I got into this business purely by accident. Well, my father was an AD and a producer, and I grew up being very comfortable with the film business. When I lived in New York, I was a writer, and then when I moved to Los Angeles [in 1994], I couldn’t get a job at a magazine, so I ended up working for a friend as a stylist—as an assistant—instead of, you know, having to waitress.

I’ve always loved clothes. When I lived in New York, all my friends were very fashionable. We all worked in nightclubs. And I’m from London, which is a very fashionable city. So it’s something that came really naturally to me—aesthetics and images. But I think because of the writing as much as anything else . . . the reason I’m in film and not in fashion is because of character.

The most important thing people should know about costume designers is you’re involved in creating a bigger picture. It’s about creating a character. It’s not about dressing somebody to go to the Oscars. You have to understand who the characters are immediately, because until you understand who they are, you don’t understand what they look like and how they dress and why they dress a certain way. It’s not just about what pair of shoes somebody wears. You have to understand what’s going on inside of the script and the aim of the movie—what the tone is and what the theme is and what it’s meant to be when it’s finished. You help tell the story through the character’s appearance.

Legally Blonde was my first time working with Reese [Witherspoon, with whom de Rakoff has since worked on three films]. It was also my first studio movie. I think they just wanted someone young and unestablished to do it, because no one knew it was going to be a big movie. [Elle Woods’s wardrobe] was based on the fact that sorority girls love pink, and they do. We went to a sorority house, and we went to the meetings, and everyone was wearing pink and black.

Reese is a really easy person to work with. If she thinks something’s ridiculous, she’s the first person to say it, but she’s very open. I obviously have a really good idea of what fits her and what doesn’t, what colors look good, what she likes and what she doesn’t. The nice thing about it is that you get into a rhythm. It’s not like starting all over again with somebody. That first fitting is always nerve-wracking because you’re like, “What if I’m completely wrong?”

[In the Legally Blonde sequel, Elle gets involved in animal rights, and de Rakoff outfitted her in animal-free clothing.] When you start conceptualizing the movie, you just make these decisions, for better or for worse, and whether people get it or notice it, it doesn’t really matter. It’s a tool for you to work with. But, yes, it was a pain in the ass not being able to have leather shoes. But, you know, we’re like, “Okay, we’ll get people to take the shape of a leather shoe and make it in satin.”