The Lord of the Rings is an extremely popular fantasy series, and in many ways, the films brought in a renewed interest in fantasy storytelling across many mediums. Plus, with the new Amazon series on the way, there is a new wave of excitement. One of the reasons that the movies were so successful was how detailed the world was. From the sets to the props to the customers, everything was created with a lot of intricacy and world-building in mind.
One way that the series told a story and revealed characterization was through costuming. There were many details in the costumes that might have been missed while just watching the films. Here are the 10 hidden details from Lord of the Rings costumes that you probably didn't notice.
THE HOBBITS HAD A TWEED THEME
When creating the costumes for the characters, and for each race such as Hobbits, there were themes that were followed to make those costumes cohesive. Much of the facts on this list from the book The Lord of the Rings: The Making of the Movie Trilogy.
According to this book, the costume and makeup designers for the film had a theme that they called “tweedy.” This means they used colors that were overall ruddy including yellows and browns. But, Frodo had outfits that were slightly darker and richer looking than the other Hobbits.
THE BUTTONS OF ARAGORN’S TUNIC HAD THE TREE OF GONDOR
One of the costumes that has quite a lot of details when you look at it closely is Aragorn. While his ranger costume might seem rather simple and mostly just black and worn down, his costume had many layers to it to add intricacy. This costume is one that had many little things to give nods to who he is as a character and his complicated and somewhat regal lineage.
According to costume designer Ngila Dickson, the buttons of his tunic actually were embellished with the tree of Gondor to give a nod to this part of his history.
SARUMAN’S BELT WAS BRANDED WITH GOLD THREAD
Just like with Aragorn's costume, Saruman’s costume had a lot of small details that you probably wouldn’t notice just watching the movies. While most of his costume is white, there are some small details that bring dimension and color into the clothes. One small but important detail is that Saruamn’s belt had a lot of gold thread interwoven into it.
While the belt was mostly made of white wool, the gold thread brought dimension as well as a richness to the custom which is fitting considering he was the leader of the wizards.
GANDALF THE GREY’S COSTUME WAS BROKEN DOWN TO LOOK OLD
One of the most faxcatining things about the costumes from Lord of the Rings is how intricate almost every costume was. While many of the men’s costumes were mostly one color, think Aragorn and Saruman, they had so many pieces and each fabric was made intentionally.
While Gandalf the Grey’s costume might just seem like a simple grey robe, it was made with a lot of effort. The fabric was broken done using techniques such as washing, overdrying, and sand to make it look old and weathered.
FRODO AND SAM’S MORDOR COSTUMES WENT THROUGH 27 DIFFERENT CHANGES
Another fascinating aspect of the costumes from the trilogy is how many different versions had to be made to ensure continuity. Since the main characters were going on a journey over hundreds of miles, their costumes went through a lot of wear and tear.
One of the most intense examples of changing the costumes for continuity was Frodo and Sam’s outfits during the Morodor sequences. All in all, they had 27 versions.
VIGGO MORTENSEN TOOK CARE OF HIS OWN COSTUME
For huge fans of Lord of the Rings, they know that many of the actors were very invested in their characters. One of the actors who was most involved with the process was Viggo Mortenseon. In many ways, he helped with the design of his character, and he actually asked the costume department to let him take care of his costume.
He would add patches and fix it to reflect the way that Aragorn himself would have needed to while on the road as a ranger.
ARWEN’S DRESSES WERE IN A DIFFERENT COLOR PALETTE THAN THE OTHER ELVES
While most of the costumes in the series were made for men, there were a few female characters who had some decadent dresses. Arwen is one of the characters whose dresses were quite beautiful and detailed.
As an elven princess, her dresses had to reflect her royalty. While most of the elves were dressed in colors that were more neutral such as greys, greens, and yellows, Arwen was put in darker colors such as blues and reds that set her apart.
SARUMAN’S ROBES HAD A VARIETY OF TEXTURES
Big fans of Lord of the Rings know that Saruman was known as Saruman the White until he joined up with Mordor. After this, he began calling himself Saruman of Many Colors. While in the movies, his outfit looks mostly white with some small silver or grey moments, there are actually a lot of elements to his costume.
Ngila Dickson included multiple different textures and embellishments to create patterns. There was also a lot of embroidery incorporated into his costume. The idea was to create dimension in a way that almost looked like this many colors concept.
GRIMA’S COSTUME WAS DESIGNED TO MAKE HIM LOOK SINISTER
While the main characters of the Fellowship obviously had costumes that were thought out in detail, it’s also amazing that the supporting characters have costumes that had just as much thought put into them. One example of this is Grima Wormtongue.
His outfit included many details to point to his sinister nature. For example, the sleeves of his shirt came to points and the robe he wore was long and dragged behind him.
GANDALF’S COSTUME HAD MULTIPLE LAYERS NOT SEEN ON SCREEN
Gandalf’s costumes caused some challenges for the costume department. While his classic grey hat was one of the most difficult things to design, the rest of his garment was also rather intricate. When Gandalf becomes Gandalf the White, he wore white robes that actually had a lot of gold and silver embroidery.
This detail was included to show that his new status as a Maia was kingly in its own right. There was also a detailed undershirt that was never even seen.