Breaking Down Dumbledore's Outfits - Crimes of Grindelwald Edition
In the Fantastic Beasts prequels, Dumbledore's clothing gets a complete reboot. Instead of long sweeping robes, he dons a variety of tweed suits. The one problem with all of this is that it is a touch muggle looking, but as someone who adores muggle dress clothes, his outfits are still pretty great. Here is a breakdown of his outfits in Jude Law's first outing as Dumbledore.
1. London (1927)
When we first meet Dumbledore in Crimes of Grindelwald, he is standing on a roof looking out over interwar London. Dressed in a snazzy wide wale corduroy blue coat with the collar popped. The coat is double breasted and in true gentlemanly style he has not buttoned the bottom most button. The sleeves are polished off with squared off button tabs. He is also wearing a fedora with a slightly pointed crown (to make it look more wizardy) and rather narrow brim. The hat is a dark blue that matches the coat but has a pale gray ribbon around the crown. Always dressed for the occasion this outfit is Dumbledore at his most spymaster - dark and mysterious. Though a touch of whimsy still comes through in all his clothing (after all, does James Bond ever wear double breasted corduroy coats?).
Since Dumbledore wears his coat throughout his whole trip to London - the parts we see anyway - it is hard to get a good look at the suit he wears under it. Luckily for us, there are a number of behind the scenes shots of Jude walking around set with the coat off. These photos reveal that it is a grayish brown tweed suit. The style is very much a shooting suit - hence the four large pockets on the front that were historically used to hold ammunition. Truth be told, this is not the sort of thing that should be worn in the city but we can assume Dumbledore came straight from Hogwarts so we can forgive him this fashion faux pas. Like the suit, this is the best look we get at his tie which seems to be dark blue silk.
The suit is accessorized with with a small square watch in the style of a Cartier Tank with a brown leather band. The shoes are perhaps the most eccentric thing about the outfit. They appear to be brown suede with tiny cobwebs at the the tip.
2. Hogwarts (1927)
Next time we see Dumbledore he is in his element (at first anyway) - teaching the young minds of tomorrow and clearly loving every minute of it. Its also my favorite of the outfits we see Dumbledore wear in both movies. In these scenes, Dumbledore wears a light gray tweed three piece suit. Though it is not obvious in his classroom, when talking to Leta later that day it becomes apparent that the suit has very subtle red (almost pink) stripes on it. The jacket is a three button jacket but Dumbledore never seems to button it up. Like all of Dumbledore's suits in the films, the pants are high waisted which would have been the common cut for a pair of pants at the time.
He accessorizes the suit with a dark reddish brown tie that is from a thicker material than his blue silk one but not quite as thick as wool. Not entirely sure on the material and I am open to suggestion. The pocket square is a dark blue with a red and pink floral pattern. The most whimsical item in this outfit.
When we first see him, Dumbledore has the jacket off which gives us a good look at his shirt. Later when he is looking into the Mirror of Erised we get an even better look at a more informal (and this time vulnerable) Dumbledore. His collar is slightly longer and more pointed, which perfectly fits the style for the time period. Though the shirt looks white at times, the harder I look, the more I am convinced it is a very very light blue - almost white but not quite. He also wears small round silver cufflinks.
3. Hogwarts (1910)
When we journey back in time to witness the origins of Newt and Leta's friendship, Dumbledore is dressed even more professorially. Once again he is in brownish gray tweed (his trademark outfit for the Fantastic Beasts movies seems to be various shades of gray tweed). This one is a windowpane tweed that he pairs with a pale green sweater vest. This flashback is the one and only time we see Dumbledore in a fun little bow tie - a red one with white microdots. The pocket square for the outfit is a muted blue color with some sort of gold design on it. Dumbledore's polishes off his teaching outfit with another set of brown suede shoes. It is possible these are the same from earlier but impossible to know for sure at this distance.
4. Hogwarts Bridge (1927)
The last time we see Dumbledore in the film he is on the bridge leading to Hogwarts. Though I have tried my level best to find differences, I am almost one hundred percent sure this is the exact same outfit he wears in all his other scenes at Hogwarts. Perhaps he did not sleep the previous night while waiting to hear news from Paris? I am unsure but it sadly leaves me with little to say here. I can however provide a couple more pictures of the suit from different angles.
So that is the end of my breakdown of the Crimes of Grindelwald clothes of Dumbledore. Stay tuned sometime in the coming week for one on Secrets of Dumbledore.
Breaking Down Dumbledore's Outfits - Secrets of Dumbledore Edition
Secrets of Dumbledore sees the future headmaster's wardrobe more or less keep up the general theme of the previous film - grey tweeds, quirky shoes, and sweaters. However, in this film his clothing becomes a bit more monochromatic and sweater vests become far more common.
1. London (1932)
The first moment we see Dumbledore he is riding on the London underground in a fedora and blue coat. Though its hard to tell in this scene, the coat does not appear to be the corduroy one from the previous film.
