Carbon Costume

In the 2017 adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express, Countess Andrenyi (Lucy Boynton) is an elegant, wealthy dancer aboard the Orient Express. She takes barbital to sleep during the day, so she’s frequently awake at night. Because of this, her clothing is a mix of elegant day fashion and leisure or sleepwear.

In the 2017 adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express, Mrs. Hubbard (Michelle Pfeiffer) is an educated, outspoken American widow on a tour of Europe. Her clothing is eclectic and reflects her loud, ostentatious personality.

In the 2017 adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express, Ratchett (Johnny Depp) is a wealthy American criminal who fears for his life upon boarding the train. Because he deals in art forgeries, the costume designer chose clothing that would be elegant and upscale, but mismatched and out of place in Europe at the time.

The Aviator chronicles the career and downfall of Howard Hughes. For a brief period, he was dating Hollywood Starlet Katherine Hepburn (Cate Blanchett), who managed to ease the symptoms of his worsening obsessive-compulsive disorder. Still regarded as an important cultural icon and the epitome of the “modern woman” in the 20th century, Katherine Hepburn deviated from traditional gender roles by shunning marriage, dating younger men, playing sports, and wearing trousers before it was fashionable or acceptable to do so. The film takes place between the 1920’s and the 1940’s, but her fashion is comprised of over-sized menswear in bold colors and patterns.

Miss Scarlet (Lesley Ann Warren) is a character from the board game, Clue. In the film adaptation, she is a socialite who runs an illegal escort service, for which she is being blackmailed by Mr. Boddy. In one of the ends, she killed the cop in the library with a lead pipe.

Lady Edith Crawley (Laura Carmichael) is the aristocratic second daughter of Robert and Cora Crawley on Downton Abbey. Set in post-Edwardian England, Lady Edith Crawley is glamorous and fashionable for the period. As many women from that period, she is concerned with class distinction and propriety, but she often pushes boundaries and establishes herself in the writing and business world.

The film, The Aviator, is based on the real-life Howard Hughes (Leonardo DiCaprio), an aviation pioneer and Hollywood director who succumbed to his severe obsessive-compulsive disorder. The film chronicles his life from the 1920’s to the 1940’s, so his wardrobe is influenced by those time periods.

In Clue, Mrs. White (Madeline Kahn) is a “black widow” who had her husbands disappear or die mysteriously. She is a guest of Mr. Boddy’s, and is also being blackmailed by him. The maid had an affair with one of her husbands, so in one of the endings, she killed the maid in the billiard room with a rope.