I’m Still Obsessed With Sweet Home Alabama’s Country-City Style

When she returns home to Alabama, however, Melanie’s clothes start to subtly shift. At first, she still plays the part of a stuck-up city girl. When she first confronts Jake about finally signing the divorce papers, she shows up in a black off-the-shoulder top, black and white floral skirt, knee boots, and tinted shades. “You’ve turned into some hoity-toity yankee bitch!” exclaims Jake. Later on, when she heads to the local bar, she runs into some old friends while wearing a red and black asymmetrical top paired with jeans, one of her own designs. “Look at you all fancy. You look like you just stepped out of a magazine,” says a friend.

But as Melanie begins to rekindle her old flame with Jake, she begins to realize her country roots aren’t so bad—and perhaps there’s more to life than New York’s glamorous clothes and parties. (It wouldn’t be a rom-com without a cliché epiphany.) Her clothes begin to loosen up and become less severe as a result: She starts wearing double denim looks to outdoor concerts, or sweeter floral dresses with cute, frilly sleeves. An aesthetic that’s more farmer’s market than fashion week.

The piece de resistance, though, is what happens at her wedding. Melanie—in her fitted white wedding dress—leaves Andrew at the altar, and runs to Jake in the middle of a monsoon to proclaim her love for him. Standing in the middle of the rain in her ruined dress, it’s almost symbolic—that she no longer cares about looking perfect at all times, and has finally found her footing in life. Talk about a happy ending!