33 Costume Design Details In Movies That Are As Subtle As They Are Smart

In Forrest Gump, whenever the time changes, he's wearing a blue shirt.

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1. The Mean Girls necklaces.

In Mean Girls (2004), queen bee Regina wears a “R” necklace around her neck. Cady begins wearing a “C” necklace once she has humiliated Regina and taken her place. from MovieDetails

2. The Zombieland: Double Tap Von Dutch top.

In Zombieland 2: Doubletap (2019), the character of Madison is seen wearing a Von Dutch tank top. New fashion trends stopped when Z-land happened in 2009, when Von Dutch apparel was at its height of popularity. from MovieDetails

3. The Little Women (2019) swapped clothes.

In Little Women (2019), Laurie and Jo swap articles of clothing from MovieDetails

4. The Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix pink progression.

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), Umbridge's outfits become a darker shade of pink as she becomes more powerful. Official fact from the "Warner Bros Studio Tour". from MovieDetails

5. The Black Panther flag.

In "Black Panther" (2018), the outfits of T'Challa, Nakia, and Okoye while they travel to Korea represent the colors of the Pan-African flag. from MovieDetails

6. The Monty Python and the Holy Grail chain mail.

In Monty Python and The Holy Grail the chain mail was actually knitted yarn. I have seen this movie about 30 times and just noticed this detail yesterday. Not sure if it was super obvious to everyone else.... from MovieDetails

7. The Knives Out sweater.

In Knives Out (2019), Ransom's sweater has a ripped collar and several noticeable holes. The costume designer added this detail to show Ransom’s nonchalance towards his wealth and disrespect for his family. Source in comments. from MovieDetails

8. The Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Nazi uniforms.

In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), the Nazi outfits are genuine World War 2 uniforms, not costumes. They were found in Eastern Europe by Co-Costume Designer Joanna Johnston. from MovieDetails

The costume designer Anthony Powell studied the uniforms in depth and shared his images and drawings with co-costume designer Joanna Johnston, who then found the real uniforms with her team.

9. The Back to the Future Part II foreshadowing shirt.

In Back to the Future 2, Docs shirt design has two horses chasing a steam train, foreshadowing the events of the next film. from MovieDetails

10. And the Back to the Future Part III bandana.

Doc Brown's bandana from Back to the Future: Part III is made from his shirt from Back to the Future: Part II. from MovieDetails

11. The Juno mimicry.

In Juno (2007) Mark dresses more and more like Juno after each encounter with her from MovieDetails

12. The Star Wars: The Last Jedi repaired jacket.

In The Last Jedi (2017) you can see Finn’s jacket has been repaired. Patching the hole from Kylo Ren’s lightsaber in The Force Awakens. from MovieDetails

13. The Captain America: The Winter Soldier necklace.

In Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) Black Widow is seen wearing an arrow necklace, a nod toward her close partnership to Hawkeye. from MovieDetails

14. The Harry Potter fading robes.

In the Harry Potter films, Voldemort’s robes faded in colour every time a Horcrux was destroyed, to give the impression he was slowly fading away. from MovieDetails

15. The Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom dress-up.

Stephen Spielberg wanted to direct a James Bond film, but Eon studios said no. When he told George Lucas this, they decided to create Indiana Jones, and in this scene in Indiana Jones 2, Indiana Jones is dressed as James Bond. from MovieDetails

16. The The 40-Year-Old Virgin face T-shirt.

In the 40-Year-Old Virgin, Paul Rudd wears a shirt with his photo on it. The photo came from the day they shot their work badges. The costumer printed it on a shirt on a whim and left it with the rest of Rudd’s wardrobe. When he saw it, he chose to wear it in this scene. from MovieDetails

17. The Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets hand-me-down Ron's robes.

In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, you can see that Ron's robes are dingier/older than everyone else's, as they are hand-me-downs. from MovieDetails

18. And the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix hand-me-downs.

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007). Dumbledore's Army: All the girls are wearing skirts except Ginny (3rd from left) who is wearing pants; probably a hand-me-down from her brothers. (Good going costume department) from MovieDetails

19. The Jurassic World homage.

Just noticed that in Jurassic World when Bryce Dallas Howard rolls up her sleeves and ties her shirt at the bottom to say “I’m ready”, she’s wearing it the same way Laura Dern did in Jurassic Park. from MovieDetails

20. The Scott Pilgrim vs. the World band shirt.

In Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (2010), Scott is seen wearing a "Plumtree" shirt. Plumtree is a Canadian band that, in 1997 released a song called Scott Pilgrim. This song would inspire Bryan Lee O'Malley to create the Scott Pilgrim comics, which the movie is based off of. from MovieDetails

21. ...and the Scott Pilgrim vs. the World band shirt.

In Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), Neil is wearing a Sloan shirt. This is a Canadian Rock band. Chris Murphy, a member of the band, was the music coach for Michael Cera and the other actors. from MovieDetails

22. The Breakfast Club inside out sweater.

The Breakfast Club's Brian has turned his sweater inside out after smoking weed. from MovieDetails

23. The Rocketman "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" outfit.

In Rocketman, during the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road scene, Elton is wearing a blue suit with red slippers for Dorothy, a silver shirt for the Tin Man, a straw hat for the Scarecrow and a furry coat for the Cowardly Lion. from MovieDetails

24. The Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 father references.

Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom wore similar clothes, during the Battle of Hogwarts, to their fathers in an old picture. (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II, 2011) from MovieDetails

25. The Forrest Gump blue shirt.

In Forrest Gump (1994), after every temporal transition, Forrest is always wearing a blue shirt which symbolizes a change in time. from MovieDetails

26. The Crazy Rich Asians ring.

The emerald ring worn by Eleanor in “Crazy Rich Asians” is not a prop but an actual piece owned and designed by Michelle Yeoh. She chose to wear it instead of the one designed by the film’s art department because she felt it was truer to her character’s taste. from MovieDetails

27. The National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation "turtleneck."

In "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation", you can see that Eddie is wearing a mock turtleneck that shows through his sweater. from MovieDetails

28. The Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix teaching attire.

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), Harry wears button down sweaters at DA meetings similar to what Professor Lupin would wear. This was Daniel Radcliffe's idea as he thought Harry would want to emulate his favorite DADA teacher from MovieDetails

29. The Thor: Ragnarok gloves.

Thor: Ragnarok (2017) is the only MCU film where Dr.Strange used his classic yellow gloves from the comics. from MovieDetails

30. The Spaceballs look-a-like.

Before making Spaceballs, Mel Brooks asked for George Lucas's permission to parody Star Wars. Lucas was fine with it and said the only condition was Lone Star didn't dress like Han Solo. As a result, Lone Star was dressed reminiscent of Indiana Jones instead. from MovieDetails

31. The Clueless baseball hat.

In Clueless (1995), Josh wears a University of Kansas ballcap. This hat really belonged to Paul Rudd. He asked the costume team if he could wear it in a few scenes to honour his alma mater. from MovieDetails

32. The Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby loss of sponsorship.

In Talladega Nights (2016) Ricky Bobby initially has a sponsorship from Wonder Bread. Later, when he's lost his sponsor, he resuses the "W" and "E" from "Wonder" to spell "Me" from MovieDetails

33. And finally, the Harry Potter costume that never changed.

In the Harry Potter Movies (2001-2011), Snape’s costume was the only one that never changed. According to costume designer, Jany Temine:"Because, it was perfect. When something is perfect you cannot change it.” She joined in Prisoner of Azkaban and changed most costumes except Snape’s. from MovieDetails