Costume design of Stranger Things

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The costume design of Stranger Things blends genuine 1980s designs with references to beloved films and shows from the same period, as well as the rural Indiana setting. The costume designers for Stranger Things were Kimberly Adams and Malgosia Turzanska in the first season, Kim Wilcox in the second season, and Amy Parris in the third and fourth seasons.

Crew

• Kimberly Adams – Costume designer (Season 1)
• Malgosia Turzanska – Costume designer (Season 1)
• Kim Wilcox – Costume designer (Season 2)
• Amy Parris - Costume designer (Seasons 3 and 4)
• Oksana Nedavniaya – Costume illustrator (uncredited)

Season 1

The costume designers for the first season were Kimberly Adams for the first four episodes and Malgosia Turzanska for the remaining four. Adams has been a costume designer on Lizzie McGuire, associate costume designer on the Narnia film trilogy and assistant costume designer on The Ring and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Turzanska has been a costume designer on Hell or High Water, Ain't Them Bodies Saints and Maggie’s Plan. She got the job through her friend Sarah Hindsgaul, the hair stylist on the series.

It was important to the Duffer Brothers that the characters and setting feel real, so Adams tried to be true to each character. She looked to films, catalogs, magazines, family photo albums and year books for inspiration, to tap into how the characters really lived in 1983. She focused her research on Middle America, where she found that there was a lot of leftover fashion from the 70s due to the recession, among other things. Turzanska looked for inspiration in street photography, candid family images, mail order catalogues like Sears, magazines (Seventeen magazines specifically) and actual period clothing.

Adams put together mood boards with images from her research to distinguish each character's look, including the background characters and extras, who were dressed with the same care as the main characters. Adams said: "They are all part of the sets that create the world being filmed." Oksana Nedavniaya illustrated some of the costumes for Adams.

A stock of period clothing was built to cover the categories of characters they had to dress, including middle school, high school, town folk, agents, government workers and scientists. For the kids' closets, they had multiples of the same costumes to be used for photo doubles and stunts, but also to take into account the rapid growth of the kids over the five months of shooting.

Adams encouraged input from the actors and the characters' closets evolved and became more unique as they merged with the actors. Pieces of clothing were aged according to how long the designer felt the character had owned it. For example, Will's clothing was more aged and hand me down than Mike, who got new clothes for the school year, to reflect the characters' difference in social status.

Mood Boards

Mood boards created for the characters and groups by Kimberly Adams, with some of the image sources identified.

Sean Astin as Mikey in The Goonies (1985)

Meryl Streep as Karen Silkwood in Silkwood (1983); Cher as Florence "Rusty" Dennis in Mask (1985); Geena Davis as Veronica "Ronnie" Quaife in The Fly (1986); Cherie Currie as Annie in Foxes (1980); Cher photo shoot in 1982 and event in 1983.

Roy Scheider as Police Chief Martin Brody in Jaws (1975); Dayton Hostage Negation Team Commander Lt. Dan Baker at the scene of an incident in 1984.

Johnny Depp as Glen Lantz in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984); Tom Cruise as Joel Goodson in Risky Business (1983); John Sommi modelling knitwork in GQ, June 1983; Tom Cruise as Stefan "Stef" Djordjevic in All the Right Moves (1983); Steve's buddies - Baker River School 1980 photo.

John Carpenter's Christine (1983); Sacramento State Nursing Alumni class photo fall 1980.

Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)

Season 2

Kim Wilcox, who had costume designed films like Stronger and TV shows like Mr. Robot, came on board as the new costume designer for the second season. Since the season was moving a year later to the fall of 1984, and was also to pay homage to the films released during the timeline, she said to have looked over films for instance, Gremlins, Ghostbusters, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and The Outsiders for inspiration as well as more authenticity. Ultimately, it was the kids of middle school and high school yearbooks that drove the biggest inspiration.

Netflix offered Kim Wilcox and her team a bigger budget for the season, which gave them the opportunity to create a bigger archive of clothing. She shopped at many local shops in Atlanta and other vintage stores in Little Five Points. The team relied on "heritage brands" that still manufactured the same styles of the '80s, due to the lead kids' tendency for rapid growth in a very quick period of time.

While the kids mostly continued wearing their signature stylish-clothes with some subtle changes to perceive their character maturity, it was Eleven whose clothes required the most alterations. As her story-line had her living sidelined with Hopper, the team had to figure out clothes which he would've brought her because she is "starting to relax and becoming more like a regular little girl". Wilcox also took input from Millie Bobby Brown for her character's punk makeover.

