Ranking the Harry Potter Movies by Their Fashion Choices

When you think of Harry Potter, what comes to mind? The wands? The spells? The screaming mandrakes? The awkward kisses? It’s all of the above for us!

But there’s one important part of the Harry Potter universe that we can’t forget about, and that’s the FASHION, FOLKS! That’s right — you’d probably like to permanently erase the image of Ron’s Yule Ball outfit from your memory, but we’re here to bring it back in alllllllll its glory. Just what Harry Potter films display the best of the best when it comes to fashion choices, and which leave a lot to be desired? We’re about to find out!

For starters, we do want to say that this is meant to be a fun post based on our thoughts about the Harry Potter films and the characters’ outfits. But we want to take a moment to applaud the amazing costuming teams for their work on these films and the unique outfits they helped to create. 👏

Love ’em or hate ’em, some of these outfits are truly iconic, and none of them out have been possible without the help of many behind the scenes!

Alright, now let’s get to the rankings. Here’s our ranking of the Harry Potter films based on their fashion choices, from WORST to BEST.

8 — Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

We begin at the bottom of our list with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. Now, it’s not like anything is particularly “bad” about the costumes in this film. It earns last place on this list because none of the costumes stand out as being terribly exciting.

Many of the designs are dark with colors that are more muted and deep. And rightfully so! The themes of this movie are…well…dark. Things aren’t exactly happy and cheery, so the darker colors make sense from a story perspective.

And even though many of the clothes are skillfully layered, wonderfully detailed, and perfectly fit to those characters, they just don’t jump out of the screen at us.

Save for maybe this look ’cause Hermione is ROCKIN’ IT.

But really, it’s just at the bottom because it’s…not anything too intense in terms of fashion.

And that’s okay! By this point in the franchise, you know and love the characters, you know the stakes are high, and the focus really is more on the story than their outfits, so it makes total sense for the outfits to play a role in telling the story without distracting from it.

7 — Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Okay, we can hear the screams from the crowd, but hear us out! Prisoner of Azkaban still sees some of our favorites in their iconic Hogwarts robes (love)…

…but was it not jarring to go from 2 years of mostly Hogwarts robes to THIS?! Were we the only ones kind of freaking out (in a not-so-great way) when suddenly Hermione is wearing a rainbow belt and a pink hoodie?

We get the idea behind the design choices, we really do. According to Insider, the award-winning costume designer behind the looks really wanted to make it more urban and reachable for kids and teenagers. The designer, Jany Temime, shared “We should dress Harry and the kids like they are dressing themselves.”

And we TOTALLY get that. But it was just too much of a jarring transition for us to give it a top spot. And the juxtaposition between some outfits just felt a little…off in moments.

But hey, come at us in the comments, we’ll be waiting. 😂

6 — Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Order of the Phoenix is a difficult one to place. We get more of the classic robes (awesome)…

…as well as more “normal” people clothes that actually settle in a bit better with the characters (at least in our opinion).

Oh, and we get…THIS. Maybe this alone is why our hearts and minds couldn’t place it any higher (not because of the fashion but because of the, you know, torture).

The outfits here are mostly fine.

Nothing too jarring (aside from Umbridge who again gets style points but not points in our hearts), and nothing too offensive. And perhaps it is for that reason that we place it here.

5 — Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Goblet of Fire is one of the hardest movies to rank on this list. On the one hand, we get some seriously classy professor looks…

…this EPICNESS…

…the beauty of these quidditch robes…

…and the ever-iconic Yule Ball outfit from Hermione, which alone would get a top spot.

But, on the other hand, we get this atrocity.

And WHAT is with this hair?!

Plus, we’re still on the fence about this Rita Skeeter outfit. Is she rockin’ it or is it just too shiny and green? We can’t decide!

Could this movie be 4th? Maybe even 3rd? It’s possible, but that Yule Ball outfit from Ron alone knocks it down a few spots in our book.

4 — Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Sit back and relax and prepare to enjoy the ICONICNESS of the outfits from this movie. Raise your hand if you wanted to look like Hermione in this shot. The hair, the robes, the little tie — it’s perfection!

And could there be anything better than the loud, detailed, hilarious, and incredible looks of Gilderoy Lockhart?!

These quidditch robes are great…

…and sometimes you simply cannot beat the classic nature of those Hogwarts robes, a house-specific tie, a sweater vest, and some long socks.

Maybe it’s the nostalgia talking. While the outfits in this movie don’t stand out nearly as much as the ones in Goblet of Fire, they’re CLASSIC, and that gives this movie major points for a reason. (Could it basically tie with Goblet of Fire or maybe go slightly below Goblet of Fire? Maybe…but you’ll have to discuss your opinions on that with us in the comments.)

3 — Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Half-Blood Prince is full of unique looks like the one Luna rocks in this shot (so good).

Plus it has plenty of classic robe moments which our nostalgic hearts adore.

And while we do get some regular people clothing, it again feels like the characters (and us) have settled more into these particular looks. For whatever reason, they feel a little less jarring.

But it might be the Draco looks that win it here.

Yeah, we have a feeling Draco fans are NOT mad at these style choices. 😉

But the real star of the fashion show here might be Luna because she is a STYLE ICON. I mean, c’mon!!

Can we also just take a moment to admire the detail in these robes and accessories? Beautifully intricate.

It’s a mix between the robes, the more unique looks, Draco’s black-on-black ensemble, and Luna’s stand-out outfits that give this a high position on our list.

2 — Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

We are SO close to the end! Second, on our list is Deathly Hallows Part 1 for a few reasons. Again, the more “regular people” looks that some of the characters wear simply seem more settled in their design and better fit to those characters at that point in time.

And while we do have to suffer through some atrocities…

…we do get some much nicer outfits in other moments.

We’ll take one of those jackets, please!

We also cannot deny the greatness of this moment from a fashion perspective…

…or the pure evil (yet wonderful fashion choices) of this moment.

But the highlight really is the wedding!

There are so many beautiful fashion moments here (before things turn sour).

The one thing we wish there was more of? Hogwarts robes…which leads us to our #1 choice.

1 — Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Does it have outfits as beautiful as Hermione’s Yule Ball dress or some of the wedding outfits? No. Does it have unique Luna Lovegood looks? Sadly no.

But for what it lacks in more exciting outfits it makes up for in classic looks that anyone will instantly recognize as being from Harry Potter. JUST LOOK AT THOSE ROBES AND THAT SCARF.

Again, maybe it’s just the nostalgia talking, but something about the outfits in this movie just feels like the warm hug that the Harry Potter movies can be for many fans out there.

It established the world (in the movie form), it made us all want long robes and scarves (even if we lived in extremely hot climates), and it even made giant hats cool.

Really, this movie is unbeatable when it comes to classic Harry Potter fashion for us.

What do you think? Where would YOU rank the films in terms of fashion choices? Tell us in the comments!

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How would YOU rank the films? Tell us in the comments!

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