Wednesday Costume Designer Talks Modernizing the Addams Family Wardrobe

Costume Designer Colleen Atwood wanted "a contemporary connectivity feeling" when creating looks for Wednesday.

By Jamie Jirak

Wednesday debuted on Netflix towards the end of last year, and it was an instant hit for the streamer. Folks fell in love with Jenna Ortega as the titular member of the Addams Family. In fact, she recently earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. The series scored 12 nods in total, including one for Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Contemporary Costumes For A Series. Colleen Atwood (Costume Designer), Mark Sutherland (Co-Costume Designer), Robin Soutar (Assistant Costume Designer), Claudia Littlefield (Costume Supervisor), and Adina Bucur (Costume Supervisor) are all nominated for their work on the show's first episode, "Wednesday's Child Is Full Of Woe." Atwood, who has won four Oscars and one Emmy for her costume work, recently spoke with The Wrap about Wednesday. 

"My vision for the costumes was a contemporary connectivity feeling, for young people to see the Addams family as people, as opposed to cartoonish," Atwood explained. "I work very quickly in general, and I know how Tim [Burton] likes to work," she added. "He's a reactive director, so I show him a lot of things in the beginning and then we whittle it down to what we like together."

As for Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Gomez (Luis Guzman), Atwood points out that Wednesday's parents "weren't in this first outing that much ... but it'll be fun to expand upon their wardrobes in another season." 

Atwood explained of the students of Nevermore's looks, "It was not only what they wore, but how they wore it, which is an important thing within the uniform world. You go outside private schools that are uniform schools and you see everybody's interpretation of the same thing." She added, "The slackers – all their stuff was baggier and looser. And the hot girls, it was tighter and shorter. Wednesday was just kind of a cocoon."

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As for Wednesday's signature school uniform, Atwood reveals it was double custom, and that her team painted the purple-striped wool black before screen-printing a new fabric from that.

When Are The 2023 Emmys?

It was recently announced that the upcoming Emmys have been delayed to 2024 due to the SAG and WGA strikes. The Primetime Emmys will now air on Monday, January 15, 2024 (8:00-11:00 PM EST/5:00-8:00 PM PST) on FOX. Additionally, the Creative Arts Emmy Awards will take place at the Peacock Theater at LA Live over two consecutive nights on Saturday, January 6, and Sunday, January 7, 2024. An edited presentation will be aired Saturday, January 13, 2024, at 8:00 PM EST/PST on FXX.

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