10 Costume Details That Reveal a Character’s Nature Without Words

Everything that is shown in movies is shown for a reason. Even the smallest detail in a costume, like the color of the dress or a brooch, can reveal the nature of a character. Here are a few messages that moviemakers sent to viewers with the help of costumes.

Rhaenyra and Daemon — House of the Dragon

The development of the characters in this series is conveyed through the colors they wear. The colors of the Targaryen dynasty are black and red. In the beginning, Rhaenyra is in light yellow or beige. She’s a young girl who hasn’t yet been dragged into the family.

However, young Rhaenyra already shows the potential that will be revealed in the future. Just look at the scales on her shoulders. As she grows up and becomes more powerful, she gets covered with scales (see her dress on the right).

The Targaryen costumes are adorned with symbols that stress the power of their house — buckles, buttons, and helmets featuring dragons.

Interestingly, Daemon’s costume during the tournament was inspired by samurai armor.

The White Widow — Mission: Impossible — Fallout

Alanna is a well-known activist and philanthropist. But in reality, it’s just a cover for her criminal activities because she’s an illegal arms dealer known as the White Widow. And this brooch hints at her alter ego.

Hannibal Lecter — The Silence of the Lambs

The costume designers of the movie, The Silence of the Lambs, had to think hard to come up with the design for Hannibal Lecter’s mask. Eventually, it was made from fiberglass. At first, they wanted to paint it. But when they saw that fiberglass looked like an old piece of dried-up leather, they realized it was great as it was.

Chrissy — Stranger Things

The events of the fourth season take place in 1986. And to reinforce this feeling, the popular high school student Chrissy wears a pendant in the shape of “86.”

The jackets of the basketball team players are also adorned with the number 86.

Gu Xiang — Word of Honor

This young woman acts like a maid serving a rich man. But if you pay attention to her robes, you’ll notice that she prefers purple over any other color, and there is a reason for that — she is the Purple Danger. She grew up in the Ghost Valley, a dangerous place where cruel criminals are exiled.

Lucifer — The Sandman

The Sandman is a comic book, and when creating it, the author, Neil Gaiman, was inspired by the looks of his favorite artists. So Lucifer’s prototype is David Bowie. The costume designers of the series dressed Lucifer in a black leather suit so that they looked like a rock star.

Damon — The Vampire Diaries

In the first season, Damon has the aura of “a bad guy” — he chooses to wear dark colors and loves leather jackets. But by season 7, this character has gone through a significant transformation. Damon has become kinder. He saves his friends and wears the clothes of a human being, like checkered shirts, for example.

Tatum — Scream

Scream is a horror movie, and it would have made sense if the characters wore dark, depressive-looking clothes, but this was not the case. Just look at these red jeans.

You can see a lot of orange, yellow, and red colors in the movie. And this happened for a reason. Interestingly, the costume designer was inspired by the famous painting by the Norwegian artist, Edvard Munch.

Sophie — The School for Good and Evil

The movie’s main character is a simple village girl who dreams of becoming a princess. In a dream, Sophie watches as she arrives at the ball. The crowd is stunned by her beauty, and a lackey even passes out.

We can see her feet in transparent shoes for a few seconds, so it’s not hard to guess that Sophie dreams of herself as Cinderella.

Hurrem — Magnificent Century

Hurrem wears this dress when she’s going to the sultan’s chamber to charm him. She has a piece of very unusual jewelry around her neck, which looks like a gold rope. The high-ranking harem women usually wear a chain with a pendant or a semicircular necklace. But Hurrem chooses tassels that emphasize her décolleté area.

Hurrem didn’t wear these bright-colored outfits at the beginning of the series. But over time, the colors of her clothes become more affluent.

Hatice Sultan and Mihrimah Sultan (above) have the types of necklaces that are typical for the series.

Attentive viewers may have noticed that these 2 actresses who played Hurrem and her rival, Mahidevran, wore the same jewelry, the beautiful diadem.

Do costume designers do the right thing by adding that much meaning to characters’ outfits? Or is this not really necessary?