May 2025

If we pretend the outfits were character choices not costume design choices, how would you analyze Alana's? I despise her style (even after s3)

If we approach the characters as though they’re real individuals selecting their own wardrobes, Alana’s fashion choices in the first two seasons suggest a desire for male validation. Working in a male-dominated field, she consistently opts for traditionally feminine silhouettes, sometimes even drawing on a 1950s aesthetic, rather than choosing attire that might be seen as more neutral or commanding. It’s less about professionalism and more about appealing to the male gaze, consciously or not.

Then, in season three, she shifts to a bold masculine-feminine hybrid style that leans into the theatrical. It feels like an overt attempt to differentiate herself, but the result comes off as forced, less authentic expression and more performance.

Taken together, Alana’s evolving style signals a consistent thread: she dresses to be seen. Whether through hyper-femininity or exaggerated androgyny, there’s always an undercurrent of needing to capture and direct attention. That’s why I hate her costume design too, it simply does not make sense for her…I don’t think she’s a character who would constantly search for validation but the style they chose for her does imply that.

Abigail Hobbs style evolution.

She starts off with a more girly suburbian slightly western or boho look, then transitions into a Hannibal version of a private school girl, then it gets a bit confusing and then Will imagines her as a more mature woman, not as a little girl.

A different, more fashionable (fun) approach.

I would start her off more distinctively a country girl who hunts with dad, and the post-garret just all black, trying to hide herself while retaining a youthful look.

What the show did was a bit strange, there’s no real transition from the kind of boho to the English private school thing. I get Hannibal would have sn influence but she changed styles right away, as soon as she was up, and those were picked by Alana, which is even weirder since she’s a psychiatrist so she should’ve tried to get clothes that resemble Abigail’s style, why would she buy her outfits like that? Then she sometimes appears in completely out of any established style look. Then with Will is just 🤷‍♀️??