As far as most movies and shows are concerned, if you want to change your life all you need to do is change your look. A new outfit (or entire wardrobe) and updated hairdo can do wonders for confidence, and is often used to externally signify a big internal shift taking place in a character. These montages are often a lot of fun moments of movie magic that make us wish we could live that fairytale, too. But there’s one big part of changing your entire look that these movies and shows often leave out: the price tag.

“Declined.” “Can you try again?” “Really declined.” Confessions of a Shopaholic

So let’s take a look at the finances behind some of our favorite movie makeovers – from the perfectly obtainable to the only-on-film, totally unrealistic (but still fun!) and uncover what these makeover montages really tell us about creating a ‘new and improved’ you.

“Who is that sad little person? Are we doing a before-and-after piece I don’t know about?” The Devil Wears Prada

Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder…?

As we covered in our video on the ‘Ugly Pretty Girl’ Trope, on screen, the characters that get these makeovers are pretty much always played by beautiful actresses who are just dressed down a tiny bit to look more “normal”... which is the “hideous” ‘before.’

“Guys, she’s got glasses and a ponytail! Aw, look at that, she’s got paint on her overalls, what is that?” Not Another Teen Movie

While movies and shows can get a little ridiculous with this part of the trope, it is true that just a few small tweaks can change your look. And given that our faces are what we show to the world every day, the conduit through which we express our emotions, it’s not surprising that people often tend to zero in on them and what they want to change about them.

One thing movies seem to hate is glasses.

“Do you wear contact lenses?” “Oh, I have them, but I don’t really like to wear them that much.” “Now you do!” The Princess Diaries

There is a belief that glasses are always holding the character back from reaching their true beauty potential. So what if she can’t see – it’s more important that everyone else can see her, right? On top of how ridiculous that is as a concept, the trope also always just glosses over a pretty huge financial issues: glasses themselves are often already pretty expensive – when you add up the cost of the frames, prescription lenses, and the appointment with the eye doctor to get them, they can cost well into the hundreds of dollars for just a single pair. So to have to throw those out the window and get contacts is not a cheap feat – especially since those require a separate exam (back to the eye doctor!) and the purchase of the boxes of contacts themselves.

Then there’s the skincare. Most of these characters already have Hollywood-perfect skin, but there’s still usually someone around to tell them they need zit ointment or wrinkle cream. And, as we all know, even when you’re buying drugstore skincare, the cost starts adding up quickly. And don’t forget about those teeth! Most characters are already pearly white, but of course they need to be a little whiter. While on screen one whitening strip is usually all it takes to get Chip Skylark-level chompers, in the real world you usually need to use an entire box of strips to see results, or even get professional whitening done, which can cost hundreds of dollars.

Another so-called “problem” that movies (especially from the 90s and early 2000s) loved to hone in on is eyebrows.

“When was the last time you tweezed?” “What?” “I mean your eyebrows.” “Never, why?” “Ever watch Sesame Street?” “Yeah.” “You know Bert?” She’s All That

Nearly every makeover montage saw the recipient getting admonished for their allegedly over-the-top brows and forced to wax them within an inch of their lives. Even nowadays, an eyebrow wax by a professional can cost anywhere from $15 to over $100 – and that’s just for one visit. If you want to keep up the look, you have to keep paying (or learn to do it yourself and hope you don’t end up having any brow-destroying mishaps…) Thankfully in recent years people have learned to love their bushy brows and movies have stopped pushing the idea that anyone whose eyebrows aren’t razor thin needs to wax them off and that having a unibrow is some horrible problem.

And then, of course, there’s all of that beautiful makeup. This is where the montages usually start to get more fun – trying on lots of new colors and really getting lost in the magic of makeup. A lot of movie makeovers take place at home, with one character sharing their own makeup with the one being made over (maybe not terribly hygienic, but definitely cost effective!) But others go all out with entire professional glam teams dropping in to pretty much completely change the character’s face. Just one professional makeup artist will run you around $100 an hour (and it could be several times that depending on their level of expertise and just how much you want them to change your look.)

As you can see, a true makeover can start to hit your wallet in a big way surprisingly quickly, and that’s not even mentioning the…

New Attitude, New Outfit

Clothes! To go with their new look, characters usually need new outfits that match their updated vibe. Sometimes this just means buying a nice dress for one event, which can certainly get pricey but often won’t break the bank. But sometimes characters want to change it all and get an entirely new wardrobe – which, even if they were doing Temu hauls would likely still add up quickly, but these characters usually hit the mall for a major shopping spree, which likely means hundreds of dollars (or even thousands!) to get an entire new wardrobe.

