as she is there to meet her father’s girlfriend. However this is just an image, as she tries to cause trouble between them. She does however show that she is more image driven, cares about what people think and aims to impress, no matter who it is. We then see Naomi at a party, wearing a red dress, red belt and red lipstick. This shows her desire to always stand out and be the centre of attention. She is constantly aiming for perfection, definitely portrays someone who is very wealthy and likes to impress people. Her choice in fashion shows that she comes from a higher class background, and she seems to take this for granted. Also she never chooses something really simple; a lot of thought goes into what she wears.

When she discovered that her father was having an affair and her mother knew about it, she doesn’t look as glamorous but still makes an effort. She has to convince her mum to get out of bed, who’s been depressed for a week since her husband left to be with the other woman. Naomi wears a short, strapless purple/pink dress, with matching heels. This choice of softer colours shows that she too is vulnerable and emotionally effected by what her father has done, but is left to pick up the pieces. She is wearing a white jacket and is showing quite a lot of skin. Her hair is tied up – shows less effort after she caught her dad cheating.

At her extravagant Sweet 16 birthday party, Naomi is dressed in a silver, strapless dress with heels - to make her stand out. She is literally placed in the spotlight. All eyes are on her and she is the centre of attention.

Overall Naomi chooses quite distinctive colours showing her confidence and desire to stand out. The combination of black, white and red becomes a trend in the choice of costume for Naomi. They are all bold colours and ensure that she doesn’t blend into the background. Her image represents a wealthy, fashionable, spoilt stereotype but she defies these expectations and perceptions later in the series, showing that she is in fact very smart, someone who is worldly and mature, and there's sophistication to her. For example when she takes the blame for her best friend’s drugs and gets arrested. This shows that she does care for others, but puts on a front due to her broken family life.

Adrianna is Naomi Clark's best friend. One of West Beverly Hill's High's more troubled students, Adrianna is pressured by her mother to pursue and succeed in her acting career, but that has pushed her to edge. Also the social pressures already obvious at the school, plus the expectations of her best friend and 'it girl' Naomi, Adrianna soon feels as if she can't cope. As a result, she turns to drugs and bad behaviour, such as ruining Annie's theatrical ambitions, stirring up some romantic problems for the new arrivals at the school and stealing from her best friend.

In Episode 4 (Wide Awake and Dreaming), Adrianna is late to rehearsal for the school play. She’s wearing black jeans, a brown top, black cardigan and black boots. This choice of prominent dark colours reflect Adrianna’s mood. At the moment she is depressed, stressed and under pressure. To resolve her problems, she turned to drugs and now has a serious problem. Her teacher’s suspect that something is wrong, Adrianna – “look, I get it, I’ve been distracted lately, maybe I’ve missed a couple of rehearsals.” She is completely unaware and oblivious to the effect that it’s having, and doesn’t see it as a big deal.

She’s wearing no make-up (something uncommon for those in Beverley Hills), has dark circles around her red eyes and her hair is not done properly (especially compared to everyone else.) She’s wearing a simple necklace, simple silver hoops and a bangle to match her outfit. This shows that she is trying to make an effort and keep her image up, but is so run down that she is now showing strong signs of taking drugs, causing suspicion amongst everyone.

Later we see her collapsed, 5 minutes before the school play. She laughs/giggles uncontrollably, stumbles, and shouts “woo” etc. – all signs that she has taken drugs. She is oblivious to what has happened and denies it when people question her. Her costume simply reflects her mood and position at the moment, she is miserable and drained.

In class, she doesn’t listen to the teacher and concentrates on singing. She sits slouched in her chair, with her hood up and earphones in. Again she’s wearing all black and acts like she doesn’t care about anything or anyone, but we do begin to sympathise with her as it is here that we find out that she is the one who is paying for everything in her family with her acting money.

Immediately in costume, hair & make-up, we can see strong differences in her character and Naomi’s. Adrianna lives with her mother who relies on her to get an income from her acting to pay for their family and house. Her position, lack of money, mood, drug taking and longing for a sense of family is all reflected strongly in what she wears.