The production, in fact, was shot entirely in Southern California. Interestingly enough, USC stood in for Harvard Law School, while Cal Tech in Pasadena substituted for the fictional CULA (California University at Los Angeles). But Stewart, who also designed Good WillHunting, had no trouble using judicious ivy to recreate a facsimile of Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Equally key to the eye-popping design scheme is costume designer Sophie de Rakoff Carbonell's ostentatious outfits. "Robert basically wanted Elle's clothes to be another character in the movie," she notes. "We wanted her to pop out no matter where she is, always combining classic style with a dash of avant-garde."
Elle's outfits are complimented by an equally astounding array of hair coifs. Hair stylist Joy Zapata found herself creating some 40 entirely unique hairstyles for the films s main character, from big, bubbly Barbie curls to silky, pin-straight cascades of blonde. Zapata jokingly renamed Legally Blonde, "The Hair That Ate Hollywood."
"Elle's hair has a life of its own in this movie," says Zapata. "Luckily, Reese has the most amazing, heavy, thick, beautiful blonde hair. The more I worked with it, the more I loved it. I could try anything with it, and I did!"
Zapata was pleased to play such a pivotal role in a film that turns on hair-styling tips. "The hair plays a major role," she says. "Reese would come into the trailer as Reese, and I would give her this very bouncy. Pamela Anderson, Gianni Versace, Beverly Hills-style hair, and she would leave as Elle. It snapped her right into the character."
Throughout Legally Blonde, hair, costume and set design combine with high spirits and snappy wit to capture the joie de vivre of Elle Woods. But nowhere does it all come together more uniquely than in the film's surprising musical number — an ode to the great blonde bombshell musical numbers of years gone by, albeit with a modern twist. The action takes places in the Beauty Oasis, as Elle teaches Paulette her time-honored tradition for getting a man's attention: the "Bend and Snap."
Director Luketic has always had a secret passion for musical numbers, but knew they weren't always accepted by modern audiences. He threw caution to the wind, though. "I knew it would be risky," he says. "But I also knew there was a way to make the number completely organic to the story, to blend it into the whole spirit of the film."
Luketic brought in legendary choreographer Toni Basil to stage the number, and she transformed a romp through the beauty salon into a celebration of seductive power. "It's a great number because it's got all different types of women of all different ages, body shapes, sizes, color, et cetera," says Basil. "The whole spectrum of women you'd find in a beauty salon is represented, from Elle to Paulette and beyond."
Basil had her work cut out for her. "In Busby Berkeley days, he would takes months to make up a routine and weeks to shoot it," she says. "Now we have a day to shoot what is a very complex scene." Basil pulled it off, though, to the great excitement of cast and crew, most of whom had never experienced anything like it. "It was an incredibly exciting experience to do a dance number," says Reese Witherspoon. "There were people flying all over the place and it was great. It gave the film a wonderful, colorful, fresh energy — and that's what Elle is all about."
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