#The Wardrobe of ‘Wednesday’: “An Homage to a Schoolboy Kind of Look”

In episode one, Morticia Addams tells Principal Weems that Wednesday is allergic to color. With this as a guide, Ortega wore a black-and-gray striped school uniform, allowing her to stand out from the other students. Her petite striped jacket was silk-screened, the gray stripes painted on a black background.

“The hard kind of stripes that were woven didn’t feel as good as kind of having gradations and shading,” explains costume designer Colleen Atwood of the bespoke jacket.

This was paired with a longer skirt and big shoes. “It was sort of an homage to a schoolboy kind of look as opposed to having it be kind of a girlie sort of uniform. So it’s very tailored.” Variations were given to the rest of the uniforms, to speak to each individual character. “[Students] can wear the same thing, but look totally different the way they style it themselves,” Atwood says. “So we were really into doing that with the people around her and with the background kids in the school.”

This story first appeared in a June stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.