Young actress Anna Taylor-Joy takes your breath away in her role as Beth Harmon in The “Queen’s Gambit.” The show itself is executed fantastically-set, script, and actors alike- but the wardrobe matches the thrilling storyline on another level. Gabriele Binder, the ever-talented costume designer for the show, custom made all of the clothes, with influence from 1960s fashion icons such as Jean Seberg, Edie Sedgwick, and Audrey Hepburn, to name a few. In an interview, Vogue Binder says that the wardrobe was also heavily influenced by the game of Chess itself. “I always try to mirror what is happening inside a character with what they are wearing on the outside, and […] Anya’s character […] would intuitively choose to wear pieces that are connected to chess. The contrast of the check print also mirrors the nuances of the game itself—it’s decisive, it’s win or lose..”
The subtleties of adding a checkered print to an outfit or just incorporating clean-cut lines added visual elements of storytelling to follow the plot. She manages to be poised, well mannered, and well dressed whilst destroying opponent after opponent in a game that would seem to be boring- but that Anna Taylor-Joy, in her role as Beth, makes utterly thrilling. As Beth grows and changes throughout the story, so does her wardrobe. Her clothes reflect each low point and each high point in turn. And yet, even at her worst, she still dresses impeccably. With the release of the show, magazines, news sources, and websites alike have recognized just how influential the wardrobe really is. The “Queen’s Gambits” is available on Netflix to stream.
