Every piece of costuming in Hulu’s The Great is a work of art, and that doesn’t apply to just Elle Fanning’s Catherine the Great. Between the continued debauchery of court, visiting ambassadors coming from other countries, and surprise visits to Sweden, costume designer Sharon Long has, yet again, created an extensive tapestry of color, mood, and shape. For this third season, she has outdone herself.
I could’ve spoken to Long for hours about every piece and character choice since every actor changes their cloths multiple times throughout every episode. This ensemble is huge.
A character that Long got to expand the costumes for was Henry Meredith’s Maxim, Marial’s 12 year old husband. He’s temperamental, prideful, and overconfident, but Long dresses him in pastel pink and blues. His color palette is much more flamboyant than anyone else in the castle, and other men should channel his taste for fabrics. You will obsess over Maxim’s shoe collection.
One of the first dresses that stuck out to me was when Catherine pits the ambassadors against one another when they are trying to win her favor. She is wearing a white dress with floral accents, but it reflects how people see her. These men think they can flirt with a gorgeous leader, but they don’t know her true intentions. That contrasts greatly to the dress that Catherine wears in the final moments of the season. After Peter’s death, the season concludes with Catherine’s new declaration of power. It’s not just for the country but also for herself. Long puts Fanning in the widest dress she has ever worn on the show, and the dark color is meant to raise curiosity for everyone who sees it.
Will season four usher in an entirely new aesthetic for Catherine the Great?
The Great is streaming now on Hulu.