Costume Design Deep Dive

"The Golden Rule: The Puritans believed vanity was a sin. To get top grades, emphasize restrictive cuts (high collars, long sleeves) and drab palettes (blacks, greys, browns) to show how the society physically repressed its people."

Interactive: The Salem Wardrobe

Click the categories below to explore how costume reflects status and the psychological toll of the witch trials.

The Farmers: Honest & Earthy

John and Elizabeth Proctor are practical, working people. Their clothes should reflect hard labor and strict adherence to Puritan modesty, without any display of wealth.

🌾 John Proctor

The Look: Grounded and practical.
Details: A rough, heavy linen shirt (off-white or unbleached) tucked into dark brown woolen breeches. Leather boots scuffed with dirt. His sleeves are often rolled up to the elbow, showing he is a man of physical labor, unlike the judges.

🕯️ Elizabeth Proctor (Act 2)

The Look: Cold, stiff, and highly modest.
Details: A heavy, floor-length dress made of grey boiled wool. A stiff, high-necked white linen collar that restricts her neck movement. Her hair is completely hidden beneath a tight white linen coif (bonnet). She looks emotionally armored.

The Authority: Wealth & Power

The men who run the court use their clothing to visually separate themselves from the villagers. They wear heavy, expensive fabrics to physically take up more space and project absolute power.

⚖️ Deputy Governor Danforth

The Look: Wealthy, dark, and imposing.
Details: A heavy, jet-black velvet or broadcloth overcoat with expensive silver buttons. He wears pristine, bright white cuffs and a high collar. He carries a heavy wooden walking stick or cane, which he uses to strike the floor for emphasis.

📖 Reverend Hale (Act 1)

The Look: The Confident Academic.
Details: A sharply tailored, dark wool suit, looking much newer and more expensive than Parris's clothes. He carries heavy, leather-bound books. His neatness reflects his absolute certainty that he knows the truth.

Hysteria & Decay: The Breakdown

As the play progresses, the strict Puritan rules break down. This is mirrored visually in the girls' hysteria and the physical torture of the prisoners.

💃 Abigail Williams (Act 3)

The Look: Pushing the boundaries.
Details: While she still wears a modest dress, her white linen collar is slightly unfastened. Her hair has escaped her bonnet and hangs loose around her face. In Puritan society, loose hair was a sign of wildness and sexuality, visually hinting at her true nature.

⛓️ John Proctor (Act 4)

The Look: Physically destroyed but spiritually pure.
Details: He is barefoot. His linen shirt is ripped, hanging off his shoulder, and stained with dirt, blood, and sweat. He is heavily bearded and emaciated (using hollow contour makeup). He has been stripped of everything except his raw soul.

📝 Costume Terminology Bank

Breaking Down / Distressing

The process of artificially aging or ruining a costume. In Act 4, Proctor's clothes must be heavily broken down to show the physical torture and starvation of the dungeon.

Silhouette & Modesty

The Puritans aimed to hide the human body entirely. Using a rigid, boxy silhouette with no exposed skin (other than the hands and face) communicates religious oppression.

Earth Tones (Palette)

Using natural, muted colors like dark brown, olive green, and slate grey. This shows they only had access to natural dyes, grounding the play in 1692.

📝 Exam Strategy: The Design Grid

Edexcel Students: Fill out a table exactly like this in your exam.
AQA/WJEC Students: Use this structure to write perfect paragraphs (Point ➔ Effect ➔ Terminology).

Element / Effect	How would it enhance the extract for the audience?	Technical language you could use
Click 'Generate Example' to see a top-band answer...