Since the season also coincided with Halloween, the crews wanted an adorable group costume for the boys from Ghostbusters and so Wilcox and her team had to think about whose "costume would be more 'together' and whose would be less", implying Will's relaxed outfit compared to the precise ones of Mike, Dustin and Lucas. Moreover, for the Snow Ball dance sequence, the team had to see what was right and fitting for the boys' personality, because they were just on the edge of becoming adults and it was their first to a lot of such new things. Each of the boys' distinctive looks also hinted to their possible future character trajectory.

Season 3

With the third season being set in the summer of 1985, Amy Parris was brought in the team as the new costume designer to search for colorful, bold accessories and outfits that reflected the nostalgia of the mid-80s.

For Hopper's colorful button shirt he wears from "The Mall Rats" onward, Parris was inspired by the fashion of Magnum, P.I., mirroring the Wrangler jeans and canvas belt, but adding Hopper's work boots to add character to it. Though the shirt was custom-made due to them needing multiples for stunts, the fabric itself was genuine vintage that Parris mass purchased so they didn't run out. For Murray, his terry cloth and mesh color-blocked zip up he wears from "The Flayed" to "The Bite" was custom-made by Casey Crespo.

For Eleven, it was a big opportunity for Parris and Millie Bobby Brown to experiment since Eleven had been accustomed to wearing hand-me-downs for the last two seasons. With Max bringing her to the mall, Eleven was able to embrace being a typical teenage girl in the 1980s. In "The Mall Rats", the romper El purchases at The Gap was genuine vintage; Parris had discovered it in a costume house in L.A. untouched, and it happened to fit Millie perfectly. The sneakers El buys are genuine vintage Reebok freestyle high tops. Since Parris needed multiples due to stunts, she cheated by painting modern Reeboks green. For Eleven's outfit she wears from "The Sauna Test" and "E Pluribus Unum", her paint-splatter shirt was custom-made by Casey Crespo, while her jeans were from the vintage brand Jordache. For Eleven's outfit she wears from "E Pluribus Unum" to "The Battle of Starcourt", Parris used Seventeen Magazine issues from 1984-1985 as inspiration since they utilized accessories such as chunky belts and suspenders. El's yellow Aztec shirt, black pleated pants, and belt were all made exclusively as part of a collaboration with the brand Levi's that were purchasable in the summer of 2019. At the end of "The Battle of Starcourt", El wears Max's green hair-tie in her hair, seen as a parting gift before she departs Hawkins. For Mike, Parris wanted to make him more preppy and mature-looking compared to the other boys since he comes from a more rich family. The vest Mike wears in "Suzie, Do You Copy" is from the brand Jordache. The outfit Mike wears from "The Mall Rats" to "The Case of the Missing Lifeguard" is from the brand Volcom. The teal polo shirt Mike wears from "The Sauna Test" to "E Pluribus Unum" is from the vintage brand Sasson. The green polo color-block shirt Mike wears from "E Pluribus Unum" to "The Battle of Starcourt" is from the brand ASOS. For Lucas, Parris wanted Max's influence on him to be more apparent, wearing more brighter colors. The tank-top Lucas wears in "Suzie, Do You Copy?" is branded Cat & Jack. The hat Lucas wears from "The Sauna Test" and "E Pluribus Unum" is a vintage Ceramiche Ariostea hat, from an Italian cycling team from 1984-1993. For Lucas' outfit he wears from "E Pluribus Unum" to "The Battle of Starcourt", his tank-top is inspired by The Karate Kid. Lucas purposefully wore it since Max has a celebrity crush on Ralph Macchio. For Will, Parris intentionally made his clothes ill-fitting and immature; both due to getting hand-me-downs from Jonathan since the Byers family doesn't have too much money and due to being emotionally stunted compared to his growing friends. It was important to establish that Will was feeling left behind. The Will the Wise costume Will wears in "The Case of the Missing Lifeguard" was custom-made by Casey Crispo. For Max, Parris saw the season's summer setting as a perfect opportunity to display Max's sunny California wardrobe. Most of her outfits were a mixture of custom-made and store-bought pieces; For Max's outfit she wears in "The Mall Rats" and "The Case of the Missing Lifeguard", the red striped ringer T-shirt was from the brand Honey Punch, while her shorts were from the Urban Outfitters brand BDG. For Max's pajamas she wears in "The Case of the Missing Lifeguard", she wears a green Classic II T-shirt, while her shorts are Ocean Pacific. For Max's outfit she wears from "The Sauna Test" to "E Pluribus Unum", the purple hoodie was custom-made by Casey Crespo, while her rainbow T-shirt was from the brand Pam & Gela. At the end of "The Battle of Starcourt", Lucas and Max's outfits were worn by Eric and Donna, the main couple from That '70s Show. For Nancy and Jonathan, Parris described them as getting into the new-wave era of the 80s, "getting into fashion but not in the mainstream [...] they're probably not shopping at the mall". For Nancy in particular, Parris was inspired by Molly Ringwald to establish Nancy's growing maturity, balancing giving her feminine outfits for the workplace while also not making her overtly dainty. For the dress Nancy wears between "The Sauna Test" and "E Pluribus Unum", the purple dress was a genuine vintage piece Parris found on Etsy, though she added the teal trim herself. Nancy's almond toe pumps were also deadstock that Parris scored multiples for. The Duffers told Parris that they thought it would be amazing to have Nancy fight Bruce in her dress, which meant that Parris and her team scrambled to make multiple dresses for the stunts, making sure to dye the fabric the exact shade of purple. The red and black striped top Nancy wears from "E Pluribus Unum" to "The Battle of Starcourt" was custom-made, with Parris wanting to continue the tradition of Nancy wearing bold stripes during battles. For Billy, Parris researched lifeguards of the 80s to make sure his outfit was accurate for the time period. Since most of them were basically the modern-day equivalent to booty shorts, Parris tailored the shorts to match actor Dacre Montgomery's physique. For Karen, her color-block swimsuit was custom-made by Casey Crespo, with Parris working with actress Cara Buono to make sure the swimsuit was high enough to match the time period but also make Cara comfortable. The beaded colorful necklace Karen wears in "Suzie, Do You Copy?" was a genuine vintage Avon necklace. Both Karen's and Billy's swimsuits were made exclusively as part of a collaboration with H&M that was purchasable in the summer of 2019.

