Fashion, Costume and Cinema

Lecture by Sue Osmond, detailing the need for costume design to hold complete control over the image of a character. Sue, through the exploration of the costume design within the film 'The Matrix' (1999) detailed how they were able to reveal  a multiplicity in Neo's character, the transformation of his mindset as well as to create the shifting existance between multiple worlds throughout the film. As this sci-fi concept is complex, costuming was an integral tool to demonstrate which dimension we were viewing, and to keep up with the plot.


I found it interesting that the costuming had to be removed from a time and place in order to present the story in a convincing manner, however it still pertains to current stereotypes relating to gender representation, especally the sexualisation if the female figure. The use of fetish style clothing to suggest female power is seen in the costuming worn by Trinity. The use of fetish clothing creates a sense of strength, but ultimately through the clear objectification of her body, we recognise that she holds little power, seen ultimately through her falling in love with Neo. In this way, Trinity is used to satisfy the male viewers expectation for an erotic figure. Trinity both subverts and conforms the stereotype of the subserviant woman, as her physical strength is equal to that of Neo's, yet her emotions are portrayed as her downfall, an idea complying to the representation of women as slaves to their emotions which leave them vulnerable. We a made to view Trinity through a male gaze, her body is objectified through the use of form fitting, PVC suits, which suggest that her strength is a product of her ability to evoke desire in men, seen when Neo begins to believe in the alternate world due his  initial sexual interest in Trinity, which draws him into accepting the idea of the 'matrix'.

 Her body is presented in a masculine way through the promotion of muscles and extreme slenderless.

 female power or objectification?


The difference in Trinity's costuming from the the false world to their existance in Zion is key to understanding how gender representations are formed through the costuming. Within Zion, she wears loose fitting clothes that mask her figure, and present her in a soft, typically feminine way. She takes on a submissive position, accepting the idealised notions of femininity that promote men as the holders of authority. It is this characterisation of her, conforming to gender stereotypes of appropriate female behviour, that we recognise that the tight fitting suits she wears within the alternate reality 'the Matrix' are not suggestive of female strength, but only work to sexualise her body, fundamentally demeaning any equality that exists between men and women within the film.

The feminine appearance of Trinity within Zion

The sexualisation of Neo is explored by Sarah Gilligan in 'Becoming Neo: Costuming and Tranforming Masculinity in the Matrix Films' (2009). Presenting Neo also under a male gaze, she suggests that the elements of fetish within the costuming of Neo in the world of the 'Matrix' relate to a male desire to present aggressive movement as erotic. Whilst Neo clearly subverts typical images of male eroticism which features an obsession with the naked male figure, Neo's covered body promotes masculine dominance through violence and the physical superiority of his movement within the clothing. The shift between the obvious agressive intent in his actions to how to clothes present him -  in a poetic motion of movement, suggest that this masculine representation is diverse and multi dimensional, containing both masculine and feminine ideals, that ultimately work to expand the stereotype of the male hero figure.

Gilligan, S. 2009, 'Becoming Neo: Costuming and Tranforming Masculinity in the Matrix Films', Fashion in Fiction, Berg, p149-159.