Olivia Rodrigo’s London Look is a Sweet Nod to ‘High School Musical’

Olivia Rodrigo loves a good cultural reference, from her Pat Benatar tee to her Clueless-inspired White House look. So it’s only fitting that the pop star and burgeoning style sensation pay homage to—well—herself!

After a long day promoting her forthcoming album, Guts, in London, Rodrigo left dinner at the exclusive eatery Quo Vadis in Soho wearing a cherry red Magda Butrym halter minidress and red kitten mules. Always one to add a punky twist, Rodrigo opted for a black mani-pedi, giving the look a vampy touch.

Fans of Rodrigo’s first musical vehicle, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, immediately clocked the red dress with its sweetheart neckline as an update on one that her character, Nini Salazar-Roberts, wears in the pilot. On Twitter, users offered up a slew of other references, including Lana Del Rey’s hit “Summertime Sadness,” Nick Jonas’s infamous “red dress” riff in “Burnin’ Up,” and Rodrigo’s own Betty Boop Halloween costume. Yet, with her recent hit single “Vampire,” it’s entirely possible that Rodrigo was simply dressing on theme.

The singer has been turning out look after look on her trip across the pond. She channeled the ’80s in her Benatar T-shirt, miniskirt, and Mary Janes. Leaving BBC One in a white mock-neck minidress and matching white gogo boots, she looked to be paying homage to Nancy Sinatra. Rodrigo also broke out a bright red tennis skirt for her romp around town, grabbed a pint in a vintage green Betsey Johnson midi dress, and made a case for the controversial Margiela Tabis. 

If this is what she’s serving up over just a few days, we can’t wait to feast on the rest of Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts looks.