For Dustin, he continues his obsession with graphic T-shirts layered with button-shirts. His Camp Know Where outfit he wears in “Suzie, Do You Copy?” was custom-made by Parris’ team, while his shorts were from the brand Sportif. The cat T-shirt he wears in “The Mall Rats” was also custom-made. For Dustin’s outfit in “The Case of the Missing Lifeguard”, Dustin wears a vintage Weird Al T-Shirt and an Original Penguin cassette button-shirt. For the outfit Dustin wears from “The Sauna Test” to “The Battle of Starcourt”, Dustin’s Roast Beef T-Shirt was custom-made, though the rest of his outfit was store-bought pieces; his vest is Brittania, the patch sewn onto it is a Discovery mission patch from 1985, his green shorts are the Target brand Goodfellow & Co., and his sneakers are classic white Reeboks with custom yellow shoelaces. For Steve and Robin’s Scoop Ahoy sailor uniforms, the Duffer Brothers were extremely serious on making sure the outfits were goofy-looking yet appealing since Steve and Robin were going to wear it for almost the entire season. Parris also wanted to make sure both Steve and Robin’s uniforms were unique instead of being the same. The sailor hats were originally larger and blue, though this was ultimately scrapped. For Robin’s red Converse sneakers, actress Maya Hawke drew on them herself. For Erica’s outfit that she wears from “The Sauna Test” to “The Battle of Starcourt”, her overalls and ringer T-shirt was custom-made by Casey Crespo, while her sneakers were Nike mint cortez sneakers with custom pink shoelaces.

Season 4

Since the season had four different settings, Amy Parris made sure to keep track of each separate environments through a color palette. For the teens, Parris used films during that period, such as Tuff Turf (1985) and Just One of the Guys (1985), and yearbooks from both California and the Midwest from between 1984 to 1986 to reflect the fashion during that time.

