No matter how great your wardrobe is, you’ve probably been left in awe of more than one movie outfit. These professionally designed wardrobes are perfectly suited to make their wearer a beauty in every shot, but what happens to the clothes after the cameras stop rolling, production wraps, and the crew moves on to the next film? Movie wardrobes have lives of their own. Some of them go on to wonderful second acts, some retire a little bit sooner, and some of them find their way onto resell sites like The Alloy Market.
1. Sometimes, the Stars Keep Their Threads
Some A-list actors make sure their contracts specify they’ll keep their wardrobe once filming has ended, then those pieces are theirs forever. These are stars with wonderful collections of wearable keepsakes, from watches and shoes to entire suits or dresses so incredible that fans are often stunned to see them in person.
2. The Crew Gets to Buy Their Faves
It’s not always just the big names that get to take their wardrobes home, even though they usually get the first pick. After that, there are sometimes crew sales or auctions where members of the film crew and staff can buy their favorite pieces (though not always for cheap!). It’s a way for the studio to recoup some of the production costs, but it’s also a chance for the crew to own a part of the magic that they helped to create. Or, they might just turn around and sell it online to a collector willing to pay a little extra.
3. Some Ensembles Get a Sequel
Maybe you’ve caught yourself wondering about an outfit on the screen: haven’t you seen that dress somewhere before? Stars move from one production to another, and often so do noteworthy outfits, especially if they’re painstaking to create or incredible to see! This is as long as they’re not so noteworthy that the audience would be distracted by the piece. The best example is probably period ensembles for historical shows. They’re hard to make, but general enough to evoke a timeframe without the audience getting too suspicious about how often they’re getting passed from one set to another.
4. Silver Screen Looks for Charitable Causes
Some Costume Departments see things a bit differently. When the movie ensembles are normal enough (and not obliterated by an action sequence), they might be destined for charitable giving. Hollywood is a surprising source for many of the warm coats or nice shoes that are given to people who might otherwise be left out in the cold. The nice suit that made a big-time Hollywood star look so professional on screen can also help an out-of-luck job seeker make a great first impression at a job interview.
5. It Belongs In a Museum
The greatest and most memorable movie costumes might just earn themselves an early retirement in a museum display. There are plenty of museums both large and small that will put up a piece of film history, from iconic costumes to notable minutiae. If the ensemble catches a curator’s eye, there might be a glass case in its future.
The Clothes Live On
The movie ends, but the clothes don’t just disappear, and studios usually spend too much money on a production to simply misplace something as expensive as an entire cast’s wardrobe. They live on, in other productions, resold to collectors or museums, or given a new life as actual clothing for those in need. You never know when you pass a coat, a watch, or a dress that’s made it big in Hollywood. Maybe you even own a piece without realizing it.
Presented by APG