Any disappointment about the lack of a clear look at him in the last scene is happily made up for in the cafe he next visits where we can take a long hard look at his clothes. Though its unclear if this is a memory or Dumbledore's imagination, he clearly went out of his way to be well dressed when meeting up with his great love. He is wearing a pale grey tweed suit with a subtle windowpane pattern. The collar is pretty wide with peaked lapels. Like most of his suits, it's a three piece but unlike his go to suit in the previous film, this vest is double-breasted with a collar of its own.
His tie is a silvery blue made out of an incredibly shiny silk like material and paired with a dark blue pocket square covered in tiny flowers. His shirt is a pale blue color as well. Also of note is that his beard is noticeably longer than the previous film, so we are starting to get a hint of the Merlin look that is to come.
2. Hogwarts (1932)
We only get a brief look at Dumbledore in his office at Hogwarts but he is wearing a pale gray cable knit sweater vest with a blue shirt and a tie of an indistinct gray or blue color (in this film Dumbledore pretty much only wears gray or blue so a fair bet anyway but it seems to be true).
3. Hogsmeade (1932)
When we next see Dumbledore he is in his brother's pub as casual as we ever see him - jacket off, shirt sleeves rolled up. He is wearing a pale grey knit sweater vest and darker grey wool suit pants.
Though the lighting is dim in the pub, while talking to Theseus it becomes clear that Dumbledore's tie is navy with a gold or silver geometric pattern on it.
Later that same day Dumbledore is in the same outfit and puts his jacket on before dinner and when getting ready to leave the pub. It is a very dark gray cashmere piece with just a hint of blue. From a deleted scene earlier that morning we learn that Dumbledore has foregone his usual suit and is wearing a blazer and mismatched pants. He pairs the blazer with a dark blue pocket square whose pattern is hard to make out but might be stars or flowers.
While eating we also get a good look at his thick, round, gold cufflinks. Though they appear silver or black, that they are gold is confirmed earlier in the day, while he is struggling with the blood troth.
4. Berlin (1932)
Dumbledore's arrival in Berlin the next morning confirms that he has dumped his wide wale corduroy coat for a less unique tweed coat. The coat looks navy in most of the scenes in Berlin but later in the film it appears grey so the safest bet color wise is a blue-ish gray. The coat is matched with a wide brimmed fedora hat in almost the exact same shade of blue and an unusually pointed crown.
Under the coat he is wearing a second light gray tweed suit with a double breasted vest underneath. His shirt is a pale blue color with the typical pointed collar of the time period.
The tie is a very interesteding knitted one with a complex pattern of blues and silvers. This is perhaps a reference to Dumbledore's declaration in Half Blood Prince that he loves knitting patterns. The pocket square is a pale grayish blue, slightly different in color from the suit itself. Dumbledore seems to have exchanged his lovely square wrist watch for a silver pocket watch that he wears on a chain and keeps in his vest pocket.
Though at no point do we get a super good look at them, behind the scenes photos reveal that throughout the film, Dumbledore wears blue suede shoes with a silvery spider web design on the front. Though one is left to wonder about the practicality of suede in wintery Scotland and Berlin.
4. Hogwarts (1932)
After the series of unfortunate events that follow Dumbledore's trip to Berlin we find him at Hogwarts in the same suit as the scene in the cafe - pale gray windowpane tweed. He wears this same outfit throughout the day - both while briefing his allies on the plan to fight Grindelwald and later that day at his brother's pub.
This time he pairs the suit with a navy blue tie patterned with white microdots and a gray pocket square - I believe the exact same one he wore with the previous outfit.
5. Hogwarts and Bhutan (1932)
Given that he is traveling high into the mountains of Bhutan, it makes sense that this is the most bundled up we ever see Dumbledore. He is dressed in the same coat from Berlin and perhaps - though its hard to be certain - the same suit. Only this time he has swapped the double breasted vest for a pale blue cable knit sweater vest. All worn with a dark tie and his navy fedora.
In the room of requirement, he wears a thick knit scarf that has a gray, blue, and white checkered pattern. The scarf is eventually vanished in a bit of fancy and seemingly pointless magic not long after he puts it on.
Due to the sweater vest being a crew neck, it is hard to get a good look at his tie but it seems to be navy colored with minuscule white flecks in it.
This scene also gives us a really great close up of the fabrics of his coat and sweater.
6. New York City (1932)
In the final scene of the movie, Dumbledore briefly gate crashes a wedding looking as stylish as ever. He is wearing his tweed coat again with a gray tweed suit under it. We never get quite a good enough look at it to see which suit, but I am certain it is not the windowpane tweed from earlier. He is wearing a solid blue grenadine tie and a blue scarf flecked with silver. The shirt is white. All in all a very dapper outfit for a wedding, even if he does not himself attend.