Kamchatka, Russia

For Russia, Parris wanted the darker and scarier environment reflected through the Russian guards and prisoner uniforms. Many of the costumes were sourced from Poland due to shooting taking place in Lithuania. Shawn Levy suggested putting Hopper's nametag, "American" in Cyrillic, on his prison outfit. Parris and her crew had to wear down the outfits to give it its genuine look, adding dirt and scum on it since the costumes had to be years old. For Joyce, Parris wanted her jacket to be something Joyce had brought with her from Hawkins but put it away since she wouldn't need it in California. The crew built heat warmers within Winona Ryder's jacket since shooting in the cold became intense at times, while still keeping her in a signature "mom-like" coat and her classic Reebok sneakers. For Murray, most of his outfits were custom-made, and Parris wanted to dress him up extravagantly to contrast with his hermit personality.

Hawkins Lab/Ruth, Nevada

Since the NINA Project had Eleven traveling back to 1979 in the Hawkins Lab, Parris had the wardrobe be extremely white and clean. For Eleven's hospital gown, Parris put it on and had her team drag her through blood stains for when Eleven battles One in "The Massacre at Hawkins Lab". For Dr. Brenner, Parris had to make multiple suits since his character went from 1959 to 1979 to 1986, attempting to make all of them distinguishable. For One, Parris had his orderly suit be white and clean to give off an angelic but also creepy vibe.

Hawkins, Indiana

For Hawkins, Parris continued to give the town a "rusty-dusty", saturated look.

For Dustin, Parris continued giving him graphic T-shirts and patterns. Parris envisioned Dustin buying the Thinking Cap trucker hat at the Starcourt Mall. For his test-bubble button shirt Dustin wears in "Vecna's Curse", Parris worked with Gaten Matarazzo into thinking Dustin would personally decorate the shirt himself. For Lucas, Parris wanted to combine his wardrobe with both athletic and nerdy clothing to display his struggle with choosing what clique he fits into. For Lucas' basketball team uniform, actor Caleb McLaughlin personally chose #8 to be Lucas' number in honor of the late basketball legend Kobe Bryant, while the Converse sneakers he wears were personally made by the company themselves. For Max, since she's in a period of mourning, Parris wanted to show her in more baggier, darker outfits. Since her mother is struggling financially, however, most of her outfits still have a slight brighter California look to them. Max's blue jacket and red grid T-shirt she wears from "The Monster and the Superhero" to "The Nina Project" was custom-made since Parris was anxious they wouldn't have too much time to shop for clothes due to the pandemic, which worked out in the end since they needed multiples. For Max's outfit from "The Dive" to "The Piggyback" were store-bought, with her corduroy jacket from the brand Hang Ten, while her green striped shirt was from the Target brand Universal Thread. For Nancy, since she was graduating high school and preparing for college, Parris used Brooke Shields as a reference to emphasize Nancy's maturity. Most of Nancy's outfits were built from scratch, particularly her boots since no brand at the time made an accurate look to what the team needed. In "The Hellfire Club", Nancy's Emerson T-shirt was a vintage shirt from the college. For the striped sweater Nancy wears from "The Dive" to "The Piggyback", Parris wanted to continue the theme of Nancy wearing stripes in season finales. and had to make it thin enough to rip when Nancy rips off the hem to cover Steve's injuries in "The Massacre at Hawkins Lab". For Steve and Robin, Parris used creative licensing for the Family Video uniform vests as an opportunity for Steve and Robin to show off their personalities in contrast to the Scoops Ahoy uniforms. Steve's polo shirt he wears in "Vecna's Curse" is a genuine vintage from the brand Criquet, while he continues to wear Levi's jeans. For Robin's suit in "Vecna's Curse", Parris used Annie Hall (1977) as inspiration, while decorating her Family Video vest with Easter eggs; the hawk pin is a reference to Maya Hawke's last name, while the Ms. button is a reference to Gloria Steinem's feminist magazine of the same name. The Wrangler jacket Robin wears between "The Monster and the Superhero" and "The Nina Project" was store-bought, with Maya Hawke personally choosing patches to decorate it. The yellow leaf-pattern shirt Robin wears from "The Dive" to "Papa" was custom-made, with Parris adding LGBTQ+ symbols to represent Robin's sexuality; the triangles are in reference to how queer Jewish prisoners were labeled during the Holocaust before being rebranded as a symbol of protest in the 1970s, while the equal signs are in reference to the Human Rights Campaign's logo established in 1980. For Erica, since actress Priah Ferguson had noticeably grown in-between seasons, Parris dressed Erica with more layers and color to hide it. Parris expressed how fun it was to tailor the American flag Erica wears in "The Hellfire Club". For Vickie, Parris used Molly Ringwald's characters in John Hughes' films as reference; Vickie's outfit in "Papa" was inspired by Samantha Baker in Sixteen Candles (1984) while her outfit in "The Piggyback" was inspired by Andie Walsh in Pretty in Pink. For Eddie, Parris was extremely detailed, admitting it was her favorite costume to design. Eddie's leather jacket is from the brand Schott, while his denim vest was a genuine vintage Levi's jacket that Parris cut the sleeves off to give it a wared down look. Parris decorated the vest with pins Eddie would've listened to - Motley Crue, Motor-Head, Iron Maiden, etc. - and stitched a Dio "The Last in Line" T-shirt onto the back that was actually a gift from the late singer Ronnie James' ex-wife, Wendy, from James' estate. Since they needed multiples, including tailoring one to fit Joe Keery, Parris copied the outfit, toning down the shine on the pins. The Hellfire Club logo were designed by Parris' friend Trevor, and was added onto black baseball tees to make the logo stand out. Parris wanted to give off like Eddie and the boys made the shirt themselves, screened it, and printed it onto shirts. For Dustin, Nancy, Steve, Robin, and Eddie in "Papa" and "The Piggyback" Parris used the film Red Dawn (1984) as reference for their battle outfits they buy at the War Zone.

