No matter the genre of a given holiday movie or limited series, you can guarantee that every character is going to spend the entire runtime swaddled in chunky knits or blinged out in sparkly cocktail party attire.
Your leads may be a depressed baker whose store is about to go out of business or a cheery mechanic whose father is the town’s meanest landlord, but when the calendar hits December and the camera starts rolling, they’re busting down the doors of a festive Christmas closet and turning looks that are a feast for the eyes, if impractical for everyday life.
Generally, costumes in holiday movies fall into four categories: Everyone in this Town is Going to a Victorian Murder Mystery Dinner, Disaster at the Pattern Factory, A Sequence of Sequins, and Have You Heard of SWEATERS? They’re all always a peculiar delight but the ensembles hit a little differently this year, when our real life go-to looks are “Zoom office party” on top and “cry for help” on the bottom.