Method Dressing: Something To Be Celebrated or Condemned?

Method dressing. Two words that may or may not have grabbed your attention this year – they certainly did for us! From press tours to premieres, 2024 was truly the year of the method dress. Let’s take a look inside this phenomenon and dissect what method dressing is, whether it should be celebrated or condemned, and the future of this fun trend.

Whether you were a Barbie or Oppenheimer fan, you’ve been watching various interviews from the Wicked press tour or revisiting the Dune: Part Two ones, or were marveling at the fashion from the Mufasa: The Lion King premiere, you will have noticed a common theme regarding the style of the actors. So if you still think you don’t know what method dressing is, think again.  

Method dressing is when an actor pays homage to the film/TV show that they are promoting through their fashion. The films listed above are great examples of what this trend is, and how it has taken over both the fashion and the cinema world. However, there are those who now feel depleted from the trend and wonder whether it has grown stale.  

From Margot Robbie rocking all pink looks for promoting Barbie, to Zendaya’s iconic sparkling green Loewe dress featuring the shadow of a player from the Challengers movie, actors and their stylists sure know how to up the ante when it comes to embodying the aesthetics and characters of their films. Just think of how exciting it was to see Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande standing side by side at the Wicked premiere in LA sporting their characters’ contrasting colors of green and pink. Not to mention, at the premiere of the Mufasa: The Lion King prequel, Beyoncé and daughter Blue Ivy looked absolutely jaw-dropping in their gold and brown dresses inspired by the colors and themes of the movie. 

So...why are people now unsure about method dressing, and what is the future of this unique and interesting trend?  

Well, some say that, although it was fun at first, method dressing has now become almost tedious. What with actors forced to wear the same kinds of colors and styles for months on end, it feels like audiences now know more of what to expect which makes for less exciting fashion choices. Some films (Barbie) did well in promoting their films through style, showing the fun and cool ways looks could bring a film and its characters to life. However, others (It Ends With Us) not so much. They were tackier and focused less on important themes the film was showcasing. The problem generally is that method dressing can quickly become tiresome and gimmicky – lacking the initial creativity it was originally known for. 

So, what will become of method dressing? Will it go away, never to be seen or spoken of again? Or will it resurge in the new year as something bigger and more crazy than ever? 
Only time will tell. But if it does stick around, we hope that actors will dial things down a little and stick to subtler style choices so that the fun, creativity, and quirk of this trend can be reborn once more.