10 Best Violet Costumes & Dresses in Period Movies

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Emily Blunt as Queen Victoria in "The Young Victoria" (2009) Best Violet Purple Costume, Gowns, & Dresses from Period Piece Dramas Movies
Emily Blunt as Queen Victoria I in 2009’s “The Young Victoria.” This periwinkle dress was designer Sandy Powell’s favorite
costume in the movie.


Royalty, Creativity, and Wisdom

In ancient times, the color purple was so expensive to produce that only the super elite, like royalty, could afford such a decadent dye for their clothing. This linked the color purple with royalty. In addition to luxury, purple has associations with creativity, wisdom, power, ambition, and even magic.

Purple can be both stimulating and calming because it’s a mix of red and blue, making it either cool or warm depending on the amount of either pigment. Cooler shades of purple are violet, periwinkle, indigo, and so on. It’s also based somewhat on my perception of the color since purple can be tricky to tell it’s temperatures sometimes.

This list ranks cooler purple costumes from period movies. Costumes from Modern set and Fantasy/Sci-Fi movies have separate lists, as do warmer purple costumes. Articles of clothing, like undergarments, cover-ups, sleepwear, and outerwear are not included.

Costumes are ranked by aesthetics, memorability and how they suit the character/film.

List is subject to change.

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10 Best Purple Costume from Period Movies

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Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater in "Titanic" (1997) Swim Dress Best Purple Costume, Gowns, & Dresses from Period Piece Dramas Movies
A Ranking of the 10 best purple costumes in period movies has to include Kate Winslet’s iconic performance as Rose DeWitt
Bukater in “Titanic” (1997)


Royal Ambition and Wisdom

In times past, purple was a color of royalty. This was because dye was expensive to produce thus only the ruling class could afford it. Purple still holds its royal and luxury status as meaning creatively, wisdom, power, ambition and magic. It also has the appeal of being both simulating and calming.

The combination of red and blue creates an interesting issue: does the shade of purple look more red or blue? Warm or cool? This list is for shades of purple appear warmer with more red in the mix. Shades like magenta, fuchsia, eggplant, some lilac, some lavenders, jam, boysenberry etc.

Purple movie costumes that have more blue tones or shades that just appear cooler like violets, periwinkles and other shades of the blue/red combo will have their own lists. This list ranks warm purple costumes from Period Movies. Modern and Fantasy/Sci-Fi costumes have separate rankings.

Articles of clothing, like undergarments, cover-ups, sleepwear, outerwear etc are not included. The costumes are ranked by aesthetics, memorability and how it suits the character/film.

Enjoy!

List Subject to Change

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10 Best Teal Costumes and Dresses from Period Movies

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Lesley Ann Warren as Miss Scarlet, "Clue" (1985) Best Blue-Green (Teal, Turquoise, Aqua, Cyan) Costume, Gowns, & Dresses from Period Piece Dramas Movies
In 1985’s Cult classic “Clue” Lesley Ann Warren plays Miss Scarlet who wears a glamorous and chic cocktail dress in a sumptuous dark teal with aqua accessories.



Blue-Green – Cyan Family of Costumes

When blue and green are combined they form the cyan family of color. Depending on the mix of blue and green you can have teal, turquoise, and aqua, to name a few.

These colors have attributes of both green and blue: renewal and open mindedness, trust, and good luck. Also, given the amount of yellow they can have feelings of happiness, calmness, and energy. They are the colors of the sky and the ocean.

This page ranks the 10 best blue-green costumes from period movies worn by women. Modern movies and fantasy/sci-fi costumes have their own unique rankings. Clothing, like undergarments, cover-ups, sleepwear, outerwear, swimwear, etc. are not included.

The costumes are ranked by aesthetics, memorability and how they suit the character/film.

Blue and Green movie costumes each have their own ranked list.

This list is subject to change.

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10 Best Burgundy Costumes in Period Movies

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Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O’Hara Best Burgundy & Dark Red Costumes, Gowns, & Dresses from Period Piece Dramas Movies
Scarlett O’Hara’s deep scarlet-garnet velvet colored party gown with matching feather trim is one of the most beloved and memorable costumes, not just in “Gone with the Wind,” but in all of cinema.


Wine, Wealth, and Sophistication

Much like brighter shades of red, burgundy and darker shades of red enjoy passionate energy, but because there’s a mix of other colors—like blue or black—darker reds have a timeless sophistication. Burgundy also has connotations of wealth and power.

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10 Best Bright Red Costumes from Period Movies

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Satine, Moulin Rouge (2001) Best Red Costumes, Gowns, & Dresses from Period Piece Dramas Movies
Satine in her iconic Red Gown from Moulin Rouge (2001)

Red – Joy, Passion, Danger, & Energy

Red is a primary color that comes from a variety of popular shades and tones. It’s a color of joy, passion, danger and energy. It’s a bold color that stands out and can make the heart beat faster.

It is also an auspicious color and is used as a bridal color in many cultures.

This ranking is all about costumes that are bright and vivid reds. Think Cherries and Victory Red lipstick and not wine.

So that primary red shades and not burgundies or scarlets or darker shades of reds, those shades have separate rankings.

This ranking only considers costumes that are from Period Movies. Modern and Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Superhero/etc costumes have their own separate ranked lists.

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. This list aims for objectivity but no list truly is.

The List is subject to change

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The 20 Best Wedding Gowns from Period Movies

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Emily Blunt wears an 1840s-style gown with a soft round neckline and voluminous sleeves in 2009's "The Young Victoria" Best Wedding Gowns from Period Piece Dramas Movies, Dresses, Outfits, Costumes
Emily Blunt wears an 1840s-style gown with a soft round neckline and voluminous sleeves in 2009’s “The Young Victoria”


Orange Blossoms, Silks, and White Lace

A Wedding Scene are momentous in a narrative as they can changed the scope of the story, add drama or bring closure. And it’s the Bride’s wedding gown that is the most discussed part of any wedding affair.

This list ranks 20 of the best wedding gowns from Period movies. As period movie tend to depict a period or related aesthetic these gowns capture more elegance, refinement and displays of wealth than wedding gowns from modern movies that depict current fashions or fantasy/sci-fi movies.

The gowns were ranked by beauty which is subjective, how they reflect the character/movie and how memorable they are in the cultural landscape.

This list tends to favor more western conventions of bridal attire but the colors were not limited to white especially since the tradition of the white wedding gowns only really began in the mid-19th century. They just have to be a wedding gown for a wedding within the movie even if no wedding took place while wearing the gown.

List is subject to change

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The 10 Best Yellow Costumes from Period Movies

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Ariana DeBose as Anita from "West Side Story" (2012) Best Yellow Costumes, Gowns, & Dresses from Period Drama Piece Movies
Ariana DeBose as Anita from 2021’s “West Side Story” is a bright effervescent that looks lovely in motion


Enthusiasm, Happiness & Optimism

Yellow has positive happy associations as the color has been long linked with the sun. Other meanings of the yellow are happiness, optimism, youth, warmth, energy, and enthusiasm.

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10 Best Blue Costumes from Period Movies

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Drew Barrymore wearing a lovely light blue jacquard gown in the 1998 Cinderella reimagining, "Ever After." Blue Gown Best Period Drama Piece Costumes
Drew Barrymore wearing a lovely light blue jacquard gown in the 1998 Cinderella reimagining, “Ever After.”

Blue – A Noble and Virtuous Color

Blue is a powerful color that can soothe the mind and the soul. It can make us feel a sense of security, trust, and reliability. It is also a color that peaks our imaginations as it’s the color of the seas and skies. It’s a color or noble characteristics, of good and virtuous characters.

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