Such epic movies as Dune always grab your attention. And with this particular film, you can compare the one released in 1984 and a recent version from 2021. It can be particularly interesting to compare the show costumes in these two movies. This time, it’s House Atreides military uniforms we’d like to talk about. By the way, they’re similar not only to Dune 1984 costumes but also to Star Trek and Star Wars uniforms.
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Dune is an American epic science fiction film by Quebec director Denis Villeneuve. The movie is based upon the 1965 novel of the same name written by American author Frank Herbert. If you’re new to Dune, you should know that there was another epochal film based on the same book released in 1984.
In this article, we’ll examine the House Atreides uniforms from Dune 2021 and Dune 1984 and compare them a bit.
Let's talk about the formal uniforms worn by Paul and Duke Leto Atreides, Gurney Halleck, Duncan Idaho, and other members of House Atreides.
The uniforms are clean and minimal, with little detail. This would actually make a rather simple cosplay.
Costume designer Jacqueline West told Variety that “Dune's director Denis Villeneuve didn't want to make a film about spaceships… with a look of what you see in so many Sci-Fi movies and video games, but he wanted to make a futuristic medieval movie”.
If you've seen David Lynch's 1984 Dune, the uniforms are decidedly green, there's no doubt about it.
The green color comes from the House banner mentioned in the book that says, “He pointed out the window to the Atreides black and green banner hanging limply from a staff at the edge of the landing field”.
In most of the still images released by the studios, the costumes read as very dark navy or even black. There is actually one mentioned in the book of the Duke wearing black.
However, Jacqueline West said in designing the costumes, “The color of Caladan [the ancestral home of House Atreides] was green”. So the uniform fabric is probably very dark green. There is one promo picture featuring actor Oscar Isaac as Leto Atreides where the fabric looks green.
In an interview with Variety, West said, she used the Romanovs, the reigning imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917, as inspiration for the Atreides uniforms.
You can see the resemblance when looking at this 1892 picture of the Romanovs.
The silhouette is also similar to the military uniforms worn by other royalty, for example, Alexander II, tsar of Russia in his coronation outfit from 1855.
The King of Spain Alfonso XIII from 1906.
And Prince Rainier III of Monaco dressed in military finery at his wedding to actress Grace Kelly.
But the costume designers must have also been influenced by the 1984 movie, with costumes by Academy Award nominated designer Bob Ringwood.
The silhouette is nearly identical – a jacket with a stand-up collar, jodhpurs tucked into tall leather boots, and a belt.
In the LA exhibit photo by Maggie_in_LA, there is a subtle bit of piping on Leto's cuff but, other than that, the Atreides uniforms have no buttons or visible fasteners, no fancy trim or decorations, except for the House crest on the collar and the patch above the breast pocket.
The pants don't even have a military stripe.
So, we can probably blame Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry for this trend. He believed clothes would have no visible fasteners in the future, so the zips were concealed in the shoulder of the Star Trek uniforms.
And then costume designer John Mollo's Imperial Navy uniforms in Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back were also without any visible buttons or zippers.
The Atreides costumes feature the red hawk crest which is mentioned in the book a few times.
At the opening of Dune, Jessica is picking out an outfit for Paul, and it’s said, “She turned, holding a semiformal jacket for him. It carried the red Atreides hawk crest above the breast pocket… Jessica flicked dust from a pair of trousers, hung them with the jacket, on the dressing stand behind his bed”.
In many mythologies, the hawk is a solar bird associated with sun gods. In Greek myth, the goddess Circe was associated with hawks and a hawk was the messenger of Apollo, the Olympian god of the sun and light.
The House Atreides emblem of the red hawk is displayed and expanded, meaning, the wings are spread with the wingtips pointing upward.
In Dune 1984, a hawk rising in gold is featured on either side of the mandarin collar, while an abstracted red hawk is on the breast.
On Duke Leto, an oversized embroidered red hawk is on his uniform jacket, like this one pictured here.
Meanwhile, the jackets in dune 2021 feature this abstracted hawk rising on either side of the collar and hawk displayed on the breast.
This is the same design we see on the green, black, and gold banners hanging behind the royal family in Caladan.
In the formal setting, both the Duke and Paul wear gold aiguillettes, the decorative cord worn suspended from the right shoulder. Their aiguillettes pictured here are made from metal and chain, rather than cord.
Here's a picture of Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, in a Field-Marshall's undress uniform, with the star of the Garter and badge of the Golden Fleece.
According to the Royal Collection Trust, in 1843, the aiguillettes would replace the traditional epaulettes and scales on a Field-Marshall uniform. The idea may have come from Prince Albert himself.
In Dune 1984, Paul and Leto also wear them but in red cord, picking up on the house sigil color.
In Dune 2021, all of the men in the background wear peaked caps with, apparently, a hawk crest on the front.
The main cast have hats as well but theirs are tucked under their left arm.
And everyone also wears tall boots, like these mounted police riding boots.
On the Atreides armor, you can see a military metal ribbon. It's hard to make it out but it looks like there's a hint of it again above their left breast pocket on both Leto and Gurney.
In Frank Herbert's Dune, there is also a mention of Leto wearing a working uniform. We have some pictures of Leto, Paul, Gurney, Dr. Yueh dressed in these less structured outfits.
Both Gurney and Yueh have weapons on their belts, but there are no signs of shield devices on their wrists, which in the book, are worn on their waist.
The tunic tops have quilting on the elbows and shoulders and the pants, likely, have reinforced knees. They still have the insignia on the collar but it's green or black on green.
(c) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnTNOaDI6xE
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