Costume Design by:
- Theodor Pistek ( notable efforts: I Killed Einstein, Gentlemen (1970), The Girl on the Broomstick (1972), Salt & Gold (1983), Amadeus (1984), Rumburak (1985), Valmont (1989), Dune (2000) )
- Jan Pistek ( notable efforts: A Walk Worthwhile (2009) - Jan also happens to be Theodor Pistek's son )
The third adaptation of Frank Herbert's novels, Children of Dune, like the original Dune miniseries before it, was produced by the SciFi Channel when it still had a degree of respectability and would mostly follow on from the first series' visual sense - except, unfortunately, the colour scheme. Children of Dune is more or less a love letter to the colour brown, with even the screen tinted to look more brown! There could have been some reasons for this - a lot of 'fans' had whined about the colourfulness of Theodor Pistek's costume designs for the first series so it could have been an effort to placate them, but really it could just have simply been the dreariness of the 2000s setting in.
Whilst most of the costumes are much more muted than those of the first series, they are still ornate with a lot of gold and silver maturials, large collars and fairly archaic design inspirations. There are also, however, a lot of really shoddy and bland costumes that I've pretty much ignored in this entry - I have to wonder if the more shoddy outfits were designed by Jan as opposed to Theodor, but without any official sources on hand, that's all conjecture. Additionally, if these costume sketches collected on the DuneInfo fansite are anything to go by, it also seems they skimped on some of the costumes as well - Pistek's costume sketch for the Fedaykin warriors is much more interesting than the final result!
The story follows on a few decades after the events of the original Dune miniseries, with Paul Atreides' sister Alia (Daniela Amavia) as rule of the emperor in lieu of him - Alia's first outfit sets the style for most of the costumes in the series, being a dark patterned fabric dress fixed with shiny golden fabric around the top, briefly worn with a golden cloak and futuristic tiara.
Alia's second notable outfit is a departure, but feels like it would be more at home in The Apple! This one consists of a dress made up of a silvery foil material, which is then worn with a cloak of the same material as well.
Alia's regal attire feels like it is following on from the design of the original miniseries' costumes, being a white, green and gold dress fixed with large shoulder pads and collar, worn with a large golden headpiece that feels vaguely Ancient Egyptian in design too. Also, in the background of various scenes (but especially Alia's) are the 'Fedaykin' guards, but the only notable thing about their uniforms is their helmets, which are fixed with a a scarf and side fan usually seen on turbans.
Alia's last outfit is a return to her earlier ones, being a black gown fixed with a threaded golden fabric over the chest, with a solid gold fabric collar,, shoulder boards and belt, as well as a simple headband 'crown'.
One returning character from the first miniseries is Lady Jessica (Alice Krige), whose first outfit is a fairly charming white and black dress, with the black fabric being covered in silver lining that reflects in the light to show a variety of colours. This dress is worn with a large white and black feathered collar, as well as briefly a blue and silver helmet.
Jessica's second notable outfit is another one that would probably be very at home in The Apple! This is honestly one of my favorite outfits in the miniseries, consisting of a shiny metallic lame fabric dress, that has a smaller shirt-like piece worn over the chest. This is completed with a pair of boots, as well as a silvery headband.
When Jessica goes into hiding, she sports this mottled red and black floral pattern dress, that has been fixed with some vaguely futuristic flourishes such as shoulder pads and a golden piece over the front. Sadly, this outfit is only shown in closeups or odd angles, which doesn't let us see it fully.
Jessica's last outfit in the series finale, is a ceremonial cream dress that has been fitted with large shoulders and is worn with a ridged hat - there isn't any closeups of the hat, sadly.
Also returning from the first miniseries is Princess Irulan (Julie Cox), who compared to Jessica dresses fairly conservatively. Her most notable dress seems to have been designed almost to remind everyone that this is indeed a 2000s production, as it's a leather jacket worn conspicuously over a black skirt dress and silvery undershirt. The jacket is also adorned with silvery buckles, but I will admit that personally this does feel the most incongruous of the miniseries' costumes.
Another notable outfit worn by Irulan is a bit more typical to the series' design sense, this being a brown patterned dress that has been stitched with a lace-like fabric over the chest.
Irulan's last outfit feels like a sort of callback to her dresses in the original miniseries, being a patterned brown and green jacket fitted with large white lapels and frills around the cuffs. The jacket is worn over a white skirt, as well as having golden chains fitted to it.
As per the series title, the story is centered on Paul Atreides' children Leto (James McAvoy) and Ghanima (Jessica Brooks) - Leto's outfits are consistently uninteresting, being just leather shirts (when he is wearing shirts, that is), but Ghanima sports a few notable outfits with her first being a leather jacket worn over a midriff-revealing high collar shirt and leather trousers. Honestly, I'm not sure I like this outfit much at all, with again that 2000s leather fixation rearing its head here.
Ghanima's second outfit is much more tasteful and nicely designed, being a frilly sleeved white dress worn with a shawl and brimmed red hat, this being worn when meeting her would-be groom.
Ghanima's last outfit again feels like it is following on from the designs of the first miniseries, being a white dress made of a ridged fabric, that has been fitted with a very large collar, the collar also being adorned with a floral pattern over it. To top it off, the dress is worn with a tiara fitted with a large white feather.
Due to Frank Herbert's delusions that by ripping off Jacobean plays he was making his story more intelligent, there is the usual royal power struggles and plotting, which in this series is done by Princess Wensicia (Susan Sarandon), who at least gets to wear some of the most striking outfits consistently. Wensicia's first outfit is a silver dress that has been fitted with metallic segments over the collar, as well as a diamond-shaped hole exposing the chest.
Wensicia's second notable costume is sadly only barely seen in the actual series, but thankfully a promotional image exists showing Sarandon wearing it in full - it is a sleek black and golden dress, with gold segments under the black fabric and a large collar, which is completed with a blocky golden 'crown' and black gloves.
Another notable costume worn by Wensicia is a mottled gold dress with brown sleeves and a golden segment worn over the chest, though these screenshots also let us see the uniform of her military's commander, who wears a padded leather tunic with large sleeves and a red sash belt (following on from the uniforms of the 'Sardaukar' in the previous series). Also visible are some maids in silver dresses with brown collar pieces.
Another striking outfit worn by Wensicia is this blue and white dress, which has been cut in diamond patterns to show off her midriff and chest, connected with a golden diamond segments. This is worn with a golden crown that is again fixed with abstract, antennae-like pieces.
Wencisia's son is the spoilt Farad'n (Jonathan Bruun), who doesn't wear too much in the way of striking costumes - his most memorable one is his last one, which is worn for the wedding sequence. This outfit is a white robes again with large collars and shoulders, as well as worn with a brown cloth belt, and a hard headpiece that once more slightly resembles Ancient Egyptian regal headwear.
The last of the notable outfits in Children of Dune is worn by a resurrected Duncan Idaho (Edward Atterton), which is a leather uniform fitted with a large ridged chevron-shaped piece over the collar. There isn't really anything to note past this one, as everyone else is just in trampy robes and rags.
