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When I first started watching 1987's Dirty Dancing — and I say "started" because I built it into my weekly routine, allowing it to become habit — Baby became an instant style inspiration. Baby Houseman, played by Jennifer Grey, clearly knew how to dress for the summer months, thereby arming me with a handful of outfit options for my favourite season. Since Baby's story arc starts at a place where she's modest and reserved and ends with her embracing her free-spirited, rebellious side, her clothes follow suit.
When she and her family first arrive at the family resort in the Catskills, she's wearing sophisticated summer day dresses and girlie blouses with long denim shorts. But her wardrobe (or whatever she packed in her suitcase) is eventually broken down and deconstructed — literally and physically! — as she lets loose and jumps into the water with Johnny to practice the lift for their dance routine.
During practice sessions, we see Baby in crop tops, '80s-acid wash jeans, and sheer tights that are nothing short of flirty. But by the end of the film, she owns her sex appeal wholeheartedly and leaps into the late Patrick Swayze's arms in a backless pink dress that's become synonymous with her character. Has my love for Baby's looks become evident? Good, because I've recreated them all from head-to-toe, and let's just say I've had the time of my life doing it.