'The Summer I Turned Pretty' Season 2 Looks Include Nods to 'Gilmore Girls' and 'Ordinary People' (Exclusive)

Costume designer Jessica Flaherty talks PEOPLE through some of the biggest looks from season 2

The characters of The Summer I Turned Pretty are on a journey of self-discovery in season 2, and each of their costumes reflects that.

Based on Jenny Han’s bestselling novels of the same name, the series follows a teenage girl named Belly (Lola Tung) as she joins her family friends at their summer home in the fictional town of Cousins Beach.

After coming into her own in season 1, including taking risks with her personal and love life, the new season follows Belly as she decides “once and for all where her heart lies" with brothers Conrad (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno).

When it came to crafting the costumes for season 2, costume designer Jessica Flaherty tells PEOPLE that the main focus was staying as true to the books as possible — and that meant incorporating Han every step of the way.

“Everything goes through Jenny,” Flaherty says of The Summer I Turned Pretty author, who also serves as the series creator. “There isn't anything that we don't excitedly collaborate on or try and figure out together. Jenny has carried the story and created this in her mind and that's where I want to be to know, ‘What do you see? Where are we taking that?’ It's a really incredible experience working with Jenny. She's a powerhouse.”

"Everything sort of lives inside her mind,” she continues. “So we'll always kind of powwow and say, ‘OK, so now Belly has a different journey this season, what are some of the things that you know you want to see?’ And there's certain things that she'll know, she'll have in her mind. It's just integrating that and what she's going through in this particular season to inform how we go about all of our costume marks.”

In addition to pulling from the book series, Flaherty says they looked to several hit shows for inspiration as well as specific designers for each character’s mood board.

Here, she walks PEOPLE through some of the show's most iconic looks and how she helped create Belly’s looks.

Some minor spoilers for The Summer I Turned Pretty ahead.

This season we see Belly come into her own fashion-wise. How would you say the costumes differ the most from season 1? 

"At the end of season 1, we saw her in her big T-shirts, her kind of volleyball wear, into the crochet shirts. She never lost who she was, but she started to experiment more and expand into her dresses.

"So this season we're taking her from that point. She's also experienced a lot of emotional loss. So continuing on that sort of joyful expression of her coming into her own, but also reflecting the very real experience she was having.

"We had a lot of great Madewell striped shirts that felt like what we were doing in season 1, but evolved into a little bit more mature, but still playful. She's got her staple, I call it shower jewelry, that she could swim in. But now it's a little bit different. We've lost all the little beads and bracelets and gone into more elegant statement [jewelry], pretty little necklaces or her friendship necklace with Taylor. So it was keeping the simplicity of where we got her to at the end of the season, but also having a little bit of fun where we could."

What did the mood board for each character look like this season?

"When we first meet everybody, it's summer and they're obviously dealing with some heavy stuff. But they're still kids. The way that I used that in the costuming and Jenny and I created that arc is Jeremiah was able to do a lot of fun stuff the first season, just be a little bit more creative. But again, in reflecting what he's been through, I had to take it down. So everybody has their closet and basically adding to that. Keeping with some prints he used to do, but toning everything down a little, while still keeping it light and fresh and summer. That's kind of where Jeremiah is specifically."

"Conrad goes to college so he adopts a little bit more of a mature, tailored look. We see him in some khakis and not just the shorts. We see him in some button-downs and combos, things that I feel matured him a bit more than last season.

"Then Taylor, I feel like she really came into a cool place. Jenny had a lot of great pinned ideas for her that we were able to incorporate into the season that just gives her a little bit more personal style. We met her in a younger [age], not quite figuring out her where she's at fashion-wise. Now we're able to pepper in some interesting stuff for her. That was a cool evolution."

Were there specific designers or clothing brands that you looked for for each character?

"For Jeremiah and Conrad, they have very specific brands that I go back to a lot. Conrad there's J.Crew. Todd Snyder, we've even put some American Eagle. There's just something really classic. Then being able to do some winter, we were able to get some textures and different layering for him to build his style more from the T-shirts and shorts. He had these really cool Wales Bonner Adidas this season, which I loved.

"Jeremiah, I go a little bit more Banks Journal, Tombolo, Alex Mill or some Reiss. I'm always able to have a little bit more fashion-y fun. Even in this season where we're taking it down to be chill, I know he's got a super cool Wales Bonner shirt he wears. It's a little bit all over the fashion-y map where Conrad's more put together."

"Steven's always fun. Steven is like Kiss, or Awake, or Fred Perry. I found some cool Todd Snyder with streetwear for Steven, because that's kind of what we established in the first season and he stays in that zone.

"Taylor was cool because we had very specific beats for her as well. She wears this really cool two-piece by Gimaguas. It's like such a rad party look with that hair, which I will lust after those bangs forever. I wish I got them. Every time I see her in those bangs, I just go nuts. She had a beautiful Galvan dress that we reworked for the prom. Then we were also able to do some cool retro-looking stuff from Urban, and then her little workout wear whether it's Alo Yoga or just basic tanks. I think we did some American Eagle cutoffs for her. It's actually stuff that Taylor in real life would buy. Kind of accessible brands, and then also really high-end brands as well that maybe she wouldn't."

"Then, of course, Miss Belly, we did Sandro, we did that beautiful Savannah Morrow dress for graduation. And again, there are pieces that Jenny has in her mind and she'll be like, I see this for here, and I see this for here. It's just about putting everything together. It pops in her head for the character. It makes it really special for us to build off of that and know that's the vision she wants for each person."

I know Jenny Han mentioned on social media she was inspired by Gilmore Girls for one of Belly’s outfits shown in the trailer. What was the significance behind that?

"That's a Jenny process magic. Watching Gilmore Girls is a real moment in our lives, and it's a feeling and it's very reflective of youth to me. So that moment really felt integrated with the scene she was wearing it in. We've never seen Belly in the wintertime, so there’s something really classic and beautiful about it and it's just kind of understated and timeless."

"So for me it was a textural, kind of tonal feeling that you get when you watched [Gilmore Girls]. It feels like fall and winter when you watch Gilmore Girls. And I wanted that for us too, because we are only in fall and winter for so short it's like you want to feel it, you want to taste it."

Were there any other specific people or shows you were inspired by?

"I know Jenny had mentioned for Conrad, she saw an Ordinary People feeling and I really understood what that was. Because it wasn't just literally how Timothy Hutton was dressed, but there's a feeling. It has a palette. It has a tone."

"Because we shoot in summer and then we don't air until the next summer, a lot of times we've cycled out of those looks. But what I love about what Jenny and I have created with the show is that I feel like there's an essence about it that it feels timeless. It feels like you can still recreate these looks in your own way now and it keeps evolving. There's something really classic and dreamy and timeless and a little bit vintage, but also cool and hip. That all comes from my collaboration with Jenny, and just kind of following her vision. That's what I really do appreciate about the show, that it's not as much trend specific as it is a feeling and a vibe that you can have anytime."

Belly’s infinity necklace has also become an iconic piece of jewelry on the show. How did you go about sourcing Local Eclectic for that?

"In the first season where we were sourcing everything and trying to figure out what it would look like, it was between showing different references and different things that we found until we landed on it. I didn't actually make the jewelry pieces, but it's sort of figuring out the width and how delicate, and how long, and where it's going to hit. It seems silly because it's just a necklace, but it's everything. Because that's how we see it, where does it hit exactly, at what point on her neck? We finally landed on this one, which I thought was just beautiful, and delicate, and perfection."

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