12 Cinematic Costumes With Hidden Messages That Immediately Reveal All the Secrets of the Character

The work of costume designers is meticulous. However, they do more than just choose clothing that suits the actors and corresponds to their characters. They go above and beyond, embedding hints and messages in the costumes that reveal plot developments or characterize the personas.

Daphne’s dresses in Bridgerton

For the costumes in the series was responsible for the famous Ellen Mirojnick, who dressed the characters of “Basic Instinct”, “Maleficent” and many other famous films. She and her team created all the outfits from scratch and put a lot of symbolic aspects into them.

For example, before marriage, Daphne wears mostly muted blue dresses that speak of her innocence. But when she becomes a duchess, the colour palette of her wardrobe changes to a more saturated one and even darker outfits appear.

Rick Dalton and Cliff Booth’s clothes in Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood turned out to be a great tribute by Quentin Tarantino to the cinema he grew up with during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The director and his costume designer, Arianne Phillips, were meticulous down to the smallest details of their characters.

For example: the cowboy boots worn by Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) symbolize how he tries to feel like a tough guy with his film or television roles, while the dainty loafers worn by his stunt double, Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) represent that he is, indeed, a tough guy.

The Indiana Jones costume in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

If the suit worn by Harrison Ford during Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom looks familiar, it is because it is indeed a tribute to the one worn by Sean Connery’s James Bond in Goldfinger. In this way, one of the most important heroes of Western action cinema paid homage to another.

Curiously, Indiana and Connery would later share the screen during Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, where the Connery played the father of the character played by Ford.

The costumes of the Bene Gesserit in Dune

One of the most interesting components of Dune, the great new adaptation of the classic science fiction novel, is the mystery surrounding the figures of the Bene Gesserit, wrapped in dark robes and veils that undoubtedly give them a very somber yet magnetic touch.

According to costume designer Jacqueline West, their robes are based on Tarot cards, the queen in the game of chess, and medieval nuns, which is in keeping with both the objects and their power to predict the future.

Chris Evans’ sweater in Knives Out

Sometimes the most imperceptible details in a wardrobe can add up in characterization. In the case of Chris Evans’ character in Knives Out, what appears to be a simple hole in his sweater aptly represents his indifference and disrespect.

Alice’s clothes in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Tim Burton is a director who is known for giving a lot of personality to the worlds he creates. For his version of Alice in Wonderland, he tried to convey the change in the main character’s personality through the costumes, starting the film with a light blue dress reminiscent of the animated version and evolving during the adventure to clothes more characteristic of the director’s style.

The attire of the employees in The Grand Budapest Hotel

Wes Anderson is a director who places great emphasis on set and costume design. For his film, The Grand Budapest Hotel, his regular costume designer, Milena Canonero, was inspired by the sketches of Italian tailor Umberto Tirelli to create the uniforms of the hotel employees.

In the case of Zero Moustafa’s character (Tony Revolori), his short-jacket wardrobe and Lobby Boy’s cap mark him out as Monsieur Gustave’s (Ralph Fiennes) apprentice while Feinnes’ wardrobe looks classically elegant, but also with a somewhat eccentric personal touch, just like his character.

Aragorn and Boromir’s bracers in the LOTR Trilogy

Aragorn is one of the most important characters in Peter Jackson’s great adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s books. To take his performance to another level, actor Viggo Mortensen was an integral part in thinking about the outfits the character should wear, using the costumes even in his free time to better adapt them to his mobility.

Likewise, a great detail that can be seen from the second film is that he takes the armbands of Boromir, his fallen companion in the first film, to pay homage to him in what remains of the adventure.

Mia’s shoes at the La La Land ball

One of the most memorable scenes in La La Land occurs when the characters played by Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone have their roadside dance. A subtle, but significant detail during that scene is that Stone’s character takes off her heels and changes into tap shoes.

While it may not seem to say much at first, it turns out that the character doesn’t wear heels again until the end of their relationship, symbolizing the great effort she made to fit in with him.

Hidden details in the Ant-Man and The Wasp costumes

The costumes of Ant-Man and his sidekick, The Wasp, look like ordinary superhero armor at first glance. However, if we take a closer look at the chest of both suits, we will notice a silhouette similar to an ant’s head on the Ant-Man’s suit and a face with a wasp-like countenance on The Wasp.

Ewan McGregor’s pajamas in Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)

Ewan McGregor played a flamboyant villain for the Harley Quinn movie, with a personality so egotistical that almost all of his personal items are customized in their own way. This was taken to another level with his pajamas, where we can directly see his face reflected in the fabric pattern.

Wedding dress in Marry me

According to the creators of the film, the wedding dress of the heroine Jennifer Lopez was supposed to become a symbol of the turning point in the plot. Therefore, they made sure that the dress turned out to be really grandiose.

The metallic coloured dress consisted of 9 layers, including silk taffeta, horsehair and tulle. Silver details, crystals and lace made the costume incredibly heavy. It weighed 43kg. It required the help of five people to put the outfit on Jennifer.

Dazzlingly beautiful, but heavy dress epitomised the burden that the heroine almost took on herself. After all, she had almost married a cheater.

Many celebrities carry this cool technique into real life as well. They wear outfits to events that hide hints and secret messages.