Actors, Designers, And Directors Explain These Interesting Costume Decisions
In films, a character's costume can be more important than you might initially think; it's the final piece to a role. Costumes can be attention grabbers or even play a more significant part in the grand scheme of the plot, such as superhero films or historical pieces. In both cases, a tiny misstep or detail can be a difference between and, in some instances, cause a huge uproar!
In both cases, though, there is a method to the costume department's madness and reasons for their various choices, including their more controversial decisions (cough, Princess Leia, cough).
Bryce Dallas Howard Tan Pumps In Jurassic World
When Jurassic World hit theaters in 2015, it was received with stellar reviews. Well, maybe not everything was met with positivity, including Bryce Dallas Howards nude pumps. In the film, her character, uptight executive Claire, runs through the jungle escaping dinosaurs who are out for blood, in tan heels. Girl, toss the shoes!
Interestingly, when Howard was questioned about the shoe choice, she had a very clear answer, saying, "I don't think she would carry around flats with her. I think she's somebody who could sprint a marathon in heels." Hey, maybe every girl has that one pair of running heels!
Ryan Reynolds All CGI Green Lantern Suit
Many people wish to forget Ryan Reynolds was in Green Lantern, as it was a horrible flop of a movie. But one thing people can't forget was that the plot wasn't the only disaster. We're talking about Green Lantern's super suit, of which is, for some reason, all CGI.
Reynolds has gone on record saying he didn't agree with the CGI costume, saying he didn't even know what the suit looked like until the film was released. Designer Ngila Dickson explained her reasoning, saying, "the suit was his power manifesting outside the body." In the end, she agreed the innovation wasn't worth the horrible result.
Marilyn Monroe In "That Silly Little Dress"
Marilyn Monroe arguably wears one of the most famous costumes in the film The Seven Year Itch. Throughout history, her iconic white dress has been duplicated by impersonators, mimicked for parties, and worn for Halloween. But, in the 50s, "that silly little dress," as costume designer William Travilla called it, caused quite the stir.
In the film, Monroe is seen standing over a subway grate, holding down her dress as it flaps wildly around her. It was scandalous! But the dress design served a purpose. Travilla wanted to design a dress that would illustrate Monroe's innocent and sweet nature while accentuating her overall natural appeal. Mission accomplished!
George Clooney's Anatomically Correct Bat Suit
One of the most controversial costumes just so happens to be in the Batman franchise, with George Clooney's anatomically correct bat suit in Batman & Robin. While fans will never let the franchise, director, or actor, live down the suit; there was a reason for the vividly chiseled and accurate chest.
Director Joel Schumacher said, "The bodies for the suits—the inspiration for them are Greek statues that have perfect bodies. And, so, we're molding this perfect body in rubber" Apparently, it never occurred to the man that making the suit look like a shirtless mannequin was a bad idea.
Carrie Fisher's Slave Leia Bikini
As the only notable female character in the original Star Wars series, Carrie Fisher's Princess Leia slave costume has been a controversial topic for some time. In Return of the Jedi, the costume sparked the idea among viewers that Fisher and her character were being objectified for the sole reason of their gender.
As it turns out, that was never the intention behind designers Aggie Guerard Rodgers and Nilo Rodis-Jamero two-piece costume. They took inspiration from Frank Frazetta's cover art for The Princess of Mars. George Lucas loved the idea and wanted something different, so they ran with the idea.
Theda Bara's Period-Appropriate Cleopatra Costume
Theda Bara's Cleopatra costume in the 1917 film Cleopatra stirred more than one controversy. At the time, showing too much ankle on-screen was scandalous, let alone a low-cut dress with cutouts! But, you have to hand it to Bara. She didn't sway from her vision of the character.
The actress made it known that she wanted to make the character as authentic-looking as possible, working with a curator of Egyptology at the Metropolitan Museum to make sure her style was period-appropriate and that the dress and jewelry details were authentic. The costume may have been controversial at the time, but you have to admire authenticity!
