FAQ

Four 16-year-old girls—Bridget Vreeland (Blake Lively), Tabitha "Tibby" Tomko-Rollins (Amber Tamblyn), Lena Kaligariss (Alexis Bledel), and Carmen Lowell (America Ferrera)—all born within weeks of each and best friends all their lives, purchase a pair of blue jeans that seems to fit each of them perfectly, no matter how tall, short, fat, or thin she might be. The girls make a pact to share the pants, wearing them for two weeks and passing them around to each other over the summer when each of them goes their separate ways for the first time.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is based on a 2001 novel of the same name by American author Ann Brashares. The novel was adapted for the movie by American screenwriters Delia Ephron and Elizabeth Chandler. A sequel, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (2008) was released in 2008.

Bridget goes to a summer camp in Mexico where she becomes involved with one of the coaches, Eric Richman (Mike Vogel). Lena travels to Greece to visit relatives and falls in love with Kostas (Michael Rady), a young man whose family are arch-enemies of Lena's family. Carmen flies to South Carolina to spend time with her father, only to learn that he is planning to remarry. Tibby remains at home in Bethesda, Maryland where she is befriended by a 12-year-old girl named Bailey (Jenna Boyd) who has leukemia, and the two of them try to make movies together.

Certain parts were filmed on the Greek island of Santorini. For more information about Santorini, see here.

We, the Sisterhood, hereby instate the following rules to the use of the Traveling Pants: (1) You must never wash the Pants; (2) You must never double-cuff the Pants. It's tacky. There will never be a time when this will not be tacky; (3) You must never say the word "phat" while wearing the Pants. You must also never think to yourself, "I am fat" while wearing the Pants; (4) You must never let a boy take off the Pants (although you may take them off yourself in his presence); (5) You must not pick your nose while wearing the Pants. You may, however, scratch casually at your nostril while really kind of picking; (6) Upon our reunion, you must follow the proper procedures for documenting your time in the Pants: (a) On the left leg of the Pants, write the most exciting place you have been while wearing the Pants, and (b) On the right leg of the Pants, write the most important thing that has happened to you while wearing the Pants. (For example, "I hooked up with my second cousin, Ivan, while wearing the Traveling Pants."); (7) You must write to your Sisters throughout the summer, no matter how much fun you are having without them; (8) You must pass the Pants along to your Sisters according to the specifications set down by the Sisterhood. Failure to comply will result in a severe spanking upon our reunion;( 9) You must not wear the Pants with a tucked-in shirt and belt; and (10) Remember: Pants equal love. Love your pals. Love yourself.

It's never clearly stated in either the movie or the books what was wrong with Bridget's mother. Bridget mentions that her mother sometimes had "good" days and sometimes "bad" days, suggesting some sort of depression or bipolar disorder. Because she was found with a needle in her arm, it's been suggested that she may have been a drug addict, but this cannot be verified by anything in either the books or the movie. Others have suggested that she used the syringe to inject something that caused her suicide like adrenaline, insulin, or even air.

As the summer comes to an end, the girls reunite and share with each other their experiences. Bridget, Lena, and Tibby decide that Carmen MUST attend her father's wedding and force her to come with them on a road trip to South Carolina. Bridget makes Carmen wear the jeans by invoking new rule (11): In the event of an emergency, the pants will automatically go to the sister in need regardless of the schedule. As the wedding ceremony begins, Carmen's father (Bradley Whitford), when he sees Carmen seated in the audience, interrupts the preacher to invite his daughter, 'an important member of this family,' to stand at the altar with them. In the final scene, the girls sit together in the gazebo, sharing the repast and vowing that they will always find their way back to each other.

People who have both read the book and seen the movie report that, outside of the age difference between book and movie, the movie follows the story fairly closely with one exception: Lena's character has undergone major changes. Fans of the book say that the reason they changed Lena's story is because it's sort of sad in the book, and Tibby, Bridget, and Carmen also have very heavy stories that are sad, so the film-makers felt they needed to lighten up one of the storylines with a summer romance, and Lena's was the story they could do it to without changing too much.