20+ Costume-Design Secrets That All of Viewers Missed in Famous Movies

There are many factors that contribute to the success of a film or TV show. A fantastic script, even better actors, and a talented director-producer team are all necessary. But those are only the obvious parts.
The more subtle aspects, such as expert camera work, a catchy soundtrack, and clever costumes, often play a large role in maintaining audience interest. The way a character dresses can reveal information about their personality and how they've changed over time, as well as provide plot hints.
We owe a special thanks to our talented costume designers, who work extremely hard behind the scenes to convey messages to us through their works of art. They enhance the film's visuals and aid us in understanding each character's mood through small details. The movie characters also seem more authentic thanks to costume designers.
Here are a few of our favorite outstanding costume details from movies and television shows. Let's dig deep and discuss your favorite details with us.

#1 Except for Snape's signature all-black outfit and cape, all of the costumes in the Harry Potter films changed slightly from film to film.

Source: Warner Bros.

"I used the Professor Snape costume and I remade it. I made another cape," costume designer Jany Temime said. "I always kept Professor Snape [as he was], because I thought it was a great costume." Jany first appeared in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

#2 In Little Women, each of the March sisters has a distinct color scheme: Meg is green and lavender, Beth is brown and pink, Amy is light blue, and Jo is red and indigo.

Source: Sony Pictures Releasing

Jacqueline Durran told Vogue, "The colors are actually pulled from the notebooks that Marmee gives the girls in the book, and we added lavender for Meg."

#3 During the 300th episode of Grey's Anatomy, George and Cristina's doppelgängers are dressed in clothes similar to what those characters used to wear.

Source: ABC

Cristina's doppelgänger is dressed in a leather jacket because she used to ride a motorcycle, while George's doppelgänger is dressed in a tan fur-lined jacket.

#4 If you look closely at Stranger Things, you can see that Robin has drawn all over her Converse, which apparently includes the phrase "God likes you of course" and a lot of boobs.

Source: Netflix

Maya Hawke was free to draw whatever she wanted on the costumes.

#5 The outfit Sansa wears when she officially becomes Queen of the North in the Game of Thrones series finale has nods to all of the Starks.

Source: HBO

Bran gets weirwood leaves, Arya gets a one-sided cloak, Catelyn gets a scaly pattern, Jon gets a black cloak, Rickon gets tufts of black fur, Robb gets the crown, Ned gets a gray gown, and she gets a sewing needle.

#6 T'Challa is purple, Okoye is red, and Nakia is green, and each character wears a different color throughout the film.

Source: Marvel

Ruth E. Carter, the costume designer, commented on the color choices, saying, "Every character has a specific color — it’s a nice way of giving people their own identity. We use color like comic books do, with each character staying in their lane as far as their palette goes."

#7 Molly in Booksmart wears a turtleneck, blazer, and tights on the last day of school to stand out and appear more mature than her classmates, who are dressed for summer — this outfit was inspired by Olivia Wilde, who felt like an outsider when she first arrived in LA because she was still dressed for the East Coast.

Source: United Artists Releasing

April Napier, the costume designer, explained, "It was really important for us to make sure that Beanie [Feldstein] held that same [aesthetic]. She’s so East Coast–based in her looks and her thinking: She wants to be a lawyer and the youngest woman on the Supreme Court, so we wanted to keep her very collegiate and inappropriate for the time."

#8 In Widows, as more secrets are revealed, Veronica's clothing becomes darker and darker until she is dressed entirely in black.

Source: 20th Century Fox

"We wanted to keep it simple because Viola [Davis] herself is such a powerful actress in character, so I wanted to keep it very structured, very simple," costume designer Jenny Eagan said of Veronica's wardrobe.

#9 When a group of assassins storm Villanelle's apartment in Season 2, you can see them stealing her iconic pink dress from Season 1.

