Bargain Bonanza

THE MOVIE: “Gas Food Lodging.”

THE SETUP: Shade (Fairuza Balk, pictured at left), a sensitive teen-age girl, passes the hours in a Spanish-language cinema and comes of age in a dusty New Mexico town. Her mother, Nora (Brooke Adams), a truck-stop waitress, and Trudi (Ione Skye, pictured at right), her older, promiscuous sister, share the family motor home.

THE DESIGNER: Susan Bertram (“Lambada--the Forbidden Dance”).

THE FASHION ONE-LINER: “It’s sort of basic trailer-park trash but sexy at the same time,” says Bertram of her approach to Trudi’s style.

OTHERS WHO COULD HAVE SHARED THE CLOTHES: Thelma and Louise.

THE LOOK: Totally de-Gapped, these teens make uniquely expressive fashion statements. The rebellious Trudi is all cheap, tight spandex that’s usually topped with a secondhand red leather motorcycle jacket complete with old sponsor decals. Sometimes the thoughtful Shade just looks like a kid--layers of thermal underwear, cutoffs and Vans tennis shoes--but there are always hints of her romantic longings: a thrift-shop gold lace shirt, an embroidered dress or a Mexican dirndl skirt with lace vest and army boots.

GEEK HALL OF FAME: Boyfriend Hamlet’s (David Lansbury) cowboy shirt with wagon wheel embroidery motif, Nora’s ostrich feather high-heeled slippers.

THE SOURCES: Los Angeles stores, including, for Trudi’s wardrobe, Lerner’s, Marianne’s and Petrie’s, where Bertram never paid more than $12 per item. The Yamaha jacket came from Bertram’s closet, as did many of Shade’s vintage clothes. Other vintage outlets used include Aardvark, Animal House, Ace Classic, American Rag, Ozzie Dots and La Rue.

THE PAYOFF: The bargain basement never looked this good.