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In Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Dumbledore is clearly seen wearing Muggle clothing:

Dumbclothes

Why? Why wouldn't he wear robes instead, like all wizards; particularly one of his stature?

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    Because you don't spend $5M to hire Jude Law and stick him in a shapeless robe.
    – Valorum
    Nov 20, 2018 at 21:29
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    The Rule of Cool. Or in this case, the Rule of Class.
    – PlutoThePlanet
    Nov 20, 2018 at 21:31
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    @TheAsh - If they even showed pure bloods like malfoy in muggle clothing, then muggle-loving Dumbledore isn't such a stretch.
    – ibid
    Nov 20, 2018 at 21:49
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    @Valorum: Pretty sure he would still look classy in a shapeless robe. Because he is Jude Law.
    – Taladris
    Nov 21, 2018 at 3:22
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    That's actually the thing that ruined canonicity of the movie for me completely. In the books it is plainly shown that Dumbledore always looked like a "typical" wizard - with long beard and so on, and even when wearing muggle clothes he still didn't do it properly. But even if he would, we NEVER see Hogwarts teachers dressed in suits! It's just impossible to imagine, really. How sad :(
    – Shana Tar
    Nov 21, 2018 at 11:19

1 Answer 1

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The film's Costume Designer Colleen Atwood discussed this in some detail. In short it boils down to wanting to find a halfway-house between his purple suit in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and the grey robes that he typically wears. Also, they're keen to distinguish him instantly from other wizards and to emphasise his physique.

COLLEEN ATWOOD: A young Dumbledore. Well, Jude [Law] had some thoughts about Dumbledore, you know, what he felt the younger spirit of Dumbledore was, which was the favorite teacher that all the kids liked; sort of like a mentor to some of the outsiders and embraced special kinds of magical powers. Dumbledore was sort of … vaguely purplish tones in the [Harry Potter movies] so I sort of backed into that. But I didn’t use purple — I used grays and softer tones that were very approachable. His clothes kinda have a soft texture so they feel lived in. And at the same time, you know, a little bit different than what everyone else in the school would wear; more approachable. He has a great coat that everybody loved — a big corduroy overcoat that he wears for a scene in the fog. And Jude looks great, he’s a great-looking man, so it doesn’t hurt.

‘Fantastic Beasts 2’: Colleen Atwood Details the Costuming of the Parisian, Noir Sequel

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    "Dumbledore was sort of … vaguely purplish tones ... so I sort of backed into that. But I didn’t use purple — I used grays" - does that make any sense?! "And Jude looks great, he’s a great-looking man" - why not dress him in a swimming trunks then? Would be even more appealing. Who cares about the Universe setting anyway?
    – Shana Tar
    Nov 21, 2018 at 11:26
  • Great answer. Is there any in-universe answer though? Did Dumbledore's muggle fetish really come in force at that point of his life, perhaps?
    – TheAsh
    Nov 21, 2018 at 12:02
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    @TheAsh And then came out of force in some years when he is dressed in a ridiculous flamboyant suit visiting a muggle orphanage? As they say: it's just a phase (even if you are over 40).
    – Shana Tar
    Nov 22, 2018 at 9:11
  • "grey > colors" - Warner Bros. over the past several years :/
    – RedCaio
    Nov 30, 2018 at 22:21
  • @RedCaio - On RedLetterMedia they described films as getting "...increasingly dark and Nolan-y" over the past decade :-)
    – Valorum
    Nov 30, 2018 at 22:23

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