Who, What… but mostly importantly When and Where?

Hannah Smith
Aug 12, 2020
3 min read

Image. GIF. WIX. 2020.

The Netflix Original, ‘Sex Education’, stole audiences away with its taboo topics and the boundary breaking characters that tackle the pressing issues of today. Not to mention some iconic one liners from Eric. However, aside from the multiple stereotypes that the show shatters, the setting of the hit series remains ambiguous; although the characters are British, there is something not so British about the locations or clothing.

Image. Pinterest. 2020.

The series was filmed in an abandoned boarding school in Wales but has a bright, preppy hue to the scenes unlike most Welsh- set show; ‘Gavin and Stacy’ could never. Additionally, the wide variety of clothing seen on the young, school- kid cast, screams everything but a typical British school. That and the major factor that there is no school uniform insight. Surely, by British standards, school uniform screams soap opera, “something like Waterloo Road…it would have been a bit of an ill fit with the style of the script and the writing” [TAYLOR. 2020][1]. Not a show the American’s can get on board with.

Image. Pinterest. 2020.

The show is vibrant and exciting and the colourful monotone ensembles from Eric and the pink hair from overly-cool Maeve heighten the shows bright atmosphere. The creator of the series explained: "Something Edgar Wright's costume designer once told me was that she and Edgar approach costumes by imagining them as a cartoon character first and then seeing what the real-world version of that would look like” [TAYLOR. 2020][2].

The clever styling seen on ‘Sex Education’ is not only placeless but it is also timeless. Nearly every decade can be seen across the characters; Maeve has a major 90’s grunge vibe, Amy’s flares and hippie hair scream the 70’s and of course there is Eric is his loud 80’s shell suits. But when all of these iconic decades are thrown together and matched with modern day technology, it completely scrambles the audience’s perception of a time zone.

Image. Pinterest. 2020.

Additionally, the characterisation and styling are perfectly paired, similarly to ‘Sex and the City’, to create archetypal characters that are instantly recognisable to any audience. For example the ‘cool gang’ have immaculately straight hair, blazers and are often head to toe in plaid. But crucially, Jackson’s varsity jacket, although not typical in British culture, "everybody knows what a jock jacket represents, because we've all seen those films” [NUNN.2020][3]. Sex Education acts as a modern day 'Breakfast Club' with its recognisable characters.

Image. Pinterest. 2020.

Overall, ‘Sex Education’ has a unique sense of styling that creates an ambiguous atmosphere but is done so cleverly that audiences globally can relate to the show. However, this could be done intentionally due to the shows sole purpose of tackling some extremely sensitive issues that are rarely addressed elsewhere, these issues are global and connect almost every individual. So, the styling not only enhances the storylines and characters, but it also helps to create an accessible show that starts conversations on topics involving sex, consent, sexuality and mental health. Something that most creators should aim to do.

Image. Pinterest. 2020.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

[1] Taylor, Ben. 2020. GQ. Online. Sex Education’s creators: ‘It’s more like a comic book world than an American one’. Available at: https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/where-is-sex-education-set Accessed on: 20/06/2020 [2] Taylor, Ben. 2020. GQ. Online. Sex Education’s creators: ‘It’s more like a comic book world than an American one’. Available at: https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/where-is-sex-education-set Accessed on: 20/06/2020 [3] Nunn, Laurie. 2020. GQ. Online. Sex Education’s creators: ‘It’s more like a comic book world than an American one’. Available at: https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/where-is-sex-education-set Accessed on: 20/06/2020