Costumes are key to establishing a film's aesthetic, but it can also reveal aspects of the narrative world and a character's psyche. With the arrival of Wes Anderson's latest movie, The French Dispatch, on the horizon, fans of the quirky filmmaker are eager to see what new heights of idiosyncratic design he will reach.
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Each film has been more lavish and boasted a larger cast of stars than the last, with many characters remaining indelible due to their eccentric appearances. While fans have had a small taste of what The French Dispatch has to offer from its trailer, they can only hope that Anderson's latest sartorial flourishes will match the high-quality costumes that exist in his filmography.
10 Suzy - Moonrise Kingdom
A sweet story of forbidden first love, Moonrise Kingdom brings in many a familiar face from Anderson's ranks of frequent collaborators, but they all make room for the young protagonists to shine. While the khaki scout uniforms infuse the film with nostalgia and youthful energy, it is Suzy's costume that has gained iconic status.
As seen in the frequently-used image of Suzy (Kara Hayward), her binoculars are an accessory to both her outfit and the plot, and the neat, pink dress accentuates her youth and the pristine lifestyle that has been expected of her but subsequently rejected. While not an elaborate ensemble, it serves the story well, alongside the striking raven costume that first catches her love interest's eye.
9 Jack - The Darjeeling Limited
Portraying the youngest of the Whitman brothers in The Darjeeling Limited, Jason Schwartzman's memorable costume complements a persona that falls somewhere between a lone wolf and a lost puppy. As an Easter egg for dedicated fans, Jack often sports a yellow hotel robe that was introduced in the short film Hotel Chevalier, which documents his time spent in Paris with his ex-girlfriend.
Related: Why The Darjeeling Limited Is Wes Anderson's Most Underrated Movie
Another shining example of Anderson's attention to detail is Jack's lack of shoes. Throughout the movie, Jack is permanently barefoot, a strange and unspoken feature compared to his neatly groomed hair and mustache, reflecting his desire to be rogueish and unpredictable, yet remaining a little pedantic.
8 Chas, Ari, and Uzi - The Royal Tenenbaums
In a family as dysfunctional as the Tenenbaums, eccentric personalities and appearances are expected. While not as striking as that of his siblings, Chas' wardrobe throughout the film's majority matches with his young sons' and displays not only their close bond but also Chas' fragile emotional state.
The matching red tracksuits - black at Royal's funeral - are amusingly jarring alongside the other characters. While they coincide with Chas' obsession with his family's health and safety, the contrast between tracksuits and the suit and tie that he wears as a child represents how Chas has tried to distance himself from his traumatic childhood.
7 The Narrator - Moonrise Kingdom
As this coming-of-age tale boasts the most storybook-like aesthetic in Anderson's filmography, the narrator, whose presence alone likens the film to a fairytale, appears between scenes throughout Moonrise Kingdom and remains in the audience's memory largely due to his costume.
Fitting with the fairytale style, the narrator sports a bright red coat and green hat reminiscent of folk characters, such as an elf or gnome. This creates a quality of omniscience by suggesting a level of otherworldly knowledge and adds to the fantastical tone and childlike innocence of the film.
6 Madame D - The Grand Budapest Hotel
With a large cast and enormous attention to detail, there are no small parts in a Wes Anderson project, never more so than in his most successful movie to date: The Grand Budapest Hotel. As a frequent Anderson collaborator and the main catalyst for this plot, it is only fitting that Tilda Swinton is clothed in something flamboyant as the wealthy but paranoid Madame D.
Almost completely unrecognizable under her makeup, Swinton wears a tall, swirling wig, patterned yellow dress, and a long pearl necklace to suggest old-world decadence. Madame D. dominates every frame that she appears in before her swift death since only somebody as ostentatious and striking as she could upend the hotel's dreamy status quo.
5 Zero Moustafa - The Grand Budapest Hotel
Along with his minor characters, Anderson never fails to create memorable looks for his lead protagonists. In The Grand Budapest Hotel, Zero's costume stands out above the rest as particularly iconic because of the small yet significant details that separate him from his similarly attired co-workers.
Zero's drawn-on mustache is a small but consistent, comical detail of his appearance to remind us of his young age compared to the responsibilities that he shoulders. In addition, Zero's perfectly round hat, emblazoned with the words "LOBBY BOY," is a charmingly funny reminder of his humble beginnings before inheriting the hotel.
4 Team Zissou - The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou
Despite focusing on the eponymous protagonist, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou boasts yet another stellar ensemble cast of regular collaborators and, while rivalries and personal differences often create rifts, their unforgettable uniforms tie the band of aquatic explorers together.
From Steve Zissou himself (Bill Murray) to the unpaid intern (Matthew Gray Gubler), every member of Team Zissou sports some variation of the group's pale blue and bright red colors. While the combination of a matching blue shirt and pants differs from character to character, all are seen wearing the standard red beanie that causes them to stick out like buoys on the ocean.
3 Francis - The Darjeeling Limited
Frequent collaborator Owen Wilson has appeared in many forms throughout the Anderson cinematic universe, but never more visually memorable than in The Darjeeling Limited as the eldest Whitman brother, Francis. Besides his suit and expensive shoes, which appear out of place in many of the film's rural locations, it is Francis' face that draws the eye the most.
Following a perspective-altering motorcycle crash, Francis sports two black eyes, a missing tooth, and bandages that are wrapped around his head at almost all times. Just as the bandages appear to hold Francis together, it is he who ultimately keeps the family from falling apart by insisting that they complete their spiritual journey.
2 Richie - The Royal Tenenbaums
The hopeless romantic of the Tenenbaum children, Richie's wardrobe is used to reflect his mental state in The Royal Tenenbaums. Before shaving it off in the film's most heartbreaking scene, Luke Wilson's face is hidden behind a thick beard and framed by overgrown hair and large sunglasses to obscure his visage entirely.
His disjointed, Bjorn Borg-esque costume consists of a suit jacket over a striped shirt, paired with matching sweatbands around his head and wrists, that together serve as a reminder of his tennis glory days. His haphazard attire is also a visual representation of his collapsing mental state, caused by his failure to meet professional expectations and reconcile his love for his adopted sister.
1 Margot - The Royal Tenenbaums
As the epitome of Wes Anderson chic, the many disjointed aspects of Margot Tenenbaum's (Gwyneth Paltrow) costume mirror the many layers of her character, presenting her as at once pretentious and deeply intriguing. The combination of a fur coat over a striped tennis dress has become a cinephile's go-to on Halloween, along with neatly cropped hair and thick rings of eyeliner.
The most interesting and distinctly Anderson-esque feature of Margot's costume is the wooden finger, which adds to her mystery and enigmatic nature. Nobody ever knows her full story, but her clothes suggest an isolating loneliness to her inscrutability that the script never overtly states. With her distinct look that expertly conveys her complexity without the use of words, Margot comes out on top as Wes Anderson's quirkiest and most well-dressed creation.
Next: Every Wes Anderson Movie Ranked From Worst To Best
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