After its release in 2022, Netflix’s "Wednesday" helped bring goth-adjacent, dark academia style to the mainstream. Jenna Ortega’s Wednesday Addams made black lace, chunky loafers, Peter Pan collar dresses, and that Nightmoth MAC lip liner irresistible for almost everyone, despite how much of a colorful maximalist (see: Enid Sinclair) you were. Her viral dance scene spawned endless recreations, while Catherine Zeta-Jones's Morticia gowns gave gothic glamour its rightful moment back in the sun (or rather, the shadows).
Now, with the second half of the second season finally here, the question looms: How do you follow up a look that became a cultural phenomenon? For costume designers Colleen Atwood and Mark Sutherland, the answer was evolution. Wednesday’s season two costumes are more nuanced and more personal to where each character is in their story. “We wanted to elevate the looks for the characters, but without changing the essence of them,” Sutherland tells Coveteur.
That meant sharpening, not reinventing. Take Wednesday’s Nevermore school uniform, for example: The stripes look subtly different this season. “We made them just a hint stronger so they would pop a little bit more underneath the coat that she’s wearing,” Sutherland says, noting that every stripe was still hand-printed “milligram by milligram” to achieve the exact right effect.
Wednesday In Stealth Mode
Netflix
Uniforms aren’t all that our favorite sadistic schoolgirl is wearing. Wednesday takes on more detective work, which required a shift in silhouette, namely the aforementioned 1960s-style spy trench coat. Even Wednesday can’t resist a little goth athleisure: When she stages a break-in at the asylum, she trades her scholarly pleats for Adidas tearaway track pants and a glossy black puffer vest. “She was being a detective. She was going around investigating, going stealth...it was more action-oriented clothing,” Atwood explains. The tearaway pants were chosen, adds Sutherland, because you could unbutton them to show off Wednesday’s striped socks and chunky boots. “It wasn't just one element. There were different layers within it,” he explains. "And with the shiny gilet, because a lot of that was shot at nighttime, we needed something that could reflect light, so it was the perfect element to add.”
A Stylishly Morbid Crew
Netflix
Wednesday isn’t the only Nevermore student with sartorial upgrades. “We wanted to change up the feeling and the evolution of the characters because they were a little bit older, too,” explains Atwood. For Enid (Emma Myers), Wednesday’s rainbow-loving werewolf roommate, her look remains as playful as the first season, but with new layers of meaning. “With Enid, we added angora on her stripes to give it a wolf thing,” says Atwood. The design team also drew inspiration from Tokyo street fashion. “It’s kind of Japan meets New York,” she added, a nod to Harajuku layering and SoHo irreverence. Bianca Barclay (Joy Sunday), Wednesday’s rival-turned-ally with the power of siren song persuasion, was given more of a menswear vibe. She sports a bigger, oversized jacket, and switched her skirt for a pair of trousers.
Netflix
Of course, the rest of the Addams clan are style icons themselves, so it’s a thrill to see them featured more prominently. Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez), in his clashing stripes, starts school at Nevermore, and Morticia and Gomez (Luis Guzmán) move into Rotwood Cottage, formerly Marilyn Thornhill’s (Christina Ricci) abode. Gomez’s three-piece pinstripe suit was rebuilt by the costume design team, while Morticia’s iconic black gown received its own makeover, with a pop of crimson added to the bell sleeves and skirt panel. Morticia’s outfits are a few of the designers’ favorites. “During the camping trip, when Morticia steps out of the car with Gomez with the veil and the umbrella, and the fencing look — there are so many. I can't really just have one,” says Sutherland. Lastly, Grandmama Hester, played by Joanna Lumley of AbFab fame, was a welcome addition to the fashionable fam. The matriarch’s haute couture look was inspired by the fashion designer and socialite Daphne Guinness.
A Ghostly Lady Gaga
Sophy Holland/Netflix
One of the most exciting cameos this season is Lady Gaga, who appears as the ghostly Rosaline Rotwood, a former Nevermore teacher and fellow raven who helps Wednesday with her psychic block. “[Gaga] really went with the character and acted the part of who Rosaline was,” Atwood explained. “Her time period was loosely the ‘30s, when she passed. So she was a ghost, but we didn’t want to do her in white; we did a sort of silvery gray crepe.”
The gown had to move as much as it shimmered. “We knew she was going to have to move on a rig across a room, so we did something that would move easily. With a draft, it looked ethereal,” says Atwood. Sutherland adds, “There are also elements of the costume that reflect where she comes from as a raven—feathers embroidered down the sleeves, and another fine fabric with a feathery edge that would move in the wind.” Only Lady Gaga could pull off such spectral couture.
Not every standout moment was a sweeping gown. Former Nevermore principal Larissa Weems (Gwendolyn Christie) returned from the afterlife with a particularly eye-catching statement accessory, a waist chain embellished with eyes, nose, and lips charms. The surrealist-style belt, unsurprisingly, is from Schiaparelli. “This was originally a necklace, then we asked Schiaparelli if they would customize it to make it into a belt for Weems,” explains Sutherland. It’s a small detail, but one that directly connects the show to the surrealist house’s legacy.
Gala Glamour
Netflix
Another big style moment for season two was the gala episode. It was a visual feast of fashion, with Wednesday, Morticia, and Grandmama donning full-on panniers. Designing these skirt silhouettes, which featured exaggerated hips and were worn during the 18th century, was a memorable moment for Atwood. “It is always a special challenge and gift to reinterpret a great period of design,” she says. “This era of panniers and exaggerated silhouettes was a gift. It is a whole silhouette from head to toe! We interpreted it by exposing the structures and using lightweight, contemporary fabrics to give them a light, romantic quality.” Hester and Larissa’s gowns leaned classical, but crafted from “super light, almost futuristic” fabrics, says Atwood. “With Morticia, we felt her silhouette should remain strong, so her pannier was more like a gigantic piece of jewelry worn over her normal silhouette.”
In one scene, Enid and Agnes (Evie Templeton) perform a dance number at the gala wearing gorgeous silk tulles and lightweight taffeta. “We wanted the dresses to reflect who they were,” says Atwood. “Agnes was becoming her own person, so we wanted to give her a vibrancy and color that wasn't black, because she wasn't [copying] Wednesday anymore, but she also wasn't like Enid.” The end result was a stunning green taffeta dress sourced from the Italian fabric company Taroni. “It’s so lightweight, but it still has body to it, so when you move, it catches air, and it just kind of floats in a really great way,” she adds. “We left them open in the front because of the choreography, so they could really move in them.”
Atwood and Sutherland are clear about one thing. Despite the supernatural elements and ghostly hauntings, the costume design in "Wednesday" is a mix of understated, grounded moments and playfulness. “There's a lot of humor and fun to the clothes this season,” says Atwood. “We had a lot of opportunities to play with the Addams Family vibe, but also step out and open up the world that they were inhabiting.”
