Jenna Ortega is the most recent queen of the art of ‘method dressing,’ and the internet can’t stop talking about it – and speculating whether the trend has finally gone too far.
For the uninitiated, ‘method dressing’ is when an actor wears clothes inspired by the film they’re promoting or even the specific character they play in that film.
Showing up to red carpets and public appearances in outfits that walk the line between fashion and costume, the Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice! star has helped cement themed dressing as a modern fixture of movie promotion.
Other stars to embrace the phenomenon include Margot Robbie, who perpetually wore pink before Barbie came out; Wicked co-stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, who have been wearing the color palettes of their respective characters, Glinda and Elphaba, for weeks; and Halle Bailey, who wore Little Mermaid inspired fashion to promote the live-action remake.
But Ortega was among the first to take the trend to the next level, dressing consistently like Wednesday Adams ahead of the hit Netflix show Wednesday in 2022.
Ortega’s stylist Enrique Melendez has helped orchestrate several spooky fashion moments for the actress – including a pinstriped Dolce & Gabbana skirt suit that paid subtle homage to the OG film – in the lead-up to the Tim Burton Beetlejuice sequel, out September 6.
But another of Ortega’s Beetlejuice fashion moments has sparked a conversation about when method dressing crosses the line from fun and entertaining to gimmicky.
On one occasion, the actress wore a look inspired by Winona Ryder’s character Lydia Deetz in the original 1988 film.
In a plaid schoolgirl skirt and navy blue cardigan with a golden wreath crest, she essentially wore the costume Ryder wore in the film’s closing scene’s Jump in the Line dance number.
If this wasn’t on the nose enough, the outfit was paired with a purse that read, ‘Handbag for the Recently Deceased’ a play on a book in the film called Handbook for the Recently Deceased that the film’s parent characters, Adam and Barbara Maitland (played by Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis), receive once they die.
The effect of the look was to turn Ortega into a walking ad, completely sublimating any sense of personal style and blurring the line between the world of the film and the real world.
One Reddit user, Special-Garlic1203, put it succinctly, writing: ‘At that point it’s not even method dressing anymore, it’s just a glorified Halloween costume.’
Blue_orchid2 agreed, posting: ‘Copying or heavily referencing a character’s outfits for press runs is getting stale. It’s not very creatively inspiring. Feels like a cop out if I’m being honest, even when said outfits are cute. They used to be much more subtle about it when they did it but since the Barbie press tour, we’ve just been getting variations of this.’
Nope_pls wrote: ‘Cannot wait for method dressing to die already.’
Another user also weighed in, positing that while they enjoy the trend it sometimes feels forced: ‘I love method dressing but not when it’s too on the nose. Like I hated that one tennis ball look Zendaya wore as well. But when it’s “subtle” I guess, I think it’s hard to beat. I think setting it as an expectation can get exhausting though. Like do it when you can be clever and then just wear something generically cute when it seems forced.’
Zendaya has also been a victim of method dressing gone too far.
The actress and her stylist, Law Roach, have been major purveyors of the trend, claiming headlines for weeks as the young star appeared in intergalactic fashion in the lead-up to Dune 2.
Between the Theirry Mugler gynoid suit and the 1999 Givenchy by Alexander McQueen that she wore to promote the film, the actress successfully stayed true to her impeccable style while amping up anticipation for the sci-fi blockbuster.
But her press appearance looks for Challengers, in which she plays professional tennis star Tashi Donaldson, were less of a grand slam.
At one point wearing shoes that featured literal tennis balls, the Euphoria star tipped into gimmicky, seeming more like a person in perpetual costume than a fashion icon.
Zendaya’s two most recent press tours highlight that method dressing is not a one-size-fits-all strategy, and many movies are better off without it.
Movies with distinct, over-the-top aesthetics, like Dune or Barbie, are perfect for this style of marketing, but applying the trend to more serious movies grounded in realism feels forced and tacky.
This was exemplified by Blake Lively wearing (and trying to get fans to wear) florals in the lead-up to It Ends With Us, a film about a woman who experiences domestic violence and happens to be a florist.
Method dressing also uncomfortably emphasises the disparity in Hollywood’s expectations of men vs. women, with very few male actors participating in the trend with any level of commitment.
Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth were recently pulled through Los Angeles in a horse and carriage to promote Mad Max: Furiosa, with the actress wearing a black leather dress and dramatic makeup, looking for all the world like a post-apocalyptic road warrior.
In contrast, Hemsworth wore a button-up, blazer, and dark jeans.
The trend also runs the risk of causing actresses to become conflated with their characters, which can easily pigeon hole them and limit their future opportunities.
So, while we’ve enjoyed watching Ortega walk red carpets in black and white stripes, maybe it’s time for actors to return to dressing like themselves.
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