50 Embarrassing Movie Costume Mistakes That Should Never Have Made It Onto The Screen
Costume design must be one of the tougher jobs when working on a movie. With everything from clothing materials and fashion accessories right down to something as innocuous as belt loops to consider, designers need to make sure that everything fits together perfectly. Otherwise, the eagle-eyed online community will pounce on their little mistakes, which is pretty much what happened with these 50 embarrassing examples.
Purple dye did exist in ancient Rome under the rule of Emperor Nero. The only problem was that he made it punishable by death for anyone other than him to sport the color. In the movie Pompeii, then, Roman general Corvus and his soldiers wouldn’t have worn flash purple garments.
When Sheik Ilderim pins a Star of David onto Ben Hur’s belt before one of cinema’s most famous race sequences, it’s a big demonstration of the former’s defiance of the Romans. But in 26 AD – when the movie is set – such a symbol would’ve meant nothing to the Romans, as the first records of the Star of David only go as far back as the 12th century.
Around an hour into Quentin Tarantino’s ultra-violent slavery revenge movie, Django – played by Jamie Foxx – rocks an awesomely eccentric pair of gold-rimmed sunglasses. However, black-shaded sunglasses didn’t arrive till the 20th century. If anyone can get away with ultra-cool style over historical substance, though, it’s Tarantino.
Okay, King Arthur is based on a myth, so the movie can afford to take some historical liberties. But contemporary shoes on a bunch of knights ostensibly from the 5th century? That’s kind of pushing it. The heavy plate armor they wore in the movie is also way off, as Sarmatian knights like Arthur and his crew actually wore lighter battle attire.