Princess Merida's Disney Princess Makeover
In 2012, Disney and Pixar animation gave the world a new type of princess in the form of Scottish archer Merida in Brave. Finally, a princess that's bold and adventurous with her unruly curly red hair and hate for all things formal. Fans loved her style. But that all changed when Disney announced Merida as the 11th Disney Princess and gave her a makeover.
Their 2D drawing of Merida left her with a cinched waist, sparkly formal gown, smoothed-out hair, and bigger eyes. After receiving a lot of backlash for the "prettier" Merida, Disney explained the redesign by saying all Princesses go through multiple makeovers. Merida would hate it.
Maureen O'Sullivan's Jane Costume Was Scandalous In The 30s
The character of Tarzan has traditionally worn a loincloth in film, since he's born and raised and living in the jungle, and there's never been an uproar. But when Maureen O'Sullivan donned a similar ensemble for the 1934 film Tarzan and His Mate, she was getting more than one hate letter from women.
According to O'Sullivan, the costume was actually going to be more revealing. Instead of a loincloth-type top and bottom, she was going to wear strategically-placed leaves! That didn't work out, though. Even so, the costume was designed to make it look as though Jane was on the same page as Tarzan.
Changing Naomi Scott And Mena Massoud Costumes in Aladdin
When it comes to remakes, it's a risk changing up iconic costumes, especially when those remakes happen to be a Disney classic such as Aladdin. In the original animated film, the main characters of Aladdin and Jasmine are seen wearing slightly revealing outfits, something that changed and caused quite a controversy in the live-action retelling.
In the 2019 film, costume designers took a risk, dressing Naomi Scott and Mena Massoud in less-revealing outfits. Their reasoning for the choice was to make the film more authentic. Since Agrabah is likely set in the Middle East, Jasmine would likely not be wearing a midriff-bearing top, and Aladdin wouldn't be roaming the streets shirtless.
Joaquin Phoenix's Lack Of Joker Purple And Green
Although the 2019 film Joker starring Joaquin Phoenix, was critically acclaimed upon its release, receiving numerous positive reviews and awards, there was still an aspect of the film that caused controversy among fans of the character. Traditionally, the Joker is clad in purple and green, something the designers threw out the window.
Designer Mark Bridges explained that the suit was reflective of the early 1980s city setting. More importantly, each item is worn by Authur Fleck at some point in the film: the vest from his clown costume and the jacket from stand-up. But the removal of the traditional purple color was Bridge's way of making a distinctively iconic character.
Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman Shoes
Wonder Woman is one of those characters that can't seem to escape controversy no matter how many costume changes she goes through. For Gal Gadot's portrayal of the Amazonian warrior, many fans weren't exactly thrilled with the shoes. Apparently, the tiny skirt and strapless top are okay to fight in, but the slight wedge in the shoes is a no-no to some.
Regardless of the haters, Gadot's costume was thoroughly thought out. During an interview with Pret-a-Reporter, designer Michael Wilkinson said, "We wanted to create something incredibly strong and portray her as a legitimate fighter." Personally, we think she looks like a warrior, so mission accomplished.
Afshan Azad And Shefali Chowdhury's Traditional Indian Attire At A Ball In Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire
During the film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the three schools come together for the Yule Ball, as a way to come together during the Triwizard Tournament. The ball is pretty much the only time audience members see the students dressed up. So it was upsetting to many seeing Afshan Azad And Shefali Chowdhury's characters, Parvati and Padma, dressed in not-as-fancy outfits.
According to some fans, the costumes are nothing more than traditional everyday attire for Indian women, and not something worn to a ball. Of course, the designers came out to defend their wardrobe, saying that their costumes were downplayed to put more focus on Hermione's dress.
Natalie Portman's All-White Outfit In Attack Of The Clones
Unfortunately, it looks like costume designers took nothing away from the slave Leia incident when they went to work on the Star Wars prequel films. In Attack of the Clones, the leading female character Padmé, played by Natalie Portman, wears an all-white, skintight outfit that is not-so conveniently slashed during a battle to expose her midriff.