Source: BBC America

Phoebe de Gaye, costume designer, spoke about finding the iconic pink dress, saying, "It’s a big opportunity for her to do a sort of very girly thing, but undercut it by putting it with boots. There was some discussion about it and whether to go a bit more classical. But in the end, they did go with it, and I’m glad they did because I thought it worked well."

#10 Outlander's Brianna is given a bunch of Claire's old clothes from Season 1 after traveling back in time and visiting Lallybroch.

Source: Starz

Terry Dresbach, the costume designer, explained, "The green plaid dress Claire wears [in Season 1], Brianna wears, but it's been remade. And the green coat with the white fur hood, it comes out of a trunk and Bree wears it."

#11 On Scandal, after Olivia decides to leave Fitz, she starts wearing brighter colors like yellow, orange, purple, and red because she's "reinventing herself" during Season 5.

Source: ABC

"When she walked away from Fitz, with all that lovely Prada luggage they shipped in from Italy for us, she was walking away from the life she thought she wanted, and she's reinventing herself," costume designer Lyn Paolo explained.

#12 On Stranger Things, when Mike, Dustin, Will, and Lucas dress up as the Ghostbusters for Halloween, Will's costume appears to be more handcrafted than the others.

Source: Netflix

"We thought about whose costume would be more 'together' and whose would be less, and whose mom maybe made it from scratch and whose mom didn't." costume designer Kim Wilcox explained.

#13 The holes in Ransom's sweaters in Knives Out were intentional — they showed that he didn't take care of his belongings and gave him "a touch of that disrespect."

Source: Lionsgate

Jenny Eagan, the costume designer, elaborated, saying, "I imagine it laying on the chair in his bedroom and he just threw it on day after day. But giving it little nicks or little holes here and there, meaning he didn't take care of it...the holes and the tatter gave him a touch of that disrespect. It was a disrespect to the family, a disrespect to the name, a disrespect to his clothes."

#14 Jo and Laurie are constantly swapping vests and wearing each other's clothes throughout Little Women; Greta Gerwig explained that this symbolized the idea that they were each other's other half.

Source: Sony Pictures Releasing

The idea for swapping vests came from costume designer Jacqueline Durran, who collaborated with Saoirse Ronan and Timothée Chalamet.

#15 In Deadpool 2, Wade wears a shirt with Meredith and Olivia, Taylor Swift's cats, as a nod to Ryan Reynolds and Taylor's friendship.

Source: 20th Century Fox

#16 During the party scene in Get Out, everyone is dressed in black or white with some pops of red — the black and white are meant to symbolize the film's racial tensions, and red is often associated with secret societies.

Source: Universal Pictures

#17 If you look closely at Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, you can see that part of the curtains in Donna's room are missing, which is because the Dynamos used the material for their outfits in "When I Kissed the Teacher."

Source: Universal Pictures

#18 In Spider-Man, Peter Parker is dressed in the Green Goblin's colors, while Norman Osborn is dressed in Spider-signature Man's colors at Thanksgiving dinner.

Source: Sony Pictures Releasing

#19 Cal and Angela's children in Watchmen wear owl and pirate costumes, a nod to Nite Owl and Tales of the Black Freighter, which were pirate comic books in the original Watchmen comics.

Source: HBO

#3 In Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Sophie wears a butterfly-patterned dress during "My Love, My Life," as a tribute to young Donna, who wore a butterfly necklace.

Source: Universal Pictures

#21 When T'Challa, Okoye, and Nakia are in the casino, they are dressed in the Pan-African flag colors of red, black, and green.

Source: Marvel

#22 Sabrina wears a red dress with a lace collar in Season 1 of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, which is an homage to Mia Farrow's iconic dress in Rosemary's Baby.

Source: Netflix / CBS via Getty Images

#23 Twyla is wearing one of Alexis' dresses at David and Patrick's wedding in the Schitt's Creek series finale, which is a great nod to when Alexis gave Twyla a bag of her clothes.

Source: Pop / CBC

#24 Following Denny's death in Season 2 of Grey's Anatomy, Izzie can be seen wearing the sweater she knitted for him while grieving.

Source: ABC