- - 6 Easter Eggs from the “Stranger Things” Season 5 Wardrobe You Probably Missed (Exclusive)

Hedy PhillipsDecember 20, 2025 at 7:08 AM

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Netflix

David Harbour and Millie Bobby Brown in 'Stranger Things' -

Costume designer Amy Parris breaks down some of what you might have missed in the wardrobe

She shares some of the Easter eggs in the characters' wardrobe, including why Henry Creel wears glasses

Part 2 of season 5 drops on Netflix on Dec. 25, with the finale dropping Dec. 31

Stranger Things is almost coming to a close — but not before fans are taken back into the Upside Down for just a few more episodes.

In part one of season 5, which arrived on Netflix on Thanksgiving Day, our favorite Hawkins, Ind., residents found themselves fighting Vecna and the Demogorgons once again. So much happened in just those four episodes (kidnapped children! Eleven's suspended powers! Will's big moment!), and through it all, little bits of each character were revealed yet again through their wardrobes.

Amy Parris, costume designer for the show since season 3, tells PEOPLE all the details you might have missed, including why Jamie Campbell Bowers wears glasses as Henry Creel/Mr. Whatsit and what all the patches on Max's (Sadie Sink) jeans represent.

Courtesy of Netflix

Noah Schnapp, Finn Wolfhard and Winona Ryder in 'Stranger Things'A Large Part of the Wardrobe Is True Vintage

"Ideally, I would like it all to be vintage, but what's the most hard for this show is we need so many multiples, and finding multiples that are real vintage is like finding buried treasure, because they've all inevitably been split up, unless you have some very lucky people that I know. For example, I source with a woman in Long Beach. ... A store called Meow, and it's dead stock. [The owner is] really known for finding good dead stock vintage. That's actually where I got Jonathan's cardigan in this first half. I was able to get eight of those cardigans.

"I rely on my vendors that have been expertly curating that. If I can't find it with them, I build it, because I want it to feel as true to the '80s as possible. Sometimes I'll reprint fabric based on an '80s print, or I'll knit sweaters."

Parris Worked with Natalia Dyer to Inform Nancy's Wardrobe

"[Natalia Dyer and I] both agreed early on in the season to put [Nancy] in sneakers, tennis shoes, jeans. And those jeans she's wearing are custom-made by Guess and they look so good on her. ... So knowing that this is, majority of their time is spent underground and battling, I wanted her to not be in boots that had a heel, which we did last season.

"I just feel like she feels so badass and ready to battle the season. Kind of similar to Sigourney Weaver in Alien, which I know is a big hair reference for her, but just the energy and the attitude this season is a little bit more tough for her.

Netflix; Warner Bros/Netflix

Eleven in 'Stranger Things' (left); Josh Brolin in 'Goonies' (right)Parris Still Loves How '80s Eleven's Costume Is

"[With Eleven's look,] I do think it's a really badass outfit. I think [Millie Bobby Brown] looks really cool in it. I love that Millie got into it. And I still stand by my decision because [that look is] what happened.

"I saw one headline that said something about, she's wearing underwear over her sweatpants. And I was like, 'Okay. That's 100% not underwear.' It's the Josh Brolin of it all."

One of Robin's Looks Was Changed Because Maya Hawke Asked

"We all want our version of what we think the story is to be told appropriately. Ultimately, I want to make sure that the [creators Matt and Ross Duffer], or the director's vision is being told through the clothes. I want the actors to feel comfortable and not have to think about their outfits.

"On this season, we made a beautiful outfit for Robin that was going to play for quite a while. And one of them was a long coat. Maya didn't want to be stuck in a coat for too long, which was a valid concern because we shoot for over a year, so half of the year, actors are mad at me for being too cold and half of the year, they're mad at me for being too hot. We made sure that she'd wear the long coat in a shorter change."

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Jamie Campbell Bower as