10 Amazing Costume Designs From Mediocre Films

While there's a lot to love in the fantastical Hobbit trilogy, its rushed production and executive interference, as well as an excess of CGI, proved fatal to the visionary ideas Peter Jackson had previously executed in the Lord of the Rings films. However, its astounding leaps of artistry and technology in costume and makeup deserve more appreciation, especially given the seemingly insurmountable task of taking thirteen dwarves with zero distinction between them (apart from Thorin, Fili and Kili) and making them distinct characters, which the films did quite effectively.

Silhouettes alone give these dwarves fantastic character, with hats and beards and colour schemes and even pattern work differentiating their social classes and personalities, as well as their roles within the Company.

The dwarves seen in flashbacks at their peak dial this up with their decadent, angular design work, reminding audiences exactly what they lost.

Special mention must go, as well, to the elves in these films, from the familiarly refined Rivendell elves to the organic design and colours of the elves of Mirkwood.

Bob Buck, Ann Maskrey, and Richard Taylor handled Tolkien's fantastical world beautifully, with much praise going to the wardrobe, prosthetics, and makeup departments for making it work so well.