The Vintage Aesthetics Of "Don't Worry Darling" Are Pretty Impeccable — Here's How They Were Achieved
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Don't Worry Darling officially hit theaters over the weekend, capping off what felt like the most dramatic press cycle ever.
Remember spit-gate??
But all that drama aside, the film — directed by Olivia Wilde and starring Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Chris Pine, and Gemma Chan — is set in the 1950s. And everything from the vintage costumes to the mid-century modern architecture backdrop looks incredible.
To better highlight all of that, I gathered some fascinating behind-the-scenes costume, makeup, and set design facts — from the intentionality behind Alice's color palettes and dress silhouettes, to the pre-film significance of Frank's house, to where the movie was almost shot.
COSTUMES & MAKEUP
1.The bright colors and patterned costumes were intentionally used to help tell the film's story — or in some cases, even distract from the story.
“[The costumes were] often a device to distract from what’s really going on,” the film's costume designer Arianne Phillips explained in an interview with Variety. “I used a lot of color control to guide tone and create the story arc.”
To tell the story of Alice (Florence Pugh), Arianne used multiple color palettes. “At first, I worked in a primary palette that was very bright and exciting. It was very reflective of Victory [Project — the utopian desert community the couples live in] and that Palm Springs world that you think of when you see Victory," she explained.
2.Sourcing the perfect apron for Alice turned out to be one of the most high-pressure tasks.
In scenes where Alice is in the kitchen cooking for her husband Jack (Harry Styles), she is wearing a yellow floral apron — a look that was true to the 1950s time period.
“There was a lot of pressure to get the perfect apron,” the costume designer said in the interview. “There’s always one thing that holds so much story, and the seemingly simplest thing can be the hardest.”
3.Alice was outfitted in sheath-style dresses for a specific reason.
In an interview with Fashionista, Arianne explains why she dressed Alice in fitted, straight-cut dresses as opposed to the era's full-skirted style: "It's really about being held and constricted," she said. "But there's that sexuality in that sheath dress."
4.Alice's makeup looks evolve throughout the film, and in some cases, small details — like her lipstick shade — are yet another way to intentionally contrast her from the other female characters.
The film's makeup department head Heba Thorisdottir told Variety that she used warmer tones on Alice to complement her wardrobe and to drive contrast. “She has pink and peach-colored lipsticks that contrast with the others’ red lips,” she said.
Heba told Vogue that she used a combination of Stila's long-wear matte and Glossier's Generation G lipsticks to get the perfect pink-peach color.
“She starts out with pinks, peach, and shimmery white and black liner — and slowly starts to unravel into a no-makeup look with muted and natural tones of browns and beige," Heba continued in the Variety interview.
5.Alice's glow was achieved via key products such as de-puffing eye patches, light-coverage foundation, and vitamin C serum — the latter two coming in extra handy against the sun-soaked desert backdrop of Palm Springs.
Heba specifically used Talika eye-therapy patches under Pugh's eyes before adding a layer of Kat Burki's vitamin C face cream all over Pugh's skin, according to the Vogue interview.
A few drops of a hydrating serum were mixed in with Giorgio Armani Luminous Glow foundation for a natural glow. Tower 28 cream blush was added to Pugh's cheeks for a warm coral and peachy look.
6.Olivia specifically wanted the female characters in the film to look free and full of life, and the backdrop to look equally dazzling.
"After reading the script and first speaking to Olivia, it was clear she wanted to make Victory a feast for the eyes," hairstylist Jaime Leigh said in the same Vogue interview.
"All the glamorous and sexy parts of the '50s and '60s without all the rigid, overly structured unflattering sides. She wanted the women to have a fun and a freedom to them and always look fabulous," Jaime continued in the Vogue interview.
7.Jack is described as a "charming and likable" character and that helped drive the color and style of his wardrobe throughout the film.
Arianne purposely styled Styles' character in pastel colors, including a sky blue suit. According to Variety, a made-to-order custom suit company, Western Costume, helped make all of Jack’s suits.
8.Arianne used the Victory party scene as an opportunity to show another side of the characters' personalities through their formal wear.
“You see how they’re dressed,” she said in the Variety interview. "And it tells you a little bit about them — when we dress up and show our best selves.”
THE FILM'S SETTING
9.The film was originally going to be filmed in New Zealand for cost reasons.
“For me, New Zealand is this ecological gem that’s evidence of nature’s power and feels connected to Mother Nature and femininity," Olivia said in an LA Times interview.
“I think if I made a sequel about the matriarchy, New Zealand would be a reasonable place to go because it’s a place where you go to be humbled by nature," she continued.
"That’s the opposite of what the character Frank [played by Chris Pine] wants. He wants people to feel that nature is humbled in their presence; that man has molded nature to his will," she said.
10.Despite New Zealand being a more cost-efficient location, Olivia insisted on filming in Palm Springs.
Olivia felt that Palm Springs "connected to what she calls the 'patriarchal masculinity' that was essential to the story she was telling," as explained in her LA Times interview.
11.A lot of thought went into figuring out where Frank (Chris Pine) should live. They settled on a 1940s architectural ode to modernism known as the Kaufmann desert house.
Built in 1946 from glass, steel, and Utah stone, it's one of Palm Springs' most famous homes.
12.In fact, a photograph that hung in Frank's home in the movie served as inspiration for Olivia when she was first developing the film — and the photograph contained the very house they would eventually shoot in.
Olivia had “Poolside Gossip,” by photographer Slim Aarons on her wall while she was coming up with Don’t Worry Darling, according to the LA Times.
“To have that image on the wall and then be able to crawl inside it felt like that scene in Mary Poppins when they jump into the chalk drawings on the sidewalk,” she said in the interview.
13.The movie was filmed at several Palm Springs landmarks.
If you're familiar with Palm Springs, keep an eye out for city hall and the visitors center when watching the movie as both landmarks were used as filming locations in the movie.
City hall was built in the 1950s and the visitors center was originally a gas station built in 1965. It was eventually taken over by the Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism in the 1990s, according to Condé Nast Traveler.
