Dressed to Kill: The Costume Design of NBC's Hannibal | Behind the Seams

[@Jordacar]

12:21 'Cosplaying as Franklin,' Oh man, that's amazing. I definitely didn't catch that detail. That's the quality insight I'm here for.

[@behindtheseams300]

thank you!!

[@Laecy]

Right there with you. Been obsessed a while now and I thought I’d seen every detail pulled apart but that was new. I’d even noticed that it was a very unusual outfit for him, but I’d chalked it up to the show itself kinda cosplaying a regular police procedural for the first season to appease the network.

[@BigDog366]

Me neither, but it's so obvious once you see it. So unlike Hannibal's style.

[@aidamou]

How have I watched the show 10 times and never picked that up! I always just assumed it was the typical akward pilot episode costuming most shows go through.

[@lizanna6390]

Being mistaken for Hannibal must've been one of the best moments of Franklin's life.

[@papl20]

Everything Bedelia wears is my favorite, but nothing will top her season 3 premier green/blue dress, coat and hat. Still... Alana season 3 is top tier, everything she wears, she's killing it.

[@BigDog366]

Yes, mine too. I think blue and green should never be seen, but she wears that to sit under the cameras and be seen. So clever.

[@micheledonahoe8092]

Bedilia was a class act also. The scene with her dancing with Hannibal made Every woman in the world stone jealous. Mads Mikkelsen is the most graceful dancer.

[@BarbiesRevenge579]

'stylish cannibal' really made me giggle. i have to say that hannibal's outfits aside, the women's outfits are just sublime!!! alana's transformation might just be my favourite.

[@l.plantagenet]

Alana never looked like she felt as comfortable in those clothes. Still pretty, but older and harsher looking. I suppose some of that could be everything she went through.

[@mfenjoyer9678]

I didn't even notice Hannibal's psychiatrist costume change later on when he met Will OR the short annoyed stare Franklin got as his hand shaken omfg...fantastic catch!!! I knew the was something significant about that handshake but I just couldn't see it at first...

[@behindtheseams300]

It's a very niche detail! I love it and it really illustrates the range of design elements from subtle hints to, uh... much less subtle ideas, haha.

[@SaltofSaturn]

Stealing the phrase ‘wildly ostentatious’ to describe my interior decorating style, which is very Hannibal inspired. Usually I just call it contextual goth, because everything is inside jokes about death. I love everything that Hannibal wears, but watching all the costumes together, I think I dress the most like Bella or Bedelia, and I’m absolutely not mad about it. I didn’t love Alana’s post transformation look, but I feel like she would settle into it given time (and a 4th season) and look more at home . I like that you point out that Will is wearing super stereotypical masculine clothes. A lot of people seem to talk about his clothes as though they’re low quality or inferior because they’re not stylish, but he seems to wear mostly LLBean and Ralph Lauren which are classic American heritage brands and aren’t actually super cheap, they just lean hard into a rugged aesthetic. I’m fascinated by the idea of this as butch camouflage intended to cover up vulnerabilities. That feels like it’s saying something about Will but also about the American idea of masculinity.

[@behindtheseams300]

Thank you! Bella and Bedelia have such amazing style... they're like total Vogue fantasies of well-coiffed style. Re: Will, my guess is that ~canonically he's probably not meant to be wearing Ralph Lauren, but that's what the costume designers selected because they had the budget and they wanted to give him a certain look haha. But it definitely works in context because he *needs* to look good in a rugged, outdoorsy kind of way.

[@ra444vlz]

Do you have any blog or Instagram page I could follow ? I’m interested in seeing your style.

[@monochromatiatic]

I would watch you talk about Hannibal for a feature-length video! Absolutely loved every minute of this one. Alana's suit-swap in Season 3 is maybe one of my favourite costume arcs EVER and the soft, deep-neck red shirt under the grey check suit was a MOMENT.

[@behindtheseams300]

Thank you!! And yeah, Alana's costumes in S3 are sooo gorgeous.

[@its-amemargot8697]

What a beautiful homage. - H.

