Secrets That Hide Behind 10 of Hollywood’s Cult Female Images

Every successful movie or series is not just a story that has an exposition, a climax, and a resolution, but also thoroughly thought-out plotlines, emotionally-touching characters, extraordinary camera work, high-quality acting, and, of course, costumes, which sometimes hide a lot of intriguing details.

The Bright Side editorial found out how costume designers worked on what would become the cult female images of Hollywood.

1. Scarlett O’Hara, Gone with the Wind

The movie Gone with the Wind became a classic in the world of cinematography not only thanks to its plot and camera work but also because of its costume designers. The outfits were made to look both beautiful and realistic — the designers took specific details of the historical epoch into consideration and embodied them on screen.

There was just one issue that was problematic behind the scenes: the filmmakers’ struggle with Vivien Leigh’s body. The issue was that the actress’s breasts were too small and the top parts on all of her dresses (especially the dark red one) weren’t filled out enough. Eventually, costume designer Walter Plunkett decided to bind the main character’s breasts together with adhesive tape to give them more volume.

2. Xena, Xena: Warrior Princess

Xena’s armor suit became one of the most recognizable in the world. Of course, this outfit is far from the historical reality that the series referenced to. The focus was shifted to the actress’s natural beauty.

There are many signs hidden in the warrior princess’s costumes. For example, if you look closer at Xena’s leather skirt, you’ll notice a small metal triangle just below her navel. The “V” shape it makes can symbolize different aspects of feminine power — for example, it can stand for “Valkyrie,” a female figure from Norse mythology, or even Venus, which is usually contrasted with the masculine Mars.

3. Eleven, Stranger Things

In the third season of Stranger Things, Eleven goes to the mall where Max helps her change her look. And it’s not for nothing that the creators of the series decided to go for such a cardinal change.

First of all, fashion drastically changed in the middle of the ’80s (for instance, everyone started to wear very bright colors), and this reality needed to somehow be reflected in the world of the series. Secondly, by the third season, the character herself finally got used to her new powers, learned to control them, and started to feel more confident. And the new look that Max helped her choose reflects this confidence perfectly.

Moreover, Eleven’s life started to look more like the life of an average teenager — she was adopted by Hopper and started a relationship with Mike. This period needed to be shown with the help of costumes. That’s why instead of wearing rags and old things, Eleven, just like other girls, started to wear trendy outfits.

4. Veronica Mars, Veronica Mars

If you look closer at the main character’s costumes, you’ll notice that almost all of her outfits have a khaki color in them. This color is traditionally associated with military uniforms and there’s a reason for this: Veronica is bullied at school and she is looking for strength to protect herself from aggressive attacks. She is a true warrior, which is why the khaki color is always present in the clothes that she wears.

Additionally, attentive viewers may have noticed that Veronica’s clothes repeat in some episodes. This was also done intentionally. The costume designer wanted to add an air of realism: after all, people wear their clothes more than once in real life.

5. Clarice Starling, Hannibal

Just like in the first movie, The Silence of the Lambs, Clarice and Dr. Lecter remain hostages to fashion: Lecter tries to look like a dandy while Starling deliberately refuses fashion trends.

Clarice’s femininity is intentionally not shown in the movie: she is dressed in shapeless but comfortable blouses, jackets, and trousers that in no way enhance her beauty.

Try to recall the movie’s ending: Lecter presents shoes and a dress to Clarice. The shoes are brand name, which is a clear reference to the first part of the movie where the doctor ridiculed young Starling for cheap shoes.

6. Lucy Ricardo, I Love Lucy

I Love Lucy is one of the oldest sitcoms in the history of television. It was on from the year 1951 to 1957. Despite being somewhat old schoolish, Lucy’s character still remains a cult image for Hollywood. What’s more, some media call this series the best TV show of all time.

The character was a real trendsetter among all American housewives of the ’50s. Lucy actively experimented not only with everyday outfits, but also with high fashion creations, and she even partially influenced real-life fashion. For example, in one of the episodes, she wears a dress made from a bag of potatoes; one year later the famous Spanish designer, Cristóbal Balenciaga, showed a “sack” dress to a wide audience and it instantly conquered the hearts of high society ladies.

7. Claire Underwood, House of Cards

All the growing ambitions of the character are manifested not only in her actions but also in her changing her wardrobe.

For instance, in the first 2 seasons, Claire was wearing modest outfits and basically didn’t stand out on the screen much. But the closer she was to her dream, the stricter her wardrobe was becoming. In the last season, it consisted exclusively of costumes that the most powerful people in the world wear.

Also, pay attention to the color of her clothes: the closer Claire is to reaching her goal, the more dark blue she wears. The dark blue color is also called a presidential color. It is believed that this shade conveys the seriousness of a person’s intentions.

8. Lieutenant Ripley, Alien film series

After the release of a series of films about xenomorphs, everyone talked exclusively about these extraterrestrial creatures, and few people paid attention to the clothes of the characters. However, in reality, the Alien movie (1979) became a real breakthrough in the area of costume design. Earlier in space movies, costumes were very specific and were essentially portrayed as a unitary form; moreover, they were not comfortable. In the Alien movie, characters are wearing whatever they want: trousers, T-shirts, and other ordinary clothes.

It played its role: viewers perceived life in the movie as something familiar and self-evident, and, therefore, xenomorphs seemed to everyone to be terribly strange and unusual against this background.

When it comes to Lieutenant Ripley, she wears coveralls (perhaps that was the official uniform) that can be equated to a suit in the eyes of viewers. Thanks to this wardrobe item, she seems to be the only character who has power. And this is true because it’s Ripley who refuses to let the infected person onboard, which is when she manifests her leadership skills. In the final part of the movie, she gets undressed and stays in her underwear, thus, rejecting everything that connected her with her employer, and she regains her humanity.

But getting undressed was not enough for her to become her true self and that’s why in the third movie, Ripley was shaven bald, even though all the characters were forced to. Metaphorically, it meant the completion of the formation of her “self” at her most vulnerable.

9. Liz Lemon, 30 Rock

According to the sitcom’s plot, the main character is a head writer and an executive producer of one small show. Each episode is Liz’s attempt to sort out the issues her subordinates create for her. Despite the absence of world fame, Liz Lemon is one of Hollywood’s favorite characters.

The brightest part of her overall image are her black horn-rimmed glasses. The costume designer made them intentionally: he was trying to implement the idea that smart girls wear glasses, as well as visually oppose Liz to another character, Jenna Maroney, a silly-ish blonde girl.

Therefore, the costume designer managed to foresee the trend that went viral several years after the release of the series: when all girls started to wear glasses (even without lenses) to look stylish and cool.

10. Dana Scully, The X-Files

Scully is the very woman who represents the feminist movement of the ’90s. She dresses up exclusively in basic suits (at that time, suits were a sign that the person wearing them had power), enhancing them with even more basic blouses. As paradoxical as it might sound, this extreme absence of taste and style made the character one of the brightest and controversial fashion icons of those times.

With that being said, she was repeatedly ridiculed in the media and was called one of the most terribly dressed hunters for little green men. The fashion world even came up with the expression: “Scully Suit,” which was used to describe an oversized suit consisting of a blazer and a skirt.

Which female character is your favorite one? Which of them dresses in the most interesting way, in your opinion?