The vintage circus aesthetic has always enthralled me. I love the dark side of a magical world of misfits dressed in costumes filled with layers of lace, feathers, unusual silhouettes and over pronounced makeup. A group of outcasts with a wide array of backgrounds and personal stories who all ended up with the circus in common. Here’s a list of some beautiful films and books that so perfectly capture this environment through costume, set design and imaginative storytelling.

The Night Circus

Set in Victorian London, this novel explores a magical circus that is open only from sunset to sunrise. Two young magicians are in the battle of their life while also falling in love. The author paints a vivid picture of the environment and all it’s magical glory. While the environment is written about beautifully, there is criticism of the storyline being slow. There is speculation of the novel being made into a motion picture but the status is currently unknown.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a criminally overlooked film. It grabbed Oscar noms in Costume Design and Art Direction and won awards for set design. Having made a deal with the Devil himself for immortality many millennia ago, the now decrepit mystic Doctor Parnassus fights for the freedom of his only daughter's soul.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus image still and quote — The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

This movie has a stellar cast including the late Heath Ledger who tragically passed while this was filming. After his death, production was shut down for a few months but due to clever rewrites, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell agreed to complete Ledger's role as actors who play a man whose appearance changes as he travels between imaginary worlds.

Water For Elephants

This novel by Sara Gruen was turned into a motion picture starring Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson. It’s about a young man named Jacob who almost completed veterinary school before joining a traveling circus as an animal caretaker. There he meets Marlena, a beautiful circus performer. Their shared love for a special elephant named Rosie leads them to fall for each other, but Marlena's cruel husband stands in their way.

Water for Elephants Quote — Water for Elephants quote

Christian Dior Spring 2019 Runway Show

Dior’s first ever female creative director, Maria Grazia Chiuri, took to the circus for inspiration for Dior’s 2019 Spring runway show during Paris fashion week. The show was held in a circus tent complete with a live acrobatic performance. The looks took inspiration from clowns and jesters but were recreated in soft pastels using light, feathery materials and sequined head pieces.

Christian Dior himself often frequented the Cirque d'Hiver for inspiration, which is where Richard Avedon took his iconic photo, 'Dovima and the Elephants,' in 1955. In her show notes, Chiuri called the photo "an image that perfectly evokes the wonder and majesty of haute couture."

Big Top Pee Wee

I grew up loving Pee Wee Herman movies. In Big Top Pee-Wee, he plays a small-town farmer who has a talking pig. When a traveling circus comes to town, he finds himself falling for the trapeze artist.

This light-hearted movie features some classic circus wardrobe items- feathers, sequins and stripes.

Nightmare Alley

Nightmare Alley is a 2021 neo-noir psychological thriller film by Guillermo del Toro, and based on the 1946 novel by William Lindsay Gresham. It really is a feast for the eyes from the architecture to the sets to the costumes. You can read more about the set in this article by AD.

Some of the tents in the set were hand-dyed, hand-sewn, hand-painted, and aged. Costume Designer Luis Sequeira brought the period to life with beautifully constructed costumes full of color and texture. You can read more about the costumes here.

The Circus Aesthetic in Runway and Editorial Fashion

Fashion designers have long dipped into theatrics for inspiration. From Mugler’s structural circus ringleader silhouette to Galliano’s layers of tulle, here are few looks from the fashion world that are inspired by the circus.

Circus Theme in Designer Fashion — The circus theme in designer fashion

From editorial photoshoots to the runway, these looks are filled with different textures- feathers, sequins, tulle and loads of color.

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The Best Circus Aesthetics in Movies, Books, and Set designs.