The way characters are dressed in a film does more than just present them in a specific way. Costume design speaks volumes without us ever knowing that it’s being said; nuances in costume design can inform deep meanings that alter how we view characters. These iconic costumes often have lives of their own, becoming something that outlasts a single character.
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The design of characters’ costumes in film is an important aspect of how we see those characters. It alters how we think of those characters, and in some cases, how we think about ourselves in relation to them. There are degrees to this, some incredibly iconic looks that, even in silhouette, are unmistakable, and then there are subtle choices that only a dedicated analyst would ever notice.
These costume design choices have an impact on popular culture that can, at times, outlive the importance or relevance of the character or film. In many cases, the design of a costume can be what sets a character apart from their peers and makes them into an icon. This article will touch on some ways that costume design has impacted powerfully on popular culture and reached beyond the films those costumes are worn in.
Costume design’s influence on gaming
With the ability to convey a host of information in a compact way, costume design from film has had an enormous impact on gaming. Game developers often spend a good deal of time ensuring that their characters are saying exactly the right thing with the way their models and costumes are designed.
Iconic costumes have cultural cachet
One of the big ways that costume design’s influence can be seen in gaming is through the cultural cachet that is attached to iconic costumes. You naturally associate the site of particular costumes with certain characters, and they usually stand for some ideal or way of life. For example, online casino games are often themed based on a character and all the trappings of that character. A game based around Nolan’s vision of Batman, for instance, is likely to have reels and free spins symbols reminiscent of the caped crusader’s iconic helmet or barbed wrists.
The borrowing of iconic character costume design is done to try and capture the imagination and delight of audiences. By interacting with a game that features the costume elements of a favourite character, the player is able to feel connected with that character as they play. By capitalising on the cultural cachet an iconic costume has, a game is able to present complex ideas and themes in a very simple way.
Playing as a favourite character
Modern multiplayer gaming has embraced the world of the metaverse, where media blends and merges together. They do this by having cross-over events and offering in-game skins that let players take characters with iconic costumes from one world into another.
Perhaps the best example of this type of collaboration can be seen in the game Fortnite. Players are able to step into the iconic shoes of John Wick, Stormtroopers from Star Wars and countless other iconic characters.
Multiplayer games offer these character skins as a prime way to drive engagement for their games. When big crossover events occur, fans of the movies whose iconic costumes are being represented in-game often are drawn to try the game, when they might not have been interested previously.
Costumes can become a culturally defining image
There have been a few costumes in film history that have transcended the characters and movies they existed in and come to stand for much more, they became a moment in time that defined the culture, a single outfit that resonated across an entire era.
The designers behind the most impactful and iconic film costumes are names that have turned characters’ outfits into pieces that have impacted and shaped lives. Names like Colleen Atwood, Ruth E. Carter and Edith Head have created their own trends in fashion as people seek to emulate or build on the costume designs they’ve created.
Costumes can influence fashion and create trends
Speaking of fashion trends, there have been a number of different costume designs throughout film history that have had a huge and lasting impact on fashion. Characters’ costumes that stood for a certain ethos or meant something have been embraced by people who wish to embody the same things.
A perfect example of this is The Matrix, which all on its own pushed a subculture that overnight embraced the leather trench coats and denial of a world they saw as fake. A more recent example would be the more thematic and broad adoption of similar tones to those used in Greta Gerwig’s 2023 film, Barbie. In particular, outfits apeing and paying homage to the style of the movie were common sights on viral platforms like TikTok and Instagram as thousands of people embraced the iconic look.
Halloween, cosplay and identity
For many people, the costume design of a character offers an opportunity to form a deeper connection to that character. There are many modern trends of people taking on character costumes and using them to embody that character themselves.
Halloween is a classic example of this, where people take classic characters like the Ghostbuster squad and attach part of their identity to that of the characters, or part of the characters’ identity to their own.
By taking the character’s costume and inhabiting it themselves, people feel that they are embodying something of what that character stands for, or what that character means to them. In this way, the design of iconic costumes has helped to shape identity for many people.
In closing
The impact that good and iconic character costume design has can be felt all throughout pop culture. From gaming to fashion trends and Halloween costumes, people place a great deal of stock in being able to identify with their favourite characters, and an iconic costume makes that all the easier.
