Making a movie is a big, multifaceted process, and costume design is just a small part of it. However, that part alone took a lot of effort from several people and departments. The character's costumes are required to accurately represent the personality of each character as well as help the audience visualize the context and era of the film. From the costume designer to the craftsman and seamstress on set, everyone is in charge of choosing the costumes for each character in the film.
However, due to the heavy workload, there are countless opportunities for movie costume mistakes to happen, and they're more common than you might think! For example, in “The Doors", a biographical movie about 1960s rock band singer Jim Morrison, Val Kilmer's Morrison wore Ray-Bans that wasn't even produced until the 80s. Or Orlando Bloom carried an umbrella hundreds of years too early in “Troy”. We can't believe these errors made it all the way to the final edit without being discovered sooner.
So, let's take a look at 15 costume mistakes that fellow cinephiles that observant viewers just cannot overlook.
#1 Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
Source: IMDb
Peggy Carter was perfectly portrayed by the stunning Hayley Atwell. But her hairstyle wasn't quite on the mark. The haircut actually suits the WWII-era style but her character shouldn't strictly have been wearing locks down when serving.
#2 Wonder Woman (2017)
Source: Entertainment Access
Did you notice that Wonder Woman shaved her armpits? Gal Gadot's character had no human interaction and didn't know their ideals of beauty, therefore her smooth underarms aroused many questions. In fact, fans weren't pleased to see her well-groomed in the 2017 movie's trailer. Some of them also note that her armpits are a different color than the rest of her body.
#3 The Doors (1991)
Source: Radiator Heaven
"The Doors" is a biographical movie about 1960s rock band singer Jim Morrison. In the film, Morrison has a Ray-Bans style, which wasn't created before the 80s.
#4 Troy (2004)
Source: YouTube/Movie Scenes
According to historians, ancient Greece knew about parasols in the 5th century BC. The mythical siege of Troy is generally thought to have taken place in the 12th or 13th century. So, why did the flamingo-pink parasol appear in this period?
#5 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
Source: scribol
If you like the "Pirates of the Caribbean" films, you may be familiar with British Empire in the franchise. Although the redcoat is a representation of the British Empire, the movie's version of the uniform didn't exist until 1747. However, the film is set during King George I's reign (1714 -1727).
#6 Elizabeth I (2005 miniseries)
Source: YouTube
Although Helen Mirren did a great job portraying Elizabeth I, there was a problem with her costume. Her character regularly wears neck ruffs, which were popular in Tudor England but these are paired with long, collared shirts. Mirren doesn't wear that kind of clothes.
#7 Django Unchained (2012)
Source: YouTube/Stream Movie Trailers
In "Django Unchained," Jamie Fox plays the character Django, who looks absolutely amazing in gold-rimmed sunglasses. The issue is that his specific design of black-shaded lenses is a 20th-century creation. With his cool looks, no one has a problem with them.
#8 Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Source: YouTube
Some fans have noted that Matt Damon's paratrooper character wears black jump boots. But black boots weren't even popular until the 1950s.
#9 The King's Speech (2010)
Source: YouTube
You can see that Colin Firth’s character George VIis wearing an Irish-inspired plaid kilt. In actuality, the kilts worn by members of the British royal family are of the Scottish Balmoral pattern, which has been a tradition for the British royal family since 1853.
#10 American Hustle (2013)
Source: YouTube
The music, fashions, and energy of the late 1970s were expertly captured, but this movie made one major error. Louis CK plays FBI supervisor Stoddard Thorsen, and he sports a gold Rolex GMT-Master II watch. This watch was released in 2005. Another thing to note is that his character doesn't have enough salary to buy an expensive Rolex watch.
#11 The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)
Source: IMDb
In the "The Other Boleyn Girl", Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman wear French Hoods. In fact, the French hood consists of a veil at the back that covers the hair. So, it seems like both actresses were just wearing French headbands.
#12 Hello, Dolly! (1969)
Source: YouTube Movies
"Hello, Dolly!" is one of the last big, old-fashioned musicals and gorgeous Barbra Streisand performed brilliantly as Dolly Levi. However, there is one little problem in the film. As the movie is set in the 1890s, her heavy cat-eye makeup just wasn't a thing in 19th-century New York City.
#13 Pearl Harbor (2001)
Source: YouTube
As not wearing stockings and showing the bare flesh on legs in the fusty 1940s was not flattering, it is hard to believe that the leggy ladies in this movie didn't know about it. During World War II, to overcome the problem of not wearing nylon stockings, women started drawing lines on the backs of their legs to give the appearance of wearing them.
#14 Pretty Woman (1990)
Source: IMDb
"Pretty Woman" is considered one of the best romantic comedies of all time. After Edward and Vivian share their first kiss, her long nightgown becomes visibly much smaller.
#15 Catch Me If You Can (2002)
Source: YouTube
When watching "Catch Me If You Can", few people notice that Amy Adams' character is wearing braces in some very strange way. Only those with some knowledge of dental history would discover that the metal wire braces she wore in the 1960s only became popular in the following decade.