[@heyehyemoboy]

i'm so glad you mentioned the queer subtext of hannibal too, especially how it is conveyed through costume :) theres so many details i would've never noticed before

[@inklingofadream]

I happened to glance away right as you said "confident posture" and had to rewind a few secs to see if I was right about what scene would be accompanying that (I was right lol)

[@jessicaparrish6793]

I would watch at least 30 more minutes of this. Great breakdown of one of the best designed shows of the last decade. Fave costume has to be Alana's S3 "Ringleader" suit with the black and white stripes

[@behindtheseams300]

thank you! and yeah i think the black-and-white suit is probably my fave too... it's just SO over-the-top, i love it.

[@papl20]

this video got me screaming because all you said were FACTS! I would compare Hannibal and Will's relationship more with Lestat and Louis from The Vampire Chronicles, than with Twilight. After all, Bryan Fuller wanted to adapt those novels before it was denied and then he reroute to Hannibal. But it is clear how much influence one has with the other. When the show was announced I was deeply afraid because I'm a huge fan of the books and the movies, before, Anthony Hopkins was my Hannibal, but it took only one episode for me to realize NBC Hannibal was a beast of its own and Mads became perfect for the role, now I can't think of Hannibal without imagining him first.

[@louieinlgmt6353]

Paula, you're spot on. I lived/breathed Sir Anthony as Hannibal for years. One look at Mads.. be still, my heart. The entire production is so seductive. Every single aspect (costumes right up there!) is perfect.

[@micheledonahoe8092]

I as well.

[@Fry3000]

4:09 ahaha great editing idea to portray Hannibal as a vampire.

[@sigurdkaputnik7022]

Ever since Hannibal i developed a proclivity for striped shirts and paisley/dotted ties.

[@behindtheseams300]

LOVE this, haha.

[@Htidea]

It`s the *gothic romance* for me.

[@knife5926]

love this sort of breakdown! I remember noticing Alana's drastic fashion change but didn't consider it so deeply.

[@rnezz1310]

i remember reading this on your blog in like 2015!! It completely blew my mind and since then I've always tried to pay attention to costuming in movies & TV

[@behindtheseams300]

omg this is amazing to hear! thank you!

[@dontcallmestupid7698]

Man Hannibal really was something else, just a pleasure to watch and listen to Also so glad you started doing this videos! :)

[@behindtheseams300]

Thank you, glad you liked the video!

[@ch0sahe1dan]

i absolutely adore this breakdown! it's truly amazing how an apparently simple outfit can do so much to a character's representation and personality :)

[@katrinasweet5973]

Great video! The use of the ladder scene was 10/10

[@nigelbryant7980]

My favorite show ever, and the fashion in this show is what inspired a younger me to start buying suits and to dress better.

[@hoxton_hummingbird]

I reall recommend watching the movie The Green Butchers, it features Mads Mikkelsen as a butcher serving human meat and it's just really funny :D

[@ladyredl3210]

This show is one of the few that exist in an “art for art’s sake “ kind of way, and its lack of morality is honestly refreshing. It’s one of my favorites and the costumes do so much work.

[@xAnescox]

ohhh vaya no me había percatado nunca lo que dices sobre Franklyn, Hannibal esta vestido como él y es adrede. que genial observación.

[@for.tax.reasons]

"Bryan Fuller was the first to make Hannibal straightforwardly attractive" first of all that's Anthony Hopkins slander second of all its Gaspard Ulliel erasure

[@erisbob]

Very impressive analysis! No wonder I love this show, so multilayered with attention to detail. Details have more meaning than expected, just like in Hamilton musical. Thank you for this!

[@sebart9321]

I'd love to see more!! Beautiful video!

[@behindtheseams300]

Thank you!! Well, stick around, I cover plenty of topics.

[@poissonbenjamin6641]

Brilliant analysis !

[@hannahmary6023]

nice in depth video... hm, I'd have to rewatch again to see what i like...

[@eunkwang_jpg]

12:21 wait omg i didn't notice that before

[@adymcr]

How many times can I watch this video? Apparently a lot 😁, I love your analysis!

