Are both 'Mean Girls' set in the same universe? Tina Fey's polka dot shirt might be a clue

At a glance, the blouses look almost identical.

But the short-sleeve, navy blue polka dot top with a white collar that Tina Fey wears in the 2024 "Mean Girls" is not the same shirt she wears in the 2004 original.

Instead, it's one of a few subtle homages between the movies released 20 years apart, this time engineered by costume designer Tom Broecker.

Tina Fey and Tim Meadows (as Principal Duvall) are the only "Mean Girls" actors who reprise their exact roles from the original — and their character must be experiencing some serious deja vu. Two decades after doing it for the first time, the duo finds themselves addressing the school's junior girls in the school gymnasium about a rumor-filled "burn book" that has sown chaos.

Broecker asked the creative team the question on all "Mean Girls" viewers' minds: Is 2024’s Ms. Norbury the same person as 2004’s Ms. Norbury?

“Well, yeah, it’s sort of the same person 20 years later,” Broecker tells TODAY.com.

Which means she has the same style — even if she has a fuzzy memory.

“Teachers teach for a very long period of time. And so this teacher in 2024 would still have a polka dot blouse,” he explains about the decision behind Ms. Norbury's look.

The two blouses are a bit different: "On the 2024 (shirt) there’s a white scalloped edge to match the collar which the original does not have," he explains.

To update the look, Broecker scoured the internet (“it was a little bit of a hunt”) for a sold-out Tory Burch navy blue polka dot long sleeve blouse that was part of the fashion designer’s 2020 spring/summer collection.

“It was the closest blouse I could find that referenced the original,” Broecker says, though it was

And he needed two of them: One for Fey and another for a stunt double.

As for why the new blouse was so hard to find? Blame Kate Middleton: The Princess of Wales was photographed wearing the shirt during a gardening outfit with her husband, Prince William, in 2021.

Broecker says he eventually secured the blouse on a clothing resale website, then made a few changes.

“The blouse that (Fey) is wearing in 2024 was originally long sleeve. We cut it off and made it into short sleeve," he says.

Broecker suspects Fey has the original blouse. “Tina has a tendency to want to take things after she wears them sometimes,” he says. “I should really ask Tina where that blouse is because Tina actually might have (it).”

A follow-up email from Broecker reveals that Fey did have the shirt at one point but is checking to see if it’s still in her closet.

Even if Fey had the blouse, ”I didn’t want her to wear it,” he insists. “She has changed as a person over the course of those 20 years. So I wanted to update that blouse, not just have her wear it.”

Fey's Norbury isn't the only character whose 2024 look pays tribute to the original film. Besides The Plastics' dedication to wearing pink on Wednesdays, in several scenes, the new age mean girl clique wears nearly identical outfits to the 2004 film.

In the talent show scene, The Plastics don sexy Santa outfits and black stiletto boots.

In another scene featured in both films, Regina George wears a black off-the-shoulder top with blue bra straps showing.

The new queen bee, played by Renee Rapp, even wears an initial necklace similar to the original donned by Rachel McAdams. In the new film, Rapp’s necklace is trendier — featuring a half pearl, half metal chain look.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com