Wizarding Fashion

by elderflower_tea

Summary:

Sometimes, a person with a degree in costume design disagrees with the choices made by costume designers in a major film franchise. Sometimes that person is me. This work is a collection of designs and sketches of how I imagine witches and wizards to dress.

Or: wizards and witches wear robes, and gosh darn it, I have a lot of feelings on magical fashion design and garment construction.

Notes:

As the summary of the work suggests, this is mostly just a collection of my drawings of assorted witches and wizards in what I imagine Wizarding fashion to be. I have never once been satisfied with the costume design from the HP movies, and have went had many various monologues about all the things I would do differently. This is a place for me to get those thoughts all in one place, and share with anyone who is interested in listening 😁

Chapter 1: Hogwarts Uniforms

This is a basic interpretation of how I picture Hogwarts uniforms! Full length robes with billowing sleeves, belted at the waist with buttoned closures at each shoulder. Unisex, super simple, and yes, they have pockets. Hats can be brimmed or brimless depending on the student’s preferences, but are a mandatory part of the uniform. Students are allowed, and even encouraged, to accessorize, especially with their house colors. It’s particularly common for students to purchase pins with their house crests to attach to their robes or hats, or ribbons/cords to tie up one’s sleeves (particularly helpful in potions and herbology) in their house colors. Scarves in your house colors are also particularly common in the colder months. Other students (like Cho in canon with her Tornados pin) will show off their other interests or organizations (SPEW anyone?) with pins or buttons, and non-standard belts or corselets are also quite popular.
Robes are formless enough that an individual can easily wear base layers underneath them, even if robes are traditionally worn by themselves, with woven-in temperature regulation charms being more than enough to keep the wearer at a comfortable temperature. Woven-in charms that most magical garment-quality fabrics are made with will break down over time (corresponding with the physical wear on the fabric) so second hand-robes are more likely to require a base layer underneath for temperature reasons than brand new robes of a decent quality. Hence, Weasley sweaters, which can be worn with a pair of trousers or a skirt under robes to keep one perfectly warm in a frigid Scottish castle.