Rachel Paige
Updated Feb 04, 2019 @ 8:34 am

If you think Gilmore Girls, and rules that MUST be followed while filming Gilmore Girls, you probably assume they’re rules along the lines of “no swearing” or “don’t take the coffee out of Lorelai’s hand. Ever.” But those aren’t even close to the one rule everyone had to follow in Stars Hollow. And if this rule wasn’t followed…well, let’s just say showrunner Amy Sherman-Palladino made sure it was.

At the Gilmore Girls Fan Festival in the IRL Stars Hollow, Washington Depot, Connecticut, long-time Gilmore Girls costume supervisor Valerie Campbell shared some behind-the-scenes tidbits about dressing Lorelai and Rory. When it came time to figure out what they were wearing, they could really wear whatever they wanted to (and oftentimes did). However no matter how preppy, or outlandish, or sparkly, there was one rule, and one rule alone:

No one was allowed to show their bare midriff.

“That’s what the style was, and at the time we started Gilmore, it was right when the waistlines went from your belly button down to the lower part of your [pants]. Amy did not like the fact that the tops were going up and all you saw was skin. Because if you were in Connecticut, in winter, you’d be freezing! You’d have a coat on, you wouldn’t show that.”

Campbell continued that after a while, Alexis and Lauren just got so used to pulling down their shirts that she “wouldn’t have to say anything, they would just do it.”

So next time you’re binging Gilmore Girls (for like the 17th time) and you see Lorelai and Rory fidgeting with their shirt, now you know what’s really going on 💫.