Fantastic Beasts Costumes

The Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them movies are a prequel of sorts to the Harry Potter books/movies. The film follows Newt Scamander as he travels to New York and is caught by the wizarding Congress, MACUSA. He meets Jacob Kowalski, Porpentina “Tina” Goldstein, and her sister Queenie Goldstein who help him. The film is set in the 1920’s, one of my favorite fashion time periods, and the costumes do a decent job of reflecting that.

The costumes in the Harry Potter franchise in general are interesting, as in the books it is said that wizards wear robes and clothes that “muggles” would find strange, and when they attempt to fit into the non-magical world, they typically do so poorly. Think Bellatrix Lestrange or the Weasleys. But in these movies the wizards and witches manage to mostly fit into the regular 1920’s style. This makes more sense in the first movie, where the American witches and wizards are trying to blend in, unlike the characters we’ve seen in the previous Harry Potter movies. But in the second movie, the characters continue to wear fashionable, time appropriate clothes, even in Europe. This makes less sense, so I’m just assuming it is one among many of the very large plot inconsistencies that occur within the Harry Potter universe.

Colleen Atwood is the costume designer for both of Fantastic Beasts movies, and she won an Academy Award for the first film. She has been nominated for 12 academy awards for best costume design, 4 of which she won. That doesn’t mean everything she makes is perfect, but she is clearly good at her job. When designing the Fantastic Beasts costumes, Atwood wanted to create costumes that were recognizable as from the time period, but still accessible to the audience. She tried to capture the mood of the period, the time of turmoil after ww1, and the party atmosphere of the 1920s, especially the diversity and different kinds of people in New York at the Time. Atwood would start with a design, and adjust the costume for what it would be used for, like fight scenes or special effects. She used a lot of real period pieces from all over the world, and looked at photos from the time for reference, including Man Ray, Brassaï, and Bernice Abbott. While the movie is set in 1926, she actually took a lot of inspiration from the early 1930s, more so in the second film. Specifically, Atwood was influenced by Madeleine Vionnet, who is credited with inventing the bias cut, which was popular in the 1920s and 30s.

The 1920s were right after the first world war, and both the 18th and 19th amendment. With the alcohol ban backfiring and (white) women finally being allowed the vote, the 1920’s were a time of change, especially in the U.S.. Fashion began to change, with hemlines rising and waistlines dropping. Many women cut their hair and wearing makeup was becoming socially acceptable. The costumes in Fantastic Beasts occasionally reflect this, but the movie mostly just focuses on the magical plot.

If you are interested in the specific costumes from the movie you can watch my video!