Needless to say, female fans weren't happy with the costume choice for the former Queen. According to costume designer Trisha Biggar, filmmaker George Lucas wanted the character to be "gorgeous, and young in skimpy clothes." He obviously didn't learn from past mistakes!
Lily James' Tiny Little Cinderella Waist
In Disney's quest to remake all of their classic films into live-action movies, Lily James was cast as one of the princesses, Cinderella. And while the film had its faults, since nothing will live up to the original cartoon picture, there was one aspect audiences couldn't get past -- the tiny waistline of the title character.
While there was actually no rhyme or reason for the slim waist, James still came to her own defense. During an interview, the actress said, "I naturally have a really small waist. The skirt's big, and the corset pulls me in."
Chris Evans' Captain America Uniform Was A Bit Too Bright
Unfortunately for Marvel, they did Captain America wrong in The Avengers. Played by Chris Evans, Steve Rogers, aka Cap, fought off alien forces wearing a uniform that resembled something closer to a child's Halloween costume than a serious hero's outfit. The colors were way too bright, cheesy, and overall unappealing to the general audience.
The reason behind the overwhelming stars and stripes super suit was more of a mistake on the costume department than anything. And thankfully, everyone listened to the fans' feedback moving forward, reworking the suit and making the colors a bit duller.
Henry Cavill's Darker And Broodier Superman Costume
When it comes to comic book fans, messing up a super-suit is one of the worst things a costume department can do, especially if that hero is as iconic as Superman. Alas, Henry Cavill and his team on the set of Man of Steel decided to do something different with the character.
Since Cavill's interpretation of Superman was a bit darker and broodier than past characters, he wanted something different with his suit to reflect the personality. So, they said goodbye to the bright colors and hello to darker shades. Needless to say, people weren't too thrilled. But they couldn't fault them for removing the outer underwear.
Kristen Stewart's Obvious Wig In The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Poor Kristen Stewart, always getting flak for her time on the set of Twilight. But this one instance is warranted, considering it's a bad wig job and was very obvious throughout The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. As it so happened, Stewart had just wrapped up filming The Runaways, a film where she plays pixie-haired rocker, Joan Jett.
As a result, the Twilight team had no choice but to put a wig on the actress, as Bella Swan has long hair. Unfortunately, fans of the franchise noticed right away that something was off with the actress's hair. Honestly, the costume department couldn't have found a better wig?
Playing C-3PO Wasn't Fun For Anthony Daniels
From the original Star Wars series in the '70s, into the modern-day prequel flicks, and finishing off with the new trilogy, actor Anthony Daniels has played the beloved human-cyborg C-3po through it all. And while he is one of the more beloved characters in the franchise, Daniels admits that his costume alienated him on set.
While the costume wasn't controversial on-screen, it certainly was on-set! During an interview, Daniels said, "It's not easy for me being in the suit because I'm slightly separated from everybody else. After a few days, I had become an object. People forgot I was in there."
Pirates of the Caribbean's British Soldiers Were Historically Inaccurate
Obviously, there is much to appreciate when it comes to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, especially the sound performance by Johnny Depp. But there is one thing viewers couldn't get over -- the historical inaccuracy of the British soldiers' uniforms. While the movies are set in the 1700s, the redcoat uniforms wouldn't come around for another half a century!
While this mishap can be chalked up to the costume department not doing thorough research, it's most likely to help younger viewers with
Everything In Cats
The motion picture Cats goes to show that no matter how many stars are in one movie, it doesn't mean it's going to be good. In contrast, the movie was pretty horrible, with a lot of criticism going towards the creepy cat costume that relied way too heavily on CGI.
Thankfully, there is a reason for the cats, and it was to do with the actors overheating in fur prosthetics. According to the chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, Donna Langley, "There were all sorts of technical problems with dancers overheating and not being able to keep the fur on. It didn't look good." Well, neither did the CGI.