[@Nasipecel_pedes_pol]

Freddie lounds is fashion icon 😌 her court scene make me gagged 😌💅

[@securitytraining6018]

What a very nice and agreeable review, I am sure you have done your internet research.

[@lilith6314]

This is amazing!!

[@crispyliza7050]

Love this

[@stephaniehand503]

thank you

[@ziggystardog]

Fashionable cannibal Shia LeBeouf

[@aubigney]

it's insane how flamboyantly gay this show is

[@Eph_Wilson]

While I would never think the show homophobic in presentation, the pairing of Will and Hannibal has always felt confusing. Hannibal is meant to be entrancing but EVIL. Will's falling for him seems like an ultimately unhealthy decision :( Did we ever get creator insight on how their relationship would have ended?

[@mechaheart]

I don't find it confusing at all. Will is drawn to Hannibal immediately, and Will isn't even of his right mind during S1. It's not until S2 we start seeing who Will really is, without the encephalitis clouding his perception and Will still wants to be with Hannibal. You could easily say Will knew Hannibal was the Ripper as early as episode 7, Sorbet. That look Will has towards Hannibal in the ambulance says a lot. Is it healthy to be in love with Hannibal? No. But Will isn't really much better than Hannibal is many ways and they deserve one another. Insight on how their relationship would have ended? The creator has said he sees them living together in Cuba after the end of S3. Similar to how Hannibal and Clarice do at the end of the novels.

[@behindtheseams300]

to me, it really does make sense in context, because it's not meant to work in the traditionally "healthy" way. gothic romances are often toxic or destructive in some way, and there's no requirement for a redemption arc. in the original Hannibal novel, Clarice ends up "falling in love" with hannibal and eloping with him - although it's arguably kidnapping and brainwashing. that what makes this show skew more toward horror and gothic drama than a more typical style of romance or crime thriller.

[@chiyoko4244]

Downvoted for trying to ruin the best aspect of fiction - exploration of the controversial, 'dark' and unthinkable. I guess a show about gruesome murders & a cannibal serving his catches to his dinner guests was not enough to filter you. Fuller needed to try harder.

[@wingnutlady]

despite my better judgement, i'm a fan of freddie's style, including the marbled meat ensemble (and the cheetah print mini-skirt with dramatic black poncho ensemble). it's so obnoxiously eye-catching and she's clearly dressing to please no one except herself.

[@flynnezrabeckman]

Same, well said

[@behindtheseams300]

Same!! Freddie's look is obnoxiously bold, and that's exactly right for her.

[@lizanna6390]

Ooo when she walks into the court room at Will's trial, with the hat. Amazing

[@OfficialROZWBRAZEL]

don't forget the gloves!

[@scheiberskeepers]

she's so queenie actually i personally think she's hilarious my fave character

[@Laecy]

This is only costume-adjacent, but my favorite styling detail was Will wearing his hair brushed back from his forehead in Season 3b. Most characters with visible scars make a fuss about hiding them, especially if it was from trauma or an “ex” or both. But Will has his on full display.

[@holzbruch296]

My favourite way of seeing the relationship of Hannibal with the world around him and especially Will Graham is that he is an apollinian artist who creates art (the food, the display of his killings, his influence on other killers - he's a static which transforms everything else) everywhere to find his dionysian counterpart. This he finds in Will Graham, who transforms throughout the series (best shown in his Stag Man-transformation, I'd say). Hannibal never really undergoes a development of himself, but just changes appearances which all seem perfect already. At the climax Hannibal and Will are fulfilling the apollinian-dionysian destiny of being opposites being drawn together until they dissolve/merge in each other (creating somewhat the ultimate art). As for his way of dressing up, it's the ties I like the most. They always seem like a highlight to the whole outfit to me. What stood out for me, is that the knot seemingly never changes - I would have thought that he would vary it up more.

[@behindtheseams300]

omg, love this insight!! and yes, the ties are amazing. i love when he wears a really iridescent fabric like the pale suit in the first episode, or his red and white floral tie.

