A lot of people were looking forward to the second season of The Witcher TV series, and this winter, we finely got to watch it. But while the plot twists of the story are exciting and spectacular, we can’t say the same about the movie costumes. Yes, most of them are decent, but there are so many flaws and strange choices in wigs, trimmings, and accessories. Anyway, let’s analyze the show costumes of The Witcher: Season 2 and see what characters got different looks, which outfits were more flattering and which less, and what obvious mistakes the wardrobe team made.
The Witcher is a fantasy drama Netflix TV series starring Henry Cavill, Freya Allan, and Anya Chalotra. The second season consisting of 8 episodes was released on December 17, 2021.
In Season 1, the costume designer was Tim Aslam, but the producers replaced him for Season 2. Some of the fans blamed Tim Aslam for the Nilfgaardian armor and deviating away from the look of the game. Anyway, we’re not entirely sure what the story is, but it's very common in TV series for costume designers to move on after just one season or even after the pilot, we see this all the time.
The Nilfgaardian armor in Season 2 is okay. A big pet peeve for all fantasy shows is that they rarely have leg armor. It's so common now that designers will dress their armies in contemporary black trousers with Greek-style greaves over top. Since the thighs are the largest muscle in the body, should they not be protected as much as the shins?
So, let’s look into the show costumes of The Witcher: Season 2 and analyze the changes.
Despite IMDb stating that costume designer Lucinda Wright only worked on the first episode of Season 2, she did take over the reins from Tim Aslam. She's an accomplished British costume designer working mostly in TV.
One of the most difficult aspects of taking over a design from another designer is creating a design that isn't too jarring from the previous season. Lucinda Wright reused many of the costumes from Season 1 in Season 2.
Since Season 2 picks up shortly after the Battle of Sodden, many of the characters, including Tissaia, Yennefer, and Fringilla are in the same costumes.
But we also see Tissaia wearing many of her other Season 1 costumes. As well, Stregobor, Mousesack, Calanthe, and Pavetta also wear the same Season 1 costumes.
This only makes sense budget-wise, since it would be such a waste to chuck those costumes entirely. But while Lucinda Wright was trying to bridge the gap, in some ways, it looked a bit messy trying to merge their two designs.
She also appeared to have abandoned some of the Slavic influences we saw in Season 1, so on this front, it might have been better to just chuck the entire Season 1 design and start from scratch or continue with what they had started already.
For instance, the quasi-Elizabethan silhouette worn by Fringilla did not work for us at all. The world is largely medieval, with draping silhouettes and long hanging sleeves, while this gown looks completely out of place.
Added to that, it was unflattering on her, with the bodice constructed with princess seams, and it appears that there is no understructure.
Now we can't confirm but Mimî M. Khayisa, who played Fringilla, apparently was pregnant while shooting, so that would have been challenging, since there were already so many delays because of Covid.
But she looks completely different from Season 1.
With Jaskier, they dumped his Renaissance silhouette for an 18th-century swashbuckler Puss in Boots look.
They wanted to get in head in for him this season, so they went with this cavalier style.
The construction of this Jaime Lannister style coat is nice but the fabric looks synthetic for some reason and not leather.
And while the hair and wigs are not under the costume department, they made some odd choices.
True, the wigs on most of the actors look great, namely Geralt and Ciri.
But in the season finale, Ciri sees her mother Pavetta wearing her green gown from Season 1 with this long blonde tendrilled wig. Her wig was so out of place that it seemed like they had recast the actor.
Jaskier's hair was also kind of weird. It might be Joey Batey's hair, but they could have done something much better with it.
And while Eamon Farren's hair is pretty (the actor who plays Cahir), his dirty and disheveled hair looked amazing in the front half of the season.
But then, they did this weird Liberace teased and sprayed helmet look on him when he challenges Dara. Why?
However, the most dramatic change in Season 2 was with Triss Merigold. In Season 1, they didn't wig actor Anna Shaffer, instead opting for her natural brown curly slightly below-the-shoulder hair. Maybe this irked the fans or the showrunners had second thoughts but in Season 2, they decided to wig her with long red tresses. But as for us, we didn't mind her other style.
The one big improvement at the same time was her costumes. Her looks in Season 1 were often disappointing. So, one of the best costumes in the show right now is Triss's green velvet sideless gown. It's an amazing cut and it fits into the world of The Witcher.
The other great costumes are those worn by the Witchers themselves, such as Vesemir, Coën, Gwain, and Kaer Morhen.
They're all pretty much in keeping with Geralt himself. Lots of studded leather, but the leather manipulations, on Lambert, for instance, are really cool.
The leather looks like it might come from Italian leather makers. There were lots of warm earthy tones, mostly brown and black, and lots of breakdown.
Geralt also got new armor. But whether it was necessary, is up to debate. A similar molded boil leather look is done so often now in fantasy, and the studs are just trim here.
Eskel's brigandine looks more realistic, and at least the studs, which hold in place metal plates underneath, are useful.
And the elves’ costumes were pretty good as well. They went in another direction with their costumes in Season 2, but we didn't mind it so much because they had a pretty big story arc and the introduction of a new major character.
There was some leather scale mail, which is frustrating because, like most leather armor, it provides little protection. But again, it’s fantasy.
Yennefer is in a rope dress for a big chunk of Season 2.
Also, she dons this off-the-shoulder gown that looks like it should be on a runway or an ad for Chanel №5. And it looks completely out of place in the show.
While her second costume, the one that she wears largely for the second half of the season, looks more in place with her other wardrobe. You know, it's black.
But it's just okay since she typically is the fashion icon on the show.
The gold appliques on the front of the bodice and the cuff look like they kind of clash with the embroidery on the skirt of the overgown. And like some of the looks in the show, there appears to be a lot of store-bought embroidered fabric, probably from Top Fabric of Soho in London.
And finally, we get to Cirilla.
All of her costumes were beautiful and befitting a princess. The white and silver showing her innocence and, again, matching the medieval fantasy setting of The Witcher.
And her training gear was decent, aside from the metal grommets on her bodice.
There was a bit of blue in there – a call back to her Alice-in-Wonderland-like costume from Season 1.
Although, she doesn't dress for the weather. Sure, she wears that lovely fur stole at times.
But other than that, no gloves or a head covering or any additional warmth.
And while riding on horseback with Geralt, a traveling cloak would have worked nicely here, a la Sansa Stark.
And in her training, she wears the same outfit outdoors as in, which is strange in sub-zero weather. If you are working out and training, you can still get frostbite because, while she is an elder blood carrier, she is still a human.
Overall, The Witcher: Season 2 show costumes have a pretty decent design. Though, it likely won't win any trophies, come award season.
