What Dune's out-of-this-world costumes reveal about its characters

Form follows function in Dune. Every character's clothing is directly tied into their environment. So when we first meet the members of House Atreides on their rainy homeworld of Caladan, they are dressed in dark-colored coats — the kind of outfit that will soon be unthinkable in the deserts of their new home on Arrakis. 

"They had this very regal world, lush and full of water and all the things Arrakis didn't have: Plants, water, majesty, pageantry," costume designer Bob Morgan says. "We set colorways for each world to define them separately so that you knew you were looking at something different visually."

Pictured: Timothée Chalamet (Paul Atreides)

To depict the nobility of House Atreides, Morgan and fellow costume designer Jacqueline West used a historical royal family as a reference point. 

"We looked at paintings of the Romanovs, the richness of that era of the Russian tsar, and that helped build this very rich, dense world," Morgan says. "[Director Denis Villeneuve] loved it, loved the direction we took that in, because we did set it so far from Arrakis."

Pictured (L-R): Josh Brolin (Gurney Halleck), Oscar Isaac (Duke Leto Atreides), Stephen McKinley Henderson (Thufir Hawat)

The Atreides get a rude awakening when they find themselves on a sun-baked, waterless planet. That ostentatious armor doesn't look super breathable. 

"Denis wanted them to arrive in their uniforms and their armor, like here comes the House Atreides!" Morgan recalls. "It makes for that diametric dichotomy between these two worlds when they arrive. Once they take on the stillsuits and costumes necessary for survival in this place, that marks this transition of them adapting to this world that now is their home."

West's training as an art historian helped her draw on references of medieval nuns when it came time to outfit Bene Gesserit characters like Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson). 

"Though her costumes were inspired by Balenciaga and more modern designers, they have a really medieval quality with the sleeves and the hoods," West says. "It's very Maid Marian. The fabrics I chose fro the drape and the hoods, especially when she's still on Caladan, are very dubdued and dark, very nun-like. As she moves to Arrakis, they become more spice-inspired with harsher tones." 

No actor was more intimidating for West to dress than Charlotte Rampling, who plays the Bene Gesserit leader (and Jessica's former mentor) Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam. She ended up basing it on a combination of the queen cards from the Marseille tarot deck and the queen chess piece. 

"Her costume was so important to me because I had just loved her so much in different movies through the years," West says. "I was lucky enough to go to her house in Paris for the fitting. I was using my friend's apartment right up the street from her so I could walk there. She put it on and came down her spiral staircase and I just gasped. It just felt like fulfillment."

Jason Momoa describes his Dune character, the Atreides' loyal swordmaster Duncan Idaho, as a knight. West knew exactly where to go for reference.

"In looking at a lot of medieval paintings, you see the knights, especially a lot of the Knights Templar, have these big capes that went over the backs of their horses," West says. "Even though we don't see him on a horse, that backdraft for that cape is so powerful. It does have that medieval honor to it."

The Atreides' rivals in House Harkonnen hail from a dark, polluted world. 

"I always think the dark side is the most interesting. Early on, I decided they should be insect-based," West says. "My concept artist was amazing. All I'd have to do is say 'ant-like heads' and the most incredible drawings would come out of him. Denis really responded to his take on things." 

Pictured: Dave Bautista (Glossu Rabban)

Dune's most iconic costume, dating back to Herbert's novels, is the stillsuit — the ever-present Arrakis garment that allows the local population to survive the desert. 

"We had to make this garment that would look good and be believable on everybody from Timothée to Rebecca to Jason Momoa," Morgan says. "The range was amazing. Each one had to be custom made."

Stillsuits are about survival. 

"Each design element represents the storage of water: The nose clip, the mask, elements on the arms, down to the boots and gloves," Morgan says. "There's a reference in the book to the pumping action of the boot as they walk."

Stillsuits are an integral part of Fremen culture. Though they are first and foremost about preserving the body's water, they are also a way to express individual identity. 

"Each stillsuit has little things tied into them," Morgan says. "There's some beading on some boots, and other wonderful Easter eggs that give each character their own personal talisman. ... We really worked hard so that even though they're in the same tribe, you know they're each individuals."

Pictured: Javier Bardem (Stilgar)

In addition to differentiating their stillsuits in various ways, each traveler through the Arrakeen desert also wears their head wrap differently.

"If you look at turbans throughout history, they're a tool you're wearing on your head: You can use it as rope, as protection from wind and sand, turn it into a tent, so many things," Morgan says. "It's another way to make each character unique, because they all did their head wrap differently. Each one had a unique look." 

Pictured: Sharon Duncan-Brewster (Liet Kynes)