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Thursday, October 22, 2026
How Netflix's 'East of Eden' Dressed Good and Evil, According to the Costume Designer
www.esquire.com: “There’s more beauty in the truth, even if it is dreadful beauty,” John Steinbeck writes in his sprawling California epic East of Eden. It’s an idea that runs through the biblically inspired 1952 novel: what lies beneath the surface will, eventually, find a way out.
2 comments:
I.Brooke
said...
“Now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good.” John Steinbeck writes in East of Eden. It's not a niche quote, but it is one that has lingered with me since I read the book back in Highschool. There has been a lot of hype surrounding this newest adaptation of East of Eden. Reading this article and the fundamental understanding the costume designer has of the characters has given me a lot of hope that it will be good. I'm not so much interested in how the costumes are made, rather what is being conveyed by them. Going past the impressive historical and textual accuracy the designer mentions, I found the intentionality of slowly morphing Kate's appearance as her ‘goodness” or lack thereof is revealed fascinating. The designer says at the end, "it's about all the pieces speaking to each other.” Good versus evil is the basis of this story, hence all the biblical reference to Adam and Eve, and Cain and Abel. In the same way the characters need to be in dialogue about good and evil, their costumes need to reflect how the characters are leaning. I don't think I would have really looked twice at the costumes beforehand, but now after reading this article I will be on the lookout for it as I watch the show.
I love a Costume Designer who uses color, fabrics, and other elements to tell the audience more about a character. It really adds to the storytelling as the story progresses to give visual hints of how the characters are changing and warping overtime. I am also so impressed that the 70 person Costume team for this show made 85% of everything shown onscreen. I think that within itself is a huge achievement as there are so many costumes and they are all so beautiful. I like how at the end of the article the Costume Designer is asked what pieces they wish they could take with them and they said the menswear. I see that the ladies' costumes are the ones receiving praise and currently being talked about so it is always interesting to me what things the designers love compared to audiences. I’ll have to keep all these details in mind regarding the costumes when I finally get around to watching the show.
2 comments:
“Now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good.” John Steinbeck writes in East of Eden. It's not a niche quote, but it is one that has lingered with me since I read the book back in Highschool. There has been a lot of hype surrounding this newest adaptation of East of Eden. Reading this article and the fundamental understanding the costume designer has of the characters has given me a lot of hope that it will be good. I'm not so much interested in how the costumes are made, rather what is being conveyed by them. Going past the impressive historical and textual accuracy the designer mentions, I found the intentionality of slowly morphing Kate's appearance as her ‘goodness” or lack thereof is revealed fascinating. The designer says at the end, "it's about all the pieces speaking to each other.” Good versus evil is the basis of this story, hence all the biblical reference to Adam and Eve, and Cain and Abel. In the same way the characters need to be in dialogue about good and evil, their costumes need to reflect how the characters are leaning. I don't think I would have really looked twice at the costumes beforehand, but now after reading this article I will be on the lookout for it as I watch the show.
I love a Costume Designer who uses color, fabrics, and other elements to tell the audience more about a character. It really adds to the storytelling as the story progresses to give visual hints of how the characters are changing and warping overtime. I am also so impressed that the 70 person Costume team for this show made 85% of everything shown onscreen. I think that within itself is a huge achievement as there are so many costumes and they are all so beautiful.
I like how at the end of the article the Costume Designer is asked what pieces they wish they could take with them and they said the menswear. I see that the ladies' costumes are the ones receiving praise and currently being talked about so it is always interesting to me what things the designers love compared to audiences. I’ll have to keep all these details in mind regarding the costumes when I finally get around to watching the show.
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