[@noelthenightowl7589]

@@behindtheseams300 At first I thought the red and white floral tie had blood splatters! It's almost like he is announcing his guilt to those who are suspicious, but just being fashionable to those who have no clue

[@micheledonahoe8092]

The man is precise in Everything he does it must be consistent with no deviation. To have a miniscule flaw would be anathema.

[@VampairaKassandra]

a really enjoyable video! I agree with everything you said, also your observation about Bellas white/black and Hannibal trying to imitate Franklyn is eye opening:D Freddie has a interesting style, she is like a colorful poisonous bug or flower who catches attention with "IM SMALLER AND WEAKER BUT DONT EAT ME. IM POISION", Zeller is a usual normal guy like who Will so desperately tries to be in first season, Alanas wifey-motherly dresses of a caretaker got changed into a steel willed, passionate and vengeful business woman. Hannibal is a dramatic peacock attracting a mate but also a solid and stern support for Wills unstable fragility, thought lately he ages and strips down from his armor and shows fragility of a monster himself, and shows his human side with all this almost-granpda sweaters in s3. Will goes from self defensive sharp sensitivity of a man who never had a mom and who just wants to fit in and dont catch any attention to a seductive "femme fatale" (just male), with finding his confidence and power while succumbing to Hannibals prefered style of classy slacks and suits.

[@behindtheseams300]

that's such a good description of freddie! she's very venomous. and yes, hannibal is SUCH a peacock.

[@maybolh]

I don’t think I’ve seen anyone describe the show as a gothic romance before. Now I can’t believe I missed it. Brilliant analysis!

[@klimptone9700]

This show just drips style, I wish I could get past my squeamishness and enjoy it properly lol

[@behindtheseams300]

have you tried bryan fuller's previous show Pushing Daisies? it's also very stylish but far less scary & gross.

[@klimptone9700]

@@behindtheseams300 I've been meaning to! it's been on my tbw forever! Maybe this is the impetus I need....

[@metz1903]

The red and black suit Hannibal wears in Hassun is my absolute favourite.

[@behindtheseams300]

LOVE that look.

[@sophiecooper1824]

Mads kept that suit , he wore it for an award show 😍 kzbin.info/www/bejne/j2bOdpiZf7l2sNE

[@glamazon6172]

It's interesting that you compare Hannibal to Louis and not Lestat. I was sad to hear that Bryan Fuller wouldn't be doing a Vampire Chronicles series

[@lilymoon4485]

Very interesting ! There are some details I haven't noticed, like Bella's changing color of dresses, and Hannibal "cosplaying" Franklin to look more conventional. There are so many things to see in this show ! I think my favourite part on the costumes is Will's evolution, more subtle than Alana's, and that goes behind the costumes, but in the way he talks, moves, etc. Being vulnerable and wounded seems to reveal him, and it becomes his strenght. I love this idea.

[@sarahholland2600]

To quote a very old saying: "The clothes maketh the man". A great suit does things for a man...& for me!😚 (The way Gillian is styled is so beautiful too ).

[@Imago1985]

Loved the video. This show has so many details and secrets in aesthetic, fashion, photography, words, acting and plot. It’s amazing to discover them. Very well done, love it.

[@CantankerousDave]

11:00 - they explain her personality change as a physical aftereffect of her falling out of the window and breaking most of her bones in the previous season, not simply by being corrupted by proximity to Hannibal. Something about altered brain chemistry. (Also, after the show ended, they had an auction where they sold off a lot of the outfits and props. Imagine having Hannibal's box of recipe cards sitting on your kitchen counter.)

[@BigDog366]

Brilliant. I had not picked up on the way Hannibal mimics Franklin in that beige suit for first visit to the FBI. So funny. So Hannibal. I love all the costumes, but Will's long coat in Season 3 (mimicking Hannibal) is memorable because it's so much better than the fishing vest (and he no longer smells of wet dog, which I always does in my mind in the first two seasons) and Alana's red coat when she first visits Mason. It's incredible, set against the snowy scene. Oh, and Bedelia's blue coat and green hat in Florence (blue and green should never be seen, but she sits under the CCTV camera to GET seen).

[@anuna116]

I love Bedelia's outfits, especially the green one she wore in Florence!

