For 11 seasons, we’ve seen Claire Dunphy try her hardest to gain control of her household. Raising three kids and being married to a man who loves to act like a kid while trying to maintain a household is incredibly difficult. Somehow, Claire’s able to do it all in style.
Unlike Gloria, Claire doesn’t wear tight-fitting dresses or lowcut necklines, but she has developed a style that’s completely logical while also being fashionable. When she’s not wearing suits and taking the bull by the horns over at Pritchett’s Closets and Blinds, she can be found at home in jeans and cute tops that are extremely accessible. Let’s take a look at some of Claire’s best fashionable moments (and worst).
BEST: THE WHITE COAT SHE WORE ON VALENTINE’S DAY
In this classic Valentine’s Day episode, we learn about Claire and Phil keeping their romance alive by roleplaying as “strangers” named Juliana and Clive.
In a way to seduce “Clive,” Claire (as Juliana) heads to the bathroom where she takes off all her clothes and only keeps this beautiful white jacket on. She hands her undergarments to Phil (whose jaw is on the ground), and the two walk away happily. Their night takes a turn for the worse when Juliana’s jacket gets caught in the escalator. Since she’s bare naked under the jacket, she couldn’t take it off!
WORST: HER PAJAMAS ON THEIR WINE WEEKEND
In the episode “Wine Weekend,” Haley’s new boss offers her home to Haley and her family for a weekend filled with wine tours and peace. As it often happens, everyone sneaks away to do their own thing, where we see what Claire tends to fall asleep in.
We see her wearing Luke’s old gym shorts (with staples in it) and a stained sweatshirt. While it’s great that she’s comfortable and doesn’t care what she’s wearing, Phil deemed the outfit un-sexy.
BEST: DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC?
Claire is not the best when it comes to gift-giving, but in the episode “Do You Believe In Magic,” Claire goes above and beyond to give Phil a great night of fun and surprises.
When she surprises Phil in a pretty outfit, she’s wearing a gorgeous black dress with sequins on it. The strappy dress and the pretty sparkles caught the light in the perfect way, making her look like a real trophy.
WORST: CLAIRE’S CAFTAN LOOKS LIKE IT WAS MADE FOR GLORIA
The great families of Modern Family love to lounge by Jay’s pool. Considering how often Claire and Phil go to Jay’s to use his pool, it’s surprising they don’t have their own. Nevertheless, Claire can often be seen lounging poolside wearing a cute bathing suit coverup.
However, the caftan used in this episode didn’t hit the right notes. Claire is a naturally athletic woman, and seeing her in something that covers up her entire toned body isn’t the best fit. Not to mention, this looks like something Gloria would wear, not Claire.
BEST: CLAIRE’S NIGHT OUT ON THE TOWN
With all her kids out of the house, Claire uses this time to go out for a night on the town. She asks Mitchell and Cameron to take her to one of their fabulous parties, but they kept falling flat. They eventually went to the right place where Claire meets her own friend and enjoys her night with him.
We see Claire in a red mini dress (which is very unlike her) and a black leather jacket with matching shoes. Claire runs into some of the other moms in her kids’ class and gets picked on for dressing like a teen, but it was her one night of freedom — let the woman live!
WORST: WHEN SHE DRESSED THE PART FOR A ROCK CONCERT
In the episode “Catch of the Day,” Phil thinks he’s bound to have a lousy day due to a silly superstition, and his bad luck starts effecting Claire and her chance to go to a rock concert she’s been dying to go to. Oddly enough, Claire wanted to dress the part for a rock concert and wore all black with masculine jewelry.
She looked pretty cool, but this outfit doesn’t scream Claire. It makes it look like she’s trying too hard to fit in, which is a no-no. Just be yourself, Claire!
BEST: HER OUTERWEAR IS ON POINT
If you’ve watched Modern Family from the start, you’ll realize that Claire has a ton of amazing outfits when she’s working at the house or running errands. She takes casual to a whole new level and adds fun vests, coats, and patterned-shirts.
Above, we can see her in a Keoni Sweater by Joie and navy quilted vest that can actually be bought from J. Crew. We love how she pairs a simple shirt with fun outerwear to really bring her look more texture.
WORST: WHEN SHE DRESSED LIKE THE 80S
Claire and Phil sure do love to roleplay. In the episode “Spanks for the Memories,” we see Jay and Gloria trying to spice up their love life. They take a page out of Phil and Claire’s book and try to roleplay with one another, and it totally works! Meanwhile, Claire and Phil are roleplaying as ’80s versions of themselves.
With teased, frizzy hair, a mesh top, and poofy skirt, Claire has given us a major flashback to the ’80s. But perhaps it’s one of those looks that should stay in the ’80s…
BEST: WHO SAYS YOU HAVE TO DRESS BLAND AS THE BOSS?
Claire may have been nervous taking over Pritchett’s Closets and Blinds, but over time, she found her groove. Once she started becoming more successful, she began dressing more successful, too. Her outfits became more exciting than just a boring pants suit.
She added color and patterns and layers, which proved you don’t need to dress boring to be taken seriously just because you’re in a head position at a company.
WORST: THE DREADED EVOLVE SHIRTS
It’s sweet that Claire (for once) was trying to support Dylan’s business venture of designing his own shirts. The concept was making the V in the v-neck act as the letter V when a word is added. Sadly, not all designs were winners.
Since evolve has two Vs in it, Jay didn’t understand how the shirt was supposed to work if the neckline was only supposed to act as one V. Although Claire looks pretty in these kinds of shirts, the design is so bad that it’s hard not to judge her for wearing it.
