What's the Best Yellow Costume?

+ look or cooked?

Although I am a deeply unfashionable person who rotates through a closet of identical clothing (yes, like a cartoon character, I call them “the identicals,” moving on), fashion is one of the first things that draws me to a movie. I loved putting together my 2023 roundup of favorite costumes, and hearing about the outfits that stuck with you. The specifics of costuming is rarely discussed in criticism, and despite fashion being, by nature, highly visible, it remains paradoxically underseen and underappreciated in cinema.

So let’s get deeper into costumes! I’d like to introduce you to a new game I call: LOOK OR COOKED. I’ll share five memorable outfits from movies, along with an argument for why this outfit feels significant. Your job is to vote for whether this outfit is a “look” — a certified fashion moment to put on the inspo board — or “cooked” — something best left on the screen. In this issue, I’ve chosen five yellow outfits from recent films for you to vote on. 

The most neglected of the primary colors

Yellow’s elusivity makes it all the more powerful. Consider the most famous outfits worn by Alicia Silverstone in Clueless or Bruce Lee in Game of Death (and thus by Uma Thurman in Kill Bill) or Belle in Beauty and the Beast. What would those movies be without their signature yellow garment?

Let’s celebrate a bold, gold hue in a cinematic landscape of muck-gray color theory. As always, duke it out in the comments. Don’t be yellow! Get to voting!

Lazarus’s Honey-Colored Triumph in The Beekeeper (David Ayer, streaming on Amazon Prime)

Once a year, I become obsessed with an action movie dumped in theaters in January. Last year it was Plane, this year it was The Beekeeper. This shitkicking revenge film stars Jason Statham as Adam, the titular beekeeper, a title which will come to mean everything and nothing over the next 105 minutes, who vows bloody revenge on Internet scammers. While Statham wears unassuming workmen’s gear, his foes wear costumes straight out of a comic book — Josh Hutcherson’s crypto-bro streetwear, Jeremy Irons’ retired Wall Street couture. But none are more vibrant than this look sported by South African mercenary Lazarus (Taylor James).  

Not pictured: fake prosthetic leg earned from an earlier encounter with a Beekeeper

For a movie sporting as many bee puns as The Beekeeper, it’s a surprising long wait for this energetic yellow. Lazarus is Adam’s evil tether, and their dichotomy is represented in their wardrobe. While Adam is taciturn and governed by a strict code of morals, Lazarus is a loud-mouthed, flashy mercenary. Even their names evoke Biblical inverses. From the moment we see Lazarus, he is impossible to miss: the bleached hair, the giant sideburns, the wrought South African accent. The longer you look, the more details you see: the black nail polish, the ear tattoo, the matching necklace and bracelet. He’s the human personification of the “randomize” button in Create-a-Sim.

Is this obnoxious bright yellow outfit meant to resemble the wasps Statham exterminates to protect the hive? Is any of this something a regular person could wear on the street? You decide!

David’s Yellow Rose in The Iron Claw (Sean Durkin, streaming on Max)

The costuming in The Iron Claw is a beautiful example of what strong wardrobe can achieve. The brothers share unity in how they dress while retaining a distinct individual spirit. Oldest brother Kevin is big man on campus, perennially in sportswear. Olympian hopeful Kerry is the rebel adorned with bandanas; quiet little brother Mike wears ringer t-shirts and gray hoodies. And David (Harris Dickinson)? He’s the Yellow Rose of Texas.

Btw he’s the one in the middle

In his flamboyant, spangled outfits and high-crowned cowboy hat, David immediately establishes himself as the champion of the family. He’s the most charismatic of the brothers and seems like the one who’s going to finally establish the Von Erich name, putting them to their rightful place in the history of American sports. 

State flag

His in-the-ring look might not be the most immediately street-ready, but there were a bunch of adult women wearing bloomers online this spring. Wrestling has not had the same influence on American fashion in the same way tennis, for example, has, but I don’t see why that can’t change to make room for masculine bedazzling. Besides, the cowboy aesthetic never goes out of fashion in the United States.

