Fresh, Optimistic, & Freedom
Since Orange is a mix of red and yellow it’s a warm color that is energetic and happy. It stimulates creativity and ambition as well as drawing attention to the wearer without being as overpowering as red. It can invoke fun and freedom as well as warnings.
Despite being a hard color to pull off, Orange is quite plentiful in certain types of movies. This is because it is not as bold and suggestive as red or as youthful as yellow. It strikes a good balance in between.
This is a ranking of the best orange costumes from Period movies. Orange costumes from Modern and Fantasy/Sci-Fi movies have their rankings.
Orange can range from super bright, like a traffic cone, dark rust coppers to even pinkish peach tones.
Undergarments, cover-ups, sleepwear, outerwear, swimwear etc are not included.
The costumes are ranked by aesthetics, memorability and how well it suits the character/film.
List Is subject to change
10. Maria/Ned from Stage Beauty (2004)
Designer: Tim Hatley
Stage Beauty is an understated movie with gorgeous costumes. It is about a woman, Maria (Claire Danes) who dreams of being an actress at a time when it was against the law for them to act on stage. She works as a dresser to Ned, an actor who is famous for depicting females.
The orange dress is a stage costume that Ned wears, however Maria also wears it to meet the King.
It’s a bright orange dress with a high sheen. The silhouette and cut are classic later half of the 17th century (1660s.) The center front has gold metal closures. These gold elements are also along the wide rounded neckline and at the voluminous sleeves. There is a white under-layer that also has gold detailing.
The bodice is long waisted with a long point while the skirt has pleating in the waist for volume and fit.
9. Marianne Dashwood from Sense and Sensibility (1995)
Designer: Jenny Beaven
The 1995 adaptation of Austen’s Sense and Sensibility is about sisters with different takes on love and romance. Marianne (Kate Winslet) is the more romantic, musically inclined poet of the young ladies.
In a few scenes she wears a peach formal gown most notably when she is introduced to the most eligible bachelor in the county.
The soft peach fabric has a subtle pattern. It has a high waistline with a crossover bodice with a gold trim at the waistline. The sleeves are elbow length with a green ribbon trim at the hem.
The back of the dress has been gathered at the center which creates lovely draping at the sides of the gown.
Shout-out to Marianne’s other peach dress which is a stripe over-dress.
8. Tanya from Onegin (1999)
Designers: John Bright & Chloe Obolensky
Adapted from Pushkin’s 1833 novel, the 1999 movie version, Onegin is a tragic story of unrequited love.
During a concert, Tanya (Liv Tyler) wears an orange gown with a golden floral pattern. The neckline is a wide v-neck that is crossed over. The neckline is trimmed with white beading.
The sleeves are very in style for the 1830s as they’re voluminous demi-gigot meaning they puff out and then narrow at the elbow. This type of sleeve would have needed support from undergarments to maintain its shape.
The waist is cinched with a pointed bodice and the skirt is full. She has a white lace shawl draped over one of her massive sleeves.
It’s elegant and enhances Tanya’s longing she tries to conceal as she pleads for her love to notice her, which comes too late.
7. Queen Gertrude from Ophelia (2018)
Designer: Massimo Cantini Parrini
2018’s Ophelia is based on a retelling of Shakespeare’s Hamlet that is from Ophelia and Gertrude perspectives.
The style of the costumes take a pre-raphaelites influence which gives the designs a sense of fluidity mixed with an elegant sensuality.
One of Queen Gertrude’s (Naomi Watts) costumes is made from various shades but it mostly reads a muted salmon color. The fabric looks to have a subtle texture.
A textured gold ribbon trimmed the center front opening and the cuffs of the long sleeves.
She wears a Byzantine style jeweled crown with pendilia hanging off.
It’s very flowing yet soft and dramatic.
6. Gaby from The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
Designer: Joanna Johnston
Based of the TV show of the same name. The movie adapation takes place in 1963 and starts with a CIA Agent extracting Gaby (Alicia Vikander) who is the daughter of a nuclear scientist.
To lunch with her uncle at the Vinciguerra estate, Gaby wears a very stylish cameo-like patterned orange sleeveless “play-dress.” A Play-dress is a lightweight outfit and while it looks like a pleated skirt it’s actually culottes.
The reason why Gaby is wearing orange is not only because it fresh but also because it easier to track during the chase sequence.
She accessorize it with some very stylish 60s retro white earring and an orange ring which could be made from lucite.
5. Sissi from Sissi (1955)
Designers: Leo Bei, Gerdago & Franz Szivats
The Sissi trilogy is such a pure unadulterated classic series of movies that are joys to watch. In the first movie the young princess Elizabeth (Romy Schneider) meets the Emperor for his birthday. After a meet-cute he is smitten with her and goes against his overbearing mother’s plans for him to wed Elizabeth’s older sister.
When Elizabeth, her mother and sister meet up with the Emperor’s mother (her aunt) Elizabeth wears a very pretty peach gown with tiny polka-dots. Much like other costumes she wears, the sleeves are short and puffed with an off-shoulder neckline. The neckline has a sheer white layer that ties into a bow.
The full skirt is tiered with white border trim.
