When it comes to recycling movie costumes, it’s far more common to come across costumes worn by women instead of men. Wardrobe pieces for men and women are reused with the same frequency, but in general, and with a few exceptions throughout various eras, clothing for men has been less showy or detailed than that of women, and thus much harder to spot a second time. This is not to imply that costume designers today do not put the same amount of thought or work into costumes for male characters – merely that they generally do not jump off the screen as easily. However, there was a time when the wardrobes of male characters weren’t given the same consideration as those of female characters. Deborah Noodleman Landis’ excellent book Hollywood Costume states that:

The busy wardrobe department at Paramount was divided into two sections: women’s and character costumes….in keeping with the practice at the time, as chief designer Greer only clothed the principal women in a film.

It was not at all uncommon to see the credits on a film stating “Gowns by Adrian.” with no real credit to any other designer for the men. Again, this is no longer the case, and costume designers today work with both men and women, giving them thoughtfully designed costumes to fit their character’s personalities. Still, certain eras, such as the 16th and 18th centuries, tend to stick out more for male clothing.

Nicholas le Prevost wore this beautifully detailed Elizabethan doublet as Robert Sir DeLesseps in the 1998 film Shakespeare In Love. The piece was designed by Sandy Powell, for which she won an Oscar for Best Costume Design. The costume went on to be used again in the 2005 mini-series The Virgin Queen, where Tom Hardy wore it as Robert Dudley. It was worn a second time that same year by Tom Sturridge as William Herbert in A Waste of Shame: The Mystery of Shakespeare and His Sonnets. Lastly, it was used in the 2007 first season of Showtime’s The Tudors, where Jonathan Rhys Myers wore it as King Henry VIII.