Chloe Bailey Gave Us 'Mean Girls' Realness at Rockefeller Tree Lighting

Santa, baby, don't you love it?

Chloe Bailey performs at Christmas at Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting 2023
(Image credit: Ralph Bavaro/NBC)

Listen, we're not a Regular Writer, we're a Cool Writer, and we think Chloe Bailey was giving Regina George and Cady Heron a run for their money last night in her very clearly Mean Girls-inspired look at the Christmas at Rockefeller Center holiday special.

You'd be lying if you didn't admit you weren't a sucker for a good homage to a movie from your youth. We all have them, we all love them, and we're never not going to enjoy them when they're done well. And, I mean, just look at this Santa-inspired dress and tell me you don't feel the urge to stand up in the audience (camcorder in hand) and do the dance in the aisles alongside her?

Chloe Bailey at Christmas as Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting 2023

(Image credit: Ralph Bavaro/NBC)

Me watching Chloe Bailey:

Amy Poehler Mean Girls

(Image credit: Paramount Pictures/The Everett Collection)

Bailey performed two songs during the NBC-broadcast event on Wednesday, November 29th. First up was a cover of "Last Christmas" by Wham! (an under-appreciated holiday classic. So is that Paul McCartney song everyone hates, but I digress) that had everyone wiggling around joyfully in the audience.

It was during her second performance of the evening, however, that Bailey really took the Mean Girls inspiration a step further, bringing out backup dancers in matching outfits while she sang her own take on "Merry Christmas, Baby" originally by Otis Redding.

Come on, how fun is that?!

Chloe Bailey at Christmas as Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting 2023

(Image credit: Ralph Bavaro/NBC)

Some folks on social media were not a fan of the look—because the world is full of sexist double standards, and a certain socially-ingrained sense that women must adhere to an outdated form of physical modesty at all time, even when dancing under hot spotlights to an upbeat song in 2023, for example—but not us. We're fully in support of a 25-year-old woman looking and feeling great in what she's wearing. Especially if it gives us an opportunity to reminisce about Mean Girls.

So put that in your Burn Book and light it on fire! Merry Christmas, Chloe.

Chloe Bailey at Christmas as Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting 2023

(Image credit: Ralph Bavaro/NBC)
Alicia Lutes
Freelance Writer

Alicia Lutes is a freelance writer, essayist, journalist, humorist, and screenwriter based in Los Angeles. She has written extensively on culture, entertainment, the craft of comedy, and mental health. Her work has been featured in places such as Vulture, Playboy, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, MTV, Cosmopolitan, Rotten Tomatoes, Bustle, Longreads, and more. She was also the creator/former host of the web series Fangirling, and currently fosters every single dog she can.