She wears white lace fingerless elbow gloves with a flat straw hat with a peach ribbon and flowers under the brim.
Her costumes are very evocative of a pretty princess and they are and she is and this costume certainly hits that mark
4. Lucilla from Gladiator (2000)
Designer: Janty Yates
2000’s big historical epic Gladiator plays quite fast and loose with events but in fairness most movies do, however this movie does lose some points for putting Lucilla in a corset at the end otherwise the costumes are quite lavish.
One of Lucilla’s (Connie Nielsen) most memorable costumes is what she wears when she attends senate and placates her brother. It’s a white dress, stola, with a gray gridle. Over that she has two orange wraps, or palla. These pallas are both burnt orange. One has golden dots patterns with a scallop edge with gold trim and paisley details. The other is slightly darker and has a gold and black trim with a red fringe. They are both secured at the shoulder with a gold metal piece.
She also wears a sheer lighter orange veil with honeycomb pattern in groups of three. The veil is attached with a gold laurel diadem. She wears gold jewelry to further convey her status.
The effect of this costume is elegance and power but in a covert way.
3. Eliza Doolittle from My Fair Lady (1964)
Designer: Cecil Beaton
It’s a well known fact that Audrey Hepburn while being an all around wonderful person wore many, many iconic looks in all of her movie. For her role as Eliza in My Fair Lady she a few very iconic looks some more dramatic and some very lovely.
Famoulsy My Fair Lady follows the transformation of Eliza from cockney flower-girl to passing for high class lady. At the end of more Eliza is fed up with the upper class and thus she leaves. Her outfit as she leaves George Higgins’ house is a lovely peach outfit that looks more akin to Victorian period than 60’s fashions.
The outfit features a jacket with matching skirt. The jacket has an angled hemline with tassels The skirt has peplum. The under blouse has high-neckline with ruffled collar. The most notable accessory is her folded straw hat that is decorated with charming grapes and roses.
The impression of her costume is fresh, refined, and very feminine.
2. Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil from Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
Designer: James Acheson
The 1988 adaptation of Dangerous Liaisons is one of those period costume Holy Grail movies. For a movie it had a small budget and yet the costumes look like they should be a museum. They are perfectly executed. Though it should be noted that the look of them adheres to the styles of the 1760s rather than the 1780s as it’s the more recognizable iconic 18th century look.
The antagonist Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil (Glenn Close) who as a member of the French nobility is cruel and delights ruining others. Despite her being an awful person she has a fantastic wardrobe.
As she and Valmont, who is just as horrible as her, plot and deal, she wears a beautiful peach robe à la francaise gown. It’s made from peach damask. The underskirt has silver embroidery. Down the sides of the front are twin serpentine ruffles in a lighter peach and the other is a light green. Along the neckline and cuff are some sheer ruffled trim.
While the gown looks sweet it is rather deceptive given her character but the hint of green edges it out and communicates her vile persona.
1. Queen Sibylla from Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
Designer: Janty Yates
Another historical epic, 2005’s Kingdom of Heaven depicts the 12th century and the crusades. The costumes are less about guessing what they would have worn at that time and place and instead paintings from the Hall of Crusaders at Versailles were used as inspiration.The paintings are from the 19th century.
When Sibylla, (Eva Green) Queen of Jerusalem, is first introduced she wears a very elaborate multilayer costume.
The outermost layer is a bright orange hooded robe with white and gold embroidery around the opening. Around her head is a muted orange scarf with a paisley pattern and under her chin is another piece of orange fabric that looks like silk.
Under the hooded robe she wears what looks like a jacket that is a highly patterned dark rust color with muted gold trim with open draped sleeves. The over bodice is dark burgundy with gold star metal pieces and gold beading.
Under that she wears a long sleeve garment that is sheer muted salmon with gold accents. A bit of this garment can be seen just under the over-bodice at the neckline.
At the waist she wears a white sash with sheer sections with tassels at the end. She is wearing loose fitting muted sage-green trousers. There also seems to be another layer that is Persian orange color that has a loose weave and comes down to her ankles.
She wears a lot of silver jewelry with a multilayer of long pearl necklaces.
There are a lot of pieces and components of this costume with all sorts of different fabrics, textures, trims and jewelry but it all coalesces into a striking dramatic look.
Honorable Mention: Lady Marian from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)
Designer: John Bloomfield
1991’s adaptation of the Robin Hood legend takes a slightly more realistic less swashbuckling approach but certain characters chewing the scenery makes for a well-remembered and quotable movie. Lady Marian (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) is the King’s cousin and Robin visits her home to offer his protection to her.
Her dress is a terracotta color. There is a black sheer overlay that gets darker towards the hem. There are no princess seams, and it looks like it has a front closure with the gold buttons. There is angled gold lace sewn on the dress at the front down, at the shoulders, down the long pointed sleeves and at the scooped neckline.
The silhouette flares out which offer some nice movement especially when the wind blows as she walks.
She wears a gold girdle belt along with gold jewelry and gray floral neckerchief with gray fringe.
This dress has a good blend of casual but also displays her station as noblewomen as well as looking strong while still being romantic, elegant and effortless.
More Orange Costumes
- The 10 Best Orange Costume from Modern Set movies