Mia’s Grief Cardigan in Talk To Me (Danny and Michael Philippou, streaming on Showtime)

Last year’s buzzy horror debut was a cautionary tale about suburban Australian teens who make talking to spirits into a party game. It’s a classic horror story about grief and kids playing where they shouldn’t, elevated by an exquisite cast of young actors. Sophia Wilde’s performance as Mia reminded me of the breakout horror performances that launched Anya Taylor-Joy or Florence Pugh. It would be a stunning performance regardless of what she wears, but this goldenrod sweater certainly doesn’t hurt.

Fleece touching my ears is my personal sensory nightmare but to each their own textural proclivities

Most of Talk To Me is muted, cold, and gray: this cozy, golden sweater stands out from the moment we see it sitting beside Mia. The nubby fabric is reminiscent of the kangaroo that appears early on in the movie, a specter of death that will haunt the film. The wrapped neck resembles a bathrobe and reminds us of the well of grief Mia has been in since the suicide of her mother two years ago. We see Mia in a similarly colored golden button-down in the last moments of the film.

This is a deceptively hard-to-pull-of look. The high neck, the thick fleece fabric, and the specific color could all look a bit last-minute-homemade-jedi in the wrong hands. Nothing says “I’ve been sitting in a stew of depression stew” like a bathrobe worn outside the house, but I think with the right accessories this can read as autumnal glamor rather than glazed anhedonia.

Gawain’s Lush Velvet in The Green Knight (David Lowery, streaming on Max)

This rich adaptation of the Camelot myth stars Dev Patel as Sir Gawain. Patel plays Gawain as a Brat Courtier, a cad who accepts a challenge by the Green Knight and is sent on a quest through the mysterious woods. Gawain is a fool and a coward, but we sympathize with him, partly because of Patel’s quivering vulnerability and partly because who wouldn’t be a chicken under the parameters of the Arthurian chivalric code? Throughout the movie, Gawain wears a majestic yellow cloak that he gradually sullies, both literally and metaphorically. The color is representative of his cowardice as well as the wealth that has protected him from the consequences of his bad behavior. 

This is like those as-seen-on-tv scarves that can be worn 25 different ways

Gawain later appears in yellow in a vision he has of himself as a failed, despised king. In picturing himself still in gold, we see Gawain finally attain some self-knowledge. He is not learning from the trials testing his courtly virtues. He isn’t overcoming them, he’s just getting around them. How he decides to face the Green Knight’s final challenge will demonstrate if he has any nobility within him.

Genuinely devastating that this movie didn’t inspire an Arthurian cinema Renaissance

I do actually own a sleeveless fall cloak which was perfect for Minnesota’s breezy falls, so I’m not opposed to capes as streetwear. The weight and size of the garment seems impractically dramatic for anyone not on a noble quest, but maybe that’s not so different from running errands.

Lady Jessica’s Bejeweled Saffron in Dune (Denis Villeneuve, streaming on Max)

Dune’s color palette reminds me of the old parable about Henry Ford saying the Model T came in any color one could want, “as long as it’s black.” Clothing in Dune runs the gambit from dusty gray to dusty brown, which helps make Lady Jessica’s (Rebecca Ferguson) ornate golden gown stand out all the more. A member of the elite sisterhood of the Bene Gesserit, Lady Jessica is one of the most enigmatic characters in a cast of exclusively weirdos. Though she remains in mostly soft tones, her otherworldly nobility is reflected in her exquisite costuming.

Kind of a stunt to make your ladies-in-waiting wear this shit

The beaded veil is reminiscent of bridal jewelry, while the sheer veil moves beautifully in the wind, the rippling fabric reminiscent of the rippling sand that will shape her destiny on Arrakis. While her husband and son wear military uniforms, Lady Jessica’s costuming demonstrates that her power comes from a different, less terrestrial source. In this dress, I see a prediction for Jessica’s future on Arrakis: she will retain the taste, grooming, and sensibilities of the Bene Gesserit, but is unafraid to dress herself to fit the desert culture of the Fremen. The opacity of the fabric reflects the opacity of her character and her shifting loyalties.

This is not a deeply practical look for everyday wear, but the popularity of pearls, fussy headwear, and harnesses in the last few years makes me a believer. The dress has slits around the collarbone which are a bit cold shoulder-y, a look that was all the rage pre-pandemic and still haunts thrift stores across America, but are closer to cut-outs. How much one wants to take clothing inspiration from a movie that is explicitly about colonialism and conquering is a personal choice, but then again I did put three military jackets on my favorite costumes of 2024 list.