[@WileyCylas]

Cmon Fannibals! Let’s get ourselves a season 4!!

[@calibanxpable]

With Hannibal, its not about the sex from the genitals but the sex from the brain.

[@victoryvalladares2769]

Bella's costume isn't black it's a navy blue or a dark teal. More on the green side.

[@359339]

This is probably a stretch but: do you think all the check suits reference a picnic blanket, reminding us that consumption is always on Hannibal's mind?

[@behindtheseams300]

that's such a fun theory! but my guess is it's probably not a picnic blanket reference, because that's a little lowbrow for hannibal's tastes. he's not really a checked-tablecloth kinda guy. however there is that one suit with thin red checks on it, that really resembles the scene where will is in the MRI machine & the red lines bisect his face... love that detail.

[@lyalllunicec-1379]

This was an incredible analysis thank you!

[@terencesilva4499]

Gothic romance Ya'll!! 😂😂😂

[@テネット-n9d]

because it was hannibal i thought the sweater thing was fancy

[@EvonneLindiwe]

I hate Mason at a molecular level.

[@micheledonahoe8092]

No man ever wore a suit like Mads Mikkelsen. Suave and debonair. A Class act!

[@moviefreak94xD]

this is brilliant, thank you so much for making this!! so many insights that make me love the series even more.

[@mariebaumbach7345]

man this was GREAT

[@cimmerianco]

Amazing video! You pointed out quite a few details I didn't catch. Time for a rewatch! Great job :)

[@behindtheseams300]

Thank you!!

[@ellipses....]

I always noticed that Hannibal's beige outfit when he first meets Will seemed very out of character, but I never really thought about why. Your interpretation of it being him cosplaying Franklin to make a good impression makes so much sense and definitely adds to the whole 'person suit' idea

[@nathyntrees]

What an absolutely amazing commentary on the show from such an amazing lens. Great video

[@daniellewillis2767]

Correction: WILL is framed in Season 1 and it is he, not Hannibal, who is locked up and wearing the famous bite mask...

[@michaelbatts7149]

Of course, nothing on the table is vegetarian. Well, some might be vegetarian. But there are some carnivores. Some might be on the Paleo Diet. Hey! No discrimination here.

[@dablackparade]

watched the show four years ago and im still finding out new details...such an incredible work of art, and a great video analysis

[@Fridelain]

What I want to watch is the costume designers going into detail on their choices and where they sourced the clothes or if they tailor made them. When Will smartens up he has some gorgeous ensembles while dressing more casually than Hannibal.

[@CarolineeHammer]

I love that Hannibal's suits get darker when he's more dangerous to the person he meets. Light suit? You're safe. In all black? You need to run.

[@Ciara1594]

I don't like his plaid suits. He looks like either a game show host or a weather man from the 70's. The sideburns don't help either. 😐

[@ladyredl3210]

Commenting again to say that Will is totally a Gothic hero(ine) and it’s awesome someone else saw that too.

[@armadyne2097]

Great analysis!

[@HorrorSFManiac]

Do not put Hannibal and Twilight in the same sentence.

[@teedammit]

This is a brilliant analysis of a brilliant series. It fleshes out the creative depths of production that a viewer, engaged with plot and dialogue, senses vaguely in the background, but cannot fully grasp and appreciate without repeated viewings and, in this case, expert commentary.

[@KVAR42]

Top of my list as well Miss. Have watched the series many times over. For me its the perfect mix of many themes or genre. Civilized: Music, Food, Fashion, the presentation and beauty of the murder scenes themselves are like a canvas. Amazing acting and I could go on.

[@micheledonahoe8092]

Hi suits went for quite the penny in the Auction.

[@jecminkar2853]

It's not subtext It's queer canon

[@publicidadout]

Los Verguer son los mejores vestidos .

[@33ladyRAM]

My man Lecture was CLEAN. I lived his outfits 💜💜💜

[@テネット-n9d]

wowwwwwww! about the franklyn wearing thing , i am pissed that this video didnt get 5793likes as it has 5793 views

[@Shinkajo]

I don't think you understand what a snob is.