2016 was a noteworthy year for historical costuming with the release of the movie Crimson Peak and to this day, it’s remained a favorite with us. As noted in a previous post, the costuming was simply captivating and it demonstrates some some of the basic principles regarding the use of color. As a follow-on, the FIDM Museum Blog posted an article about the costumes’ designer Kate Hawley that gives some insight into the thought process that went into the costumes’ design. Hawley uses color to sharply differentiate the characters with the heroine Edith being clothes in lighter colors, mostly shades of yellow, gold, taupe, and the like. In contrast, her nemesis Lucille is dressed in black and dark blue with bright crimson thrown in (the “drop of blood dress” as it’s termed). Just for comparison, here are several color palette/mood boards from the movie. First, Edith:

And then Lucille…there’s two different views:

The contrast in colors between the two characters is fascinating and it’s really obvious from the above mood boards. Color selection has always been central to our designs, even if Gothic horror is not involved. 🙂