Albus Dumbledore will go down in history as one of the most iconic literary figures of all time. He certainly ranks up there with Gandalf, who he is often compared and contrasted against. But Dumbledore was the iconic headmaster of Hogwarts whose goal was to defeat Voldemort for good and try to raise Harry to face off against him.
Dumbledore has many faults and strengths, regardless of how you feel about his morality, he's a fascinatingly complex character to be sure. Fans of the series have gotten to see more of him in the Fantastic Beasts films where a younger version of the character is portrayed by Jude Law. But if you want to learn even more, check out some of these intriguing costume details.
Why does Dumbledore wear a suit in the Fantastic Beasts film?
If you pay attention to what Dumbledore wears during the regular Harry Potter films, you'll notice a stark difference in what he wears during the Fantastic Beast movies. Jude Law plays the much younger version of Dumbledore in Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindlewald. He does not wear the custom robes we're accustomed to seeing the professors in.
Instead, he wears a corduroy three-piece suit and it makes him look quite dashing. The costume designers did this intentionally as they wanted Dumbledore to seem like a young, refreshing, and cool professor that students would feel comfortable talking to and becoming close with. Colleen Atwood described it as, "He needed to look professorial but at the same time approachable, so I used softer fabrics and textures in tones like heathery greys, which add to the approachability of the character," during an interview with MuggleNet.
Dumbledore's wardrobe would have changed if his sexuality was known
We didn't find out that Dumbledore was meant to be gay until after the books were published and the movies were well underway. J.K. Rowling revealed that little tidbit pretty late in the game. Jany Temime, who was one of the lead costume designers on the film starting with Prisoner of Azkaban, chatted with Fashionista about how that knowledge might have changed the way she decided to dress the headmaster had she known the truth about his sexuality at the time.
Temime states Rowling didn't tell her about the fact until the fifth film was in production. That said, she loved having new directors of photography for each film as they captured different things about the characters like Dumbledore's robe embroidery in the fifth film.
Dumbledore wears infamous half-moon spectacles
Dumbeldore's half-moon spectacles are frequently mentioned in the novels. While he does wear them in the movies too, they don't get quite the same amount of importance as in the books. One of the reasons Dumbledore fancies this style of glasses is so he can peer over the top. One has to wonder sometimes if he actually needs them or likes the appearance of them.
But there is a theory that when he is peering over the top of his glasses as they slide down the bridge of his nose, he is using Legilimency. Harry frequently commented on the piercing gaze Dumbledore would give him at times as he "peered over the top of his glasses" and he had the sensation of being X-rayed.
Check out the rings Dumbledore wears
Justin K. Prim wrote a fascinating article for Medium about the importance and meaning behind the many rings Dumbledore wears. One thing that is interesting to note is that Dumbledore does not wear these rings in the prequel Fantastic Beasts film. But in the regular Harry Potter film franchise, he always does.
One reason that may explain his taste in jewelry is simply the era he was born which would have been late Victorian. At that time, diamond cuts and old European cuts were very fashionable choices for the ring design. Prim also discusses the Celtic style and influences on Dumbledore's jewelry in addition to the reasoning behind certain gemstones, such as moonstone.
Dumbledore sported a Horcrux on his hand for months
In the sixth book of the series, Dumbledore is seen wearing a strange cracked ring for the entirety of the book. We eventually learn that he is actually wearing one of Voldemort's many Horcruxes. He has taken possession of the resurrection stone and more than that, he foolishly attempted to use it.
Dumbledore activated a curse that would eventually take his life but with the help of Snape, he was able to get it quarantined to only his hand. That said, it does make you wonder if a wizard who wasn't as powerful as Dumbledore could have survived that long.
The long professor's coat
In the books and movies, we know that Dumbledore traditionally wears a long cloak. That said, the books have Dumbeldore wearing more intriguing robes that generally have flashier colors and crazy patterns on them instead of the simple pieces he fancies in the films. Still, it's interesting to see the contrast between Dumbledore's outfits and the more muted colors of the other Hogwarts staff.
It's clear the costume designers did this intentionally so that Dumbeldore would stand out both as a headmaster and as a man of power.
Dumbledore and the color grey
Dumbledore wears the color grey frequently in the Fantastic Beasts film. This is interesting as the color grey is a sign of penance. A writer on the Fine Art Diner blog wrote an intriguing post analyzing some of the costume choices and decisions Dumbledore has made to understand his psyche better.
The idea of Dumbeldore wearing greys as an act of penance, especially with a hat, is very intuitive as we later discover Dumbledore has much to be guilty for. He is always attempting to atone for the mistakes he made with his sister Ariana and Grindelwald.
The different hats
If you notice the two different Dumbledore actors wore two different styles of hats. Richard Harris, who originated the role in the first two films, wore a hat more customary to the book version. It was sort of the traditional pointed wizard's hat.
Whereas in the third film, we meet Michael Gambon who takes over after Harris sadly passed away. The new version of Dumbledore was designed to be more "hip" and contemporary.
His movie style is much different from the books
Even with all the changes and adaptations, Dumbledore's book style is much different from what makes it on-screen. In the books, he is described as wearing high-heeled wizard boots, and even electric blue robes on occasion. He enjoys experimenting with a flamboyant and even somewhat garish sense of style. It makes him appear to be a more eccentric wizard.
The film version of Dumbledore is more muted, toned down, and played straight as a wizened older man. The book version makes him a little more on the wild side with his many quirks and oddities. You can picture the man in the books enjoying lemon drops and uttering strange words that sound like gibberish, it's a little hard to see that in the movies.
The beard in a tie and the beard untied
Another big fashion change between the two Dumbledore actors is in the beard care. In the first two films, his beard is long and flowy. But when Gambon takes over, the beard gets tied up to appear more neat and elegant. The untied beard is more fitting of Dumbledore's character. Surely beard maintenance is a thing but Dumbledore would be the type of man to let the naturalness grow out.
It's kind of like Khal Drogo in Game of Thrones, the longer the beard, the more magical the power? Maybe that's not legitimate but it seems like a good rule of thumb especially as we never see another wizard described as having such a long beard as we do when hearing about Dumbledore.