Totally tubular.
Amy Parris, who designed the “Stranger Things” costumes for the hit show’s final three seasons, dressed the main characters according to the “emotions they’re going through.”
“Some of them have very specific colors,” she exclusively told the Post, pointing out that Will (Noah Schnapp) wears “tan, blue, and red that has been in almost every season.”
Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) wears “a lot of burgundies and maroons,” while Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) “is always nice and bright,” but he’s more subdued in Season 5 because he is “in mourning.”
Season 5 sees Dustin mourning his friend Eddie (Joseph Quinn), who died in Season 4.
That’s given him a more somber look with darker colors, she said.
“He’s got his trench coat, but now he’s got gray pants, and his Reeboks went from white to black. His hat is no longer a big statement with a slogan. It’s black, with a little bit of yellow,” Parris explained.
Spoilers below for the first volume of “Stranger Things” Season 5, now streaming on Netflix.
Created by the Duffer brothers, the Netflix mega-hit premiered in 2016, and will end with Season 5. The sci-fi show has followed characters living in Hawkins, Indiana in the ‘80s, as they deal with monsters from the sinister “Upside Down” dimension.
Among others, the group includes Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Joyce (Winona Rider), Hopper (David Harbour), Steve (Joe Keery), Robin (Maya Hawke), Mike (Finn Wolfhard), and Nancy (Natalia Dyer).
In Season 5, the evil Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) is abducting children, such as Holly Wheeler (Nell Fisher).
“We’re seeing a lot of youth, and a lot of kids. So I wanted the crayon colors to really shine amongst the kids,” said Parris, pointing out that the new character, Derek Turnbow (Jake Connelly), wears a “crayon sweater” with red, blue, and yellow stripes.
“The primaries are really rich and saturated. And then we also balance that with more faded, subtle, darker shades for fall and winter,” Parris explained.
“I think that helps just reflect the audience that it’s not spring, it’s not summer. It’s a little bit more serious. It’s darker in tone.”
Season 5 also sees Hawkins under a military quarantine, as commando types march around, prowling around the sinister Upside Down dimension. Linda Hamilton’s new character, Dr. Kay, is in charge of them.
The Duffer brothers relayed that they wanted to feel like the commandos were, “like this mercenary group of militia that’s separate from anything that the military has actually done historically,” said Parris.
“It’s a made up kind of militia, within our Upside Down world. But it was cool to get to give them these sort of jumpsuit flight suit looks.”
She added, “We made these black vests so that it’s very tactical and functional. And then they’ve got special military patches that signify they’re part of this wolf pack.”
Parris deliberately strayed away from real military outfits because she didn’t want it to “offend the military.”
So, their outfits aren’t based on any specific modern combat look, but rather, “just cobbled together from all military of all decades,” she explained.
Hopper also has his own DIY military outfit in Season 5, as he’s been sneaking into the Upside Down to spy on the commandos and search for Vecna.
“Those uniforms are meant to look the same on everybody. Something that can be purely functional [and] battle ready. So that was something exciting to get to do with David,” Parris explained.
In Season 5, Hopper talks about his past military experience in the Vietnam War.
“Our inspiration was actually harkening back to his background in the military that he served in the story. He was part of the Chemical Corps Special Ops, and that uniform actually does have specific pockets and specific placement,” Parris said.
She said they tried to mirror that look, but in a different fabric, so that it looked more homemade, as if “Joyce made pants for him.”
“It was more of like a slate gray blue fabric instead of the odd green that the military would have used. But we mirrored the placement of the pockets and the exact design of the Chemical Corps uniform so that it could feel like, ‘okay, this is his background. This is what he knows to wear.’”
On top, Hopper then wears an ‘80s leather jacket that “is functional, to protect himself.”
“It was cool to get to infuse the story of his previous background in the military, mixed in with ‘80s fashion,” she told The Post, noting it’s a “badass battle look.”
Luckily, Harbour was “really into” the final outcome.
“He was excited. He also wanted to make sure that he was comfortable all season. Because we really only see a few outfits this season on these characters,” she detailed. “So we got really specific about the boots and made sure his footwear would be something he could wear for hours on end every day, months at a time.”
Parris gave Hopper and the militia men canvas Palladium shoes, “which were also popular in the 80s, and we knew those would be a little bit more comfortable to wear throughout the entire season.”
Maya Hawke, meanwhile, was “the most vocal,” about her outfits, and one of Robin’s looks is even inspired “by Winona Ryder and her fashion of the ‘80s.”
The Ryder tribute — which will pop up later in the season — was Hawke’s idea.
It was “a cute nod to somebody that she has not only admired as a human, but now gets to work with as an actor,” said Parris.
“Stranger Things” Season 5 will have 8 episodes, dropping on Netflix in three volumes, releasing on Nov. 26, Dec. 25, and Dec. 31.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
