Luke Patterson + selected wardrobe || Julie and the Phantoms costume design by Soyon An

so we all know about how the jatp characters are color coded in the show—alex is light pink, luke is dark blue, reggie is red, carrie is hot pink, etc. but here’s something that I noticed that I think is really important:

Julie and Caleb are both purple. 

“caleb is obviously purple. this is not new or exciting information” yes but bear with me for a second here. 

The first time we meet Caleb is when Alex bumps into him outside of the Orpheum, and he’s wearing this black cloak. In e5 and e6, though, we can see that it has purple lining. 

Then of course there’s his iconic “The Other Side of Hollywood” and “Nothing To Lose” coat:

And maybe this is a bit of a reach, but even Caleb’s “poof” has a purple tint in this scene: 

So yeah, Caleb’s color is pretty evidently purple. But why do Julie and Caleb have the same color? Why is purple, specifically, so important? Julie has a lot of color-coding in general in relation to other characters (especially Luke) but her Caleb color parallel is especially interesting because Julie and Caleb are character foils.

Just take a look at these two shots from “Nothing To Lose” and “Stand Tall.” Purple in the middle of blue, red, and pink. The boys are performing in both, doing the thing they love most in the world. The key difference is that in the first shot they’re trapped, but in the second they’re finally free (excuse the pun lol)

Purple can represent a lot of things, but what I want to focus on is strength, power, and transformation. Julie and Caleb both have these qualities, but in vastly different ways that are directly contrasted with each other.

Caleb uses brute force and intimidation while Julie is resilient and finds her strength in kindness.

Caleb uses his powers for evil, stripping people of their free will for his own gains, whereas Julie’s powers are sourced from friendship, love, and respect. This ultimately proves to be stronger than Caleb’s powers (as seen in “Stand Tall”).

Caleb possesses (aka transforms into) Nick at the end of the show, using manipulation to achieve his goals. However, Julie’s entire journey throughout the first season is an emotional transformation—dealing with the loss of her mother, getting back into music, coming out of her shell—hence the prominent butterfly symbolism which we all know and love. Because of Julie’s emotional growth and her love for the boys, she’s able to save them from Caleb’s hold, and they themselves undergo a transformation when they become physical to Julie. 

There are so many things that I love about the costumes!!!! Here’s just a few.

Each of the guy’s have such a distinct style that fit their personalities so well, but blend to modern fashion perfectly.

There are so many nods to the cast members themselves, which I absolutely love (Alex’s fanny pack, Luke’s blue rabbit foot, Julie’s camo jumpsuit). It makes each outfit that much more special for the cast, I’m sure, and also for the fans!

Then there’s all the tiny choices that have so much meaning; like Willie and Alex both wearing high socks to show their connection, or Julie wearing pink, blue, and red in her hair during the Stand Tall performance (so she can carry a piece of the guys with her even after they cross over), or the same vest being worn by both Rose and Julie in different scenes to show their connection, or both Willie and Flynn wearing lock/key necklaces (hinting to something possibly connecting them). THERES SO MANY!!! I catch a new one every time I watch.

It’s impossible for me to express how much I love all the meanings in the wardrobe. And, also, the wardrobe alone is just so cool?? I was never one to pay attention to wardrobe on shows before, but it’s impossible not to appreciate and love the costumes on jatp.

Why is no one talking about these fantastic suits? The costuming throughout the show is total fire, but these suits (and Julie’s dress for Stand Tall) are omg otherworldly.