Hot take! Costume design is just as crucial to a movie as the writing is. I know some of you disagree but think about it, a character’s outfit can tell so much about who they are or their surroundings. Alana Morshead, the costume designer for Do Revenge, did a great job of using clothing to help subtly add to the story. So here’s a breakdown of my favorite outfits from the movie and how they added to the storyline. !!SPOILERS AHEAD!!
The School Uniform
Arguably the best design in the movie was the school uniform. Most people get this implication when they see a private school uniform that screams, “I’m rich and better than you.” It adds to the high school rich mean girl Regina George effect the movie was trying to achieve. The non-traditional mint green and lavender coloring of the uniforms made them seem more modern, and a better fit for the theme of the movie than a regular colored uniform would have been.
Drea’s Birthday Outfit
The movie’s opening scene is Drea’s birthday party, and if you watched the movie, you know that the “friends” in attendance are anything but friends. The birthday girl is wearing a metallic blue dress with a sheer iridescent peach coverup. I don’t know if it was intentional, but she looks almost wrapped in plastic. It seemed like a representation of how Drea was not genuinely herself with that friend group and was just faking it until she made it.
Ā Eleanor’s all-black outfit
Throughout the movie, Eleanor is spotted in bright colors and a wide array of patterns. That is until Drea realizes Eleanor has been working against her all along. In the first scene, we see Eleanor after learning that she is the villain; she is wearing an all-black outfit topped with an almost spiky-looking bejeweled jacket. The imagery of watching her go from bright to dark really helps paint that picture of deception.
I don’t know if everything listed above was intentional, but it was effective nonetheless. Do Revenge is a movie worth watching, and Alana Morshead is a costume design genius who helped bring the film together. Tons more outfits contributed to the plot that I couldn’t get enough of. Part two?