The Costumes in "How to Have Sex" Are More Important Than You Might Think

We rarely see Skye wearing anything other than green, cutout outfits. "Green is obviously synonymous with envy," Buxton reflects. "Skye's actions are bitchy, but she's just an insecure 16-year-old girl. She's projecting, she doesn't know herself at all."

While Tara seems to be more self-aware and "doesn't need to peacock with clothes", Skye wears her green dresses like a uniform to look older.

"We do women a real disservice by telling them what sexy is supposed to look like, and we do Skye a disservice as a 16-year-old to tell her that this is what's sexy," Buxton says. "If certain clothes make you feel good, brilliant. Just make sure you dress for yourself and not for someone else."

Skye Peer Pressures Tara Into Wearing Green

One of the most powerful scenes sees Tara clad in a neon green mesh dress she's borrowed from Skye as she walks down a deserted street. For Buxton, this was possibly the statement piece of the entire film. "It just had to scream at you," she says. "As soon as it went on Mia's body, I was like, 'That's the one'."

The more sexually-experienced Skye pushes a couple of her green, fast-fashion-like outfits on Tara, whose wardrobe mostly features parachute pants and t-shirts. By wearing her friend's signature colour, Tara tries to conform to her aesthetic, signifying Skye's peer pressuring her into ticking things off her holiday list – including having sex.

"That dress is pure Skye's fashion, it's cut right down, it's see-through. But it has to make Tara the focal point as well," the costume designer says.

A counterpart to Paddy's predatory ways, Badger's goofiness and genuine interest in Tara find an expression in his outfits. "We introduced pink as a safety colour," Buxton explains. "Tara wears pink and Badger often wears it too. His trunks are always pink."

After a white party goes wrong, Badger walks Tara back to the hotel and helps her to bed, realising something must've happened. There's a spark between the two characters, with their sweet exchanges becoming an ode to the missed connections we have in life.

"He's not pushing anything on her," says Buxton. "He is a safe place."

Jewellery is among the Easter eggs Walker peppered throughout her film. On holiday, Tara never takes off a necklace with block letter charms spelling the word "angel", a piece that was inspired by one of the film's crew members. "My wonderful costume supervisor, Nancy Kane, wears that necklace," Buxton recalls.

The necklace speaks to Tara's naïvety and niceness, qualities that make her the kind of friend who holds your head when you've had too much to drink and cheers you up with dad jokes, as she does with Badger (Shaun Thomas).

"I also introduced predatory animals within people's jewellery," Buxton adds, pointing out that Paddy (Samuel Bottomley) wears a scorpion ring that foretells the darkest developments in the film, while Skye rocks a snake ring.

Straight-A aspiring vet Em is half of a queer holiday romance that comes about in a wholesome, organic way. "Her priorities are just different," Buxton says, revealing she and production designer, Luke Moran-Morris, set on purple as Em's colour.

"She dresses like a queer, 16-year-old London girl. She has a more stylish, hippie vibe" compared to her friends, Buxton explains. "She wears Doc Martens and socks, has beads in her braids, and her rings look like the ones you might get in The Lanes in Brighton," where the costume designer is from.

"How to Have Sex" is in UK cinemas now.