“You clean up real nice. You sure don’t fit in down on the Boulevard lookin’ like you do, not that you ever did.” “Well, thanks, but it’s easy to clean up when you got money.” Pretty Woman

Oftentimes in these cases, it’s someone else footing that bill – so the character gets all the fun of shopping with none of the bummer of the credit card bill. The Devil Wears Prada – which reportedly had a $1 million wardrobe – sees Andy getting to borrow (and sometimes keep!) incredibly expensive items, from bags to dresses from Dolce & Gabbana, Calvin Klein, and Chanel.

“Are you wearing the–” “The new Chanel boots? Yeah, I am.” The Devil Wears Prada

These characters often feel like the fact that they’re not fashionable enough is a big part of the reason why they just can’t seem to fit in. And, of course, society is often telling them the same thing.

“Just because you don’t look like those girls in Poise magazine doesn’t mean you’re not beautiful in your own way.” “I don’t want to be beautiful in my own way. I want to look like these people.” 13 Going on 30

And when they do emerge as beautiful new swans, they usually are treated better by those around them (except their old friends, who often find the new look – and new attitude – threatening.) But while they might have felt invisible before, now with their new look they often have to worry if their new found beauty is the only thing anyone sees in them – as if their entire personhood has been wiped away by the change.

“The first time you saw me, I was cleaning your bathroom floor! Only you didn’t see me.” Maid in Manhattan

Sometimes the makeover is happening against their will – someone else has decided that they need to clean up and look hot. But other times it’s something that the character wanted for a long time but just couldn’t (or didn’t know how to) do. Whatever the motivation, makeovers are used on screen as visual markers of larger internal changes happening within the character. When the makeover is against their will, it usually happens at the beginning of the film and is the impetus for their change. It’s through stepping into these new shoes (often literally) that they open themselves up to new experiences and grow as people.

“I realized that these women are smart, terrific people who are just trying to make a difference in the world.” Miss Congeniality

When the makeover is the result of a latent desire finally making its way to the surface, the makeover usually happens at the end of the film, a culmination of the character’s growth into their new self.

Once your new makeup and wardrobe are set, there’s always one last piece of the puzzle…

New Hair, New Me

Totally changing up your hair. Haircuts are a time honored way of marking a big change in your life, especially for characters on screen. Whether they just went through a break up, got a new job, or have just decided they’re going to turn their life around, a big hair change is often involved.

“Nothing personal, Laney, but this particular… coif, doesn’t really go with your face shape.” “What do you have in mind?” “You’ll really have to trust me…” She’s All That

Haircuts come at many different price points, from free at-home DIYs to cheap snips at a local barber to all-out, high-dollar glam blowouts at classy salons. How much a character spends (or doesn’t spend) on their new do is often decided by what kind of change they’re going through. Characters who are finally taking control of their life usually go for the ‘at home in the bathroom with a pair of kitchen scissors (or even an electric shaver if they’re really going for a major change)’ option. They are the ones who are making this big choice in their life, so they want to be the ones to make this physical change to go along with it. With salon cuts, it can go either way – sometimes the character just wants to pay to get a professional to bring their desire to life. Other times they’re being pushed into making a change to better fit some idea of what they ‘should’ look like.

“We have to change the color of your hair.” “What’s wrong with my hair?” A Star Is Born

While every part of movie and tv makeovers can make us want to shell out some cash for a little update of our own, surprisingly one of the most influential character changes of all time came from a haircut. In the 20th episode of Friends’ first season, Rachel Green debuted a new haircut and it became an immediate sensation. Dubbed ‘The Rachel’, women across the country ran flocked to salons hoping to get the same cut. The do has continued to inspire haircuts year after year, and even has its own (surprisingly lengthy) Wikipedia page.

Conclusion

One obvious thing to consider with movie and tv makeovers is that their expensive nature is kind of the point – they’re so entertaining precisely because they’re so out of reach but fun to think about doing. And even if we can’t afford to completely change our entire wardrobe, makeup, and hair in a day (or month… or year…) these joyful makeovers might give us the confidence we need to try out a few small tweaks or one new look we’ve been wanting to go for. And even if we don’t want to change anything about ourselves at all, it can still be a good time to watch characters switch things up on screen! It only becomes a problem when we absorb the more negative aspects of the montages (especially from older decades) about how we have to change basic parts of ourselves if we want to be loved.

“If it’s just for myself, shouldn’t I be comfortable?” “No! Put yourself first in a sexy way!” Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

Or if we feel like we need to start racking up debt to get an allegedly “better” look.

Nowadays, thanks to social media, we can make and share our own makeover montages whenever we feel like it – and get tips on how to change things up without breaking the bank. And even on screen makeovers have started to change things up in recent years – no longer based on entirely buffing away yourself to create a new, shinier you, now they seek to just highlight the things that already make you amazing. And that’s really the only makeover we need.