Top Ten Green Movie Costumes – Abundance, Jealousy, and Success
Green is also the only color that can be warm or cool as it is a neutral color. All this combined with that many women look beautiful in the color it’s no wonder that so many timeless movie costumes are green.
Green is a beautiful color that has associations with youth, vibrancy, greed, jealousy, renewal, growth, nature, abundance, success, peace and serenity. As green is a neutral color it can be warm or cool. In addition it looks great on different skin tones so it’s not surprising that it is often used for movie costumes.
This page is a ranked list of the 10 best green costumes from Fantasy, Sci-fi, and Superhero Movies. Really, any movie that is whimsical or supernatural. Green costumes from Period Movies and Modern Movies have their own rankings.
Articles of clothing, like undergarments, cover-ups, bathing suits, sleepwear, outerwear etc. are not included. The costumes are ranked by aesthetics, memorability and how it suits the character/film. Subjective opinions do influence the ranking.
Also costumes that I deem more blue-green (Teal, Turquoise, and the like) will have their own ranked lists.
Enjoy!
List is subject to change.
10. Barbarella from Barbarella (1968)
Costume Designer: Paco Rabane
Based on the comic of the same name, Barbarella is weird sci-fi that’s more psychedelic than futuristic and massive issues plagued the production. The costumes, however, remain an interesting example of the approach of the film.
Barbarella (Jane Fonda) is a space adventurer on a very important mission to stop a threat of mass destruction. Her mission leads her to the Black Queen’s Chamber of Dreams. The costume is a bodysuit made from various shades of green plastics. The suit is made from a fabric with reflective plastic and then there is a plastic linked collar, straps belt combo made of differing shapes and green tones.
At the end of the belt part the shapes are elongated rectangles that look like a fringe. It’s paired with olive green leather knee high boots. The costume definitely looks more like a conceptual fashion take on sci-fi of the late ’60s.
9. Susan Pevensie from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
Costume Designer: Isis Mussenden
As the first film in the franchise, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe sees the Pevensie children arriving in Narnia and going up against Jadis the White Witch. In the epic battle against the White Witch’s army, Susan (Anna Popplewell) dons a dark pine green kirtle inspired dress. The color represent the changes in Narnia as the spring comes and winter is being pushed away.
It appears to be made from a wool like material and has some light green leaf embroidery at the neck and at cuffs. The sleeves are slashed at the tops. She wears a long hanging brown leather belt. It is worn over a white chemise. It’s simple, but very functional for the epic battle scene the movie has at the climax.
8. Mina Murray from Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
Costume Designer: Eiko Ishioka
The costumes for Bram Stoker’s Dracula could easily be on the Period list but since there is the supernatural element and the costumes do walk a line between fantasy and period they will go under the fantasy category. Also Mina (Winona Ryder) wears mostly green so while this costume was picked just consider all her costumes here because the costumes are all gorgeous it was hard to choose.
It is when she is wearing this green walking suit that she first encounters the Count on the streets of London. Her fresh green color stands out against the dreary setting. There are multiple shades of green that contrast and there is a lovely leaf motif on her lapel, collar and hat. These leaf details further highlights her youth and vitality, a stark contrast to the vampires that surround her.
In this look Mina is completely covered which marks her as the proper Victorian lady. However the cut of the jacket with the darker green of the lapel does showcase her waistline. The bustle in the back is a stunning example of a pleated bustle with contrasting fabric that was very popular in the 1880s.
Shout out to the dark velvet traveling costume she wears at the end and Elisabeta’s green and gold costume at start of the film.
7. Padmé Amidala from Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Costume Designer: Trisha Biggar
During one of the more evocative scenes in the third installment of the Skywalker Saga, Anakin ponders his fate: does he choose his secret wife or his chosen life as Jedi. In the scene it does seem like he and Padme (Natalie Portman) have some link with each other though it is not explored in the context of the film.
During this quiet scene Padme wears a bell shaped olive velvet dress. It has burn-out details that are the Naboo royal symbols. The sleeves are long and bell shaped. The waist line goes up very high and has a dark purple sash. At the center front of the v-neckline there is a silver beaded brooch with beaded fringe. The most intriguing element is the hood. It just adds an air of romance and mystery to a very lovely costume.
6. Nakia from Black Panther (2018)
Costume Designer: Ruth E Carter
2018’s Black Panther is one most critically acclaimed of the Marvel Pantheon of films. T’Challa, the titular character is aide by his former lover, Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o). Nakia is a spy and a member of the River Tribe of Wakanda.
The look for the River Tribe was inspired by the Suri tribe. The color that the River Tribe wears is green which symbolizes water, coastal community, leaves and plants. So when a mission has the team going undercover at Busan casino, Nakia has a bond-girl like moment in a dress that suits her background but is also alluring and very modern.
The dress is a sheath silhouette and is made from a darker green with a hand-painted lighter green all-over pattern inspired by Kente cloth. Iridescent paint was also used so that the dress gleams a bit in certain lights. The dress halter neckline has two high slits on both sides. The sleeves are made from the same hand-painted patterned fabric and are long and detached.