Lenora Hills, California

For Lenora Hills, Parris wanted to contrast it with Hawkins, giving it a colorful, sun-soaked vibe.

For Eleven, Parris wanted her to stand out among her peers; not only is she a high school freshman attending school for the first time, but she doesn't have Max to guide her. So her attire is a mixture of leftover pieces from the Starcourt Mall and hand-me-downs from either Joyce, Jonathan, or Will since the Byers don't have much money. Parris used Patty Greene from the 1982-1983 television show Square Pegs as reference. The ring Eleven wears was a gift Mike gave her between 1985-1986. For Eleven's outfit in "Vecna's Curse", the dress was a leftover piece from the Starcourt Mall while her flannel underneath was a hand-me-down for Will. When Jake throws a milkshake onto Eleven's dress, the stain was actual milkshake; Parris put the dress on a mannequin, had her team throw a milkshake onto it, got the approval from the Duffers, and recreated the stain onto multiples for stunt doubles using paint. The outfit Eleven wears from "The Monster and the Superhero" to "The Piggyback" is a mixture of custom-made and store-bought; her socks are from the brand Rainbow Unicorn Birthday Surprise, her V-neck jersey is from the brand Augusta Sportswear, and her floral top is from the brand Billabong, though the cuffs were added by Parris. For Mike, Parris wanted to show how Eddie's influence has effected Mike's wardrobe; instead of having a preppy look since his mother bought his clothes, Mike has started to grow more sharper, wearing black Wrangler jeans and black Converse sneakers. For Mike's vacation outfit in "Vecna's Curse", Parris thought it'd be something Mike would buy at the airport before arriving at Lenora Hills, making it purposefully matching and hokey. The teal jacket Mike wears from "Dear Billy" onward was custom-made since Parris wanted to make it more sharper and detailed. For Will, Parris continued making him more underdeveloped and immature than his friends, while also using it to hide actor Noah Schnapp's growth between seasons. For Jonathan, unlike his siblings, Parris had him embrace the California 4/20 lifestyle now that he befriended Argyle. The psychedelic patterned shirt he wears from "Dear Billy" onward was deadstock Parris found. For Argyle, Parris wanted to make him as colorful as possible since it contrasted with actor Eduardo Franco's long dark hair. Most of Argyle's clothing were custom-made as part of a collaboration with Quiksilver, who went through archives from the 1980s to match the time period. Vans also helped custom-made Argyle's sneakers. Argyle's bracelets were made by Parris' friends' children, with Parris envisioning that Argyle would make them when bored in class. For Eden Bingham, Parris used Allison Reynolds' outfit from The Breakfast Club (1985) as reference. As part of their collaboration, Quiksilver released a limited clothing collection featuring outfits from Mike, Max, Nancy, Steve, and Argyle in the summer of 2022.

Award	Category	Nominee	Result
2017 Costume Designers Guild Award	Outstanding Period Television Series	Stranger Things, Series – Kimberly Adams, Malgosia Turzanska	Nominated
2018 Costume Designers Guild Award	Excellence in Period Television	Kim Wilcox	Nominated