Warning: This story contains spoilers from Stranger Things Season 4.

In Stranger Things Season 4 episode “Papa,” Robin Buckley (Maya Hawke) is stunned to see her crush Vickie (Anne with an E’s Amybeth McNulty) at the War Zone army supply store. While Robin is heartbroken to spot Vickie kissing an unknown man — later identified as her soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend — viewers were likely delighted to discover just how much Vickie looks like Molly Ringwald in classic John Hughes rom-coms like Pretty in Pink and Sixteen Candles. For a show as obsessed with the 1980s as Stranger Things, it’s no surprise that the homage was totally on purpose. 

“My inspiration was Molly with the shorter hair, which was partly in SixteenCandles,” head hair designer Sarah Hindsgaul tells Tudum over email. Hindsgaul initially sent photos from the movie to her wig maker Robert Pickens. Serendipitously, Ringwald happened to come by Pickens’ studio for a wig fitting for another series and heard about her Stranger Things muse status. “She got really excited and told him the exact color she used to dye her hair back in the ’80s, so this is the way we got the color just right. It is the exact same color,” Hindsgaul says. For Vickie’s “Papa” appearance, Hindsgaul used Kevin Murphy mousse for a “soft, natural texture” and a small wand for extra oomph.

While Hindsgaul’s team had direct access to RIngwald herself, the rest of the Stranger Things crew didn’t have the same privilege. So they got creative. “The hat is similar in shape but not an exact replica of any Molly Ringwald hat,” costume designer Amy Parris tells Tudum. She found the accessory at a flea market in Long Beach and knew it was “perfect” for McNulty once she was cast. Parris confirms the look suggests high schooler Vickie is “definitely influenced by Molly and popular John Hughes movies” but is still her own “unique” person. “The outfit with the hair and makeup really reminds you of Molly without it being too much of a match,” Parris says. 

Head makeup artist Amy L. Forsythe used two MAC blushes to get Vickie’s cosmetic nod to Ringwald’s Pretty in Pink character Andie Walsh just right. “I had all my blushes out and chose the one that would read how I wanted it to on her fair skin,” Forsythe tells Tudum. “It needed to balance perfectly with the cool toned slate color I picked out to dust on her lash lines.” 

Clearly, the smallest touches are what made this ensemble pop, all the way down to the jewelry. As Parris says, “When we really started to lean into the Pretty in Pink references I found these vintage earrings online and it immediately felt like if Andie were turned into an earring, this is what she would look like.” And we’ll love them… always.