In keeping with the thematic elements imbued in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, director Alfonso Cuarón set out to establish a more mature tone in the characters’ wardrobe, the sets and the look of the film itself. Since most teenagers are hyper-aware of pop culture and fashion trends, Cuarón felt that Harry, Ron, Hermione and the other students at Hogwarts should be no exception.
“What I really wanted to do was to make Hogwarts more contemporary and a little more naturalistic,” he explains. “For instance, I studied English schools and watched the way the kids wore their uniforms. No two were alike. Each teenager’s individuality was reflected in the way they wore their uniform. So I asked all the kids in the film to wear their uniforms as they would if their parents weren’t around.”
“I ended up with my tie totally messed up and my shirt half pulled out,” says Rupert Grint, ever true to character. “It was fun, but it also had a serious purpose in helping us establish individual identities.”
When Cuarón asked Radcliffe how Harry would dress as he became a teenager, “I thought it would have been too much of a leap for Harry to become very image conscious,” the young actor considers. “He wouldn’t wear badges or chains. But he is becoming more self aware, and although his clothes aren’t exactly cool, they are less formal and less childish.”
Much to Emma Watson’s delight, Hermione also enjoys a bit of a fashion evolution. “Hermione is out of tweed skirts and knitted grandma-type jumpers and – dare I say it – wearing jeans!” Watson reports. “She’s not trendy, but more stylish than she used to be. Hermione still wears her uniform with the top button done up, but she’s trying!”
In keeping with Cuarón’s contemporary vision, costume designer Jany Temime made subtle changes to the design of the Hogwarts uniforms themselves. “We darkened the colors and included a hood with the house colors inside, so you immediately knew which house each student belongs to,” says Temime. “To encourage individuality, we gave everyone a choice of singlets, jumpers, cardigans and other variations on the uniform.”
“The changes are not a complete deviation from the wardrobe from the first two films, but more a reflection of the character developments within the books themselves,” Columbus suggests. “We’re not dressing the kids in ultra-fashionable clothes. Their wardrobe represents a gradual change, which reflects their natural transition to teenagers.”
Temime also brought a fresh look to the Hogwarts Quidditch uniforms. “The idea was to make them more modern, resembling gear from a sport like rugby or football,” she explains. “So we introduced stripes and numbers. Because the Quidditch sequence takes place in the rain, we had to use a very modern waterproof fabric, and that in itself gave the uniforms a more contemporary look.”
Creating the look of escaped prisoner Sirius Black was a culmination of weeks of design work between Temime, Cuarón, Oldman and the hair and make-up departments. “We tried all sorts of things,” Oldman says. “We thought that perhaps over the twelve years Black was in prison, his hair has gone grey. His tattoos were Alfonso’s idea. All in all, it was a very collaborative effort.”
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