5. Lady Tremaine from Cinderella (2015)
Costume Designer: Sandy Powell
The big moment of any adaptation of Cinderella is the ball. Who doesn’t love a grand formal wear scene?!?! And the 2015 version of Cinderella did it pretty great, with gorgeous gowns all around.
Lady Tremaine (Cate Blanchett) wears a pear green and yellow gown, a 1940s/’50s take on the 19th century. It has a very structured, yet asymmetrical standing collar that extends down and wraps into the bodice. This structural wrapping effect also goes down into the skirt. The overskirt is two layers, the top and under made from pear green fabric and the middle layer yellow. The gown is paired with gold gloves, a gold feather in her hair, and green and gold jewelry.
While the color green can mean envy and that is apply to Lady Tremaine, the color choice was chosen as an intuitive choice rather than symbolism. All the colors of her costumes are strong and cool tones. There was no warmth or kindness in her colors. So it a cooler yellow and a cooler green for this costume.
4. Elizabeth from Frankenstein (2025)
Designer: Kate Hawley
The overall intent of the costumes of Frankenstein was to give a language to the garments. Each character have their own colors. While Elizabeth (Mia Goth) wears a lot of green tones.
Among her greens she also wears patterns that were inspired by nature as in fractal and beetles. These naturalistic inspiration gave way to the malachite pattern seen on a few of her costumes throughout the movie. The most notable is the all-over green malachite dress which is while understated is also quite stunning.
The dress has high neckline with voluminous sheer sleeves. It has no embellishments or ornate detail as way to let the pattern shine. She does wears her signature carnelian red beaded cross necklace that has a scarab at the center of the cross which adds a pop of contrast.
3. Eowyn from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
Costume Designer: Ngila Dickson
A shieldmaiden of Rohan, Eowyn (Miranda Otto) is the niece of the King. She commands respect as she kills the witch-king in a Macbeth-like twist prophecy. This costume has two layers. The top layer is a dark green velvet and the bottom is olive brocade with a leaf-life pattern.
The yoke attaches the main layer with a scoop neckline while the yoke extends to a wing collar at the neck. The yoke is made from green fabric and is heavily embroidered with metallic gold thread. The sleeves are long and bell shaped and lined with the same fabric as the underskirt. She wears a gold metal linked belt and a simple golden necklace.
2. Belle from La Belle et la Bête (2014)
Costume Designer: Pierre-Yves Gayraud
The 2014 version of La Belle et Bête takes components from other versions and still makes its own. One of the major highlights of this version are the costumes. All of the costumes that Belle (Léa Seydoux) is gifted from the Beast are grand, gorgeous, and fantastical.
The second gown is emerald green textured velvet. She wears it when she goes exploring and sees the limits of the Beast’s realm. She also wears it to their appointed dinner meeting. The Juliet-shaped sleeves have smocking done in the upper section with a bead sewn at the center of each smock. The bodice comes to a sharp point at the bottom edge while the neckline is straight across. The bodice has a gold embroidered overlay that extends higher in the back.
The skirt is an A-line silhouette and has smocking near the waistline. Like the sleeves there is a bead in the center of each smock. She wears a large gold link chest ornament with matching gold earring that has green stones and an ornate crown that rests at the front of her head with an intricate hairstyle that has green wired twisting over her locks.
All of her gowns are super princess-like gowns. It’s almost heartbreaking how lovely they are.
1. Arwen from The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003)
Costume Designer: Ngila Dickson
Towards the end of The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Aragon is crowned King and reunited with Arwen (Liv Tyler.) This costume is often referred to as the coronation gown and sometimes it is referred to as ceremonial or wedding gown. Whatever name it goes by it is loveliness.
The shade of green is very unique as it is bright and vibrant and yet soft. It’s very much a soft spring green which signifies a rejuvenation as it ushers in a new era for Middle Earth. The silhouette and cut is the same as her other costumes from the trilogy. It has a scoop neckline with long bell sleeves.
The gown is made from a silk velvet. It has a silver brocade at the neckline that is embroidered with metal thread. The upper portion of the sleeves have lace that has been beaded. She wears this gown with a very intricate silver crown with a butterfly motif in an Art Nouveau style. The crown also has strands of beading draping down to add more to the already eternally romantic look of Arwen’s final costume moment.
Honorable Mention: Evanora from Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)
Costume Designers: Gary Jones and Michael Kutsche
Oz the Great and Powerful was based on L. Frank Baum novels and is a spiritual prequel to The Wizard of Oz film from 1939. It is basically an origin story of how a magician/con man named Oscar becomes the wizard of Oz.
Upon his arrival to the Emerald City, Oscar meets Evanora (Rachel Weisz), the protector of Oz. Her costume is an Art Deco style to reflect her position as the Ozelite. The color of this costume is called “mercury green.”
The gown is heavily beaded with more of concentration at the upper bodice especially at the sweetheart neckline and disperses down the garment. The gown is floor length and has a high low hemline front to back. The sleeves are long and are made from a black sheer fabric that has green beading.
The sleeves attach to the yoke and form the foundation for the shoulder and collar that are made from large green feathers that match her hair accessory that has a large golden metal diamond shape at the center. She also wears a large green pendant necklace that gives her the appearance of a young woman.
