"Glee"s costume designer Lou Eyrich described Rachel's costumes. Eyrich told "Entertainment Weekly": "Originally (at first), the inspiration for her look was Tracy Flick from "Election"—very buttoned-down (someone who is serious in the job they are doing), preppy (someone who looks like a high school student), obnoxious (not very well liked by people), squeaky clean, nerdy. But she's got at least 12 costume changes each episode. That same look all the time just gets boring for the screen (television) and for the actress to wear, so we spread it out a lot. We try to have her buttoned-up or wearing a nerdy sweater over a cute dress, like she doesn't quite get it right. Or she takes that sweater and tucks it into the skirt and pairs it with knee highs and flats. She makes it her way, which is more quirky. The popular girls find a way to make it look cool, but Rachel makes it look nerdy. But it's not old-school nerdy with thick glasses and pocket protectors. She thinks she's taking a trend and making it cool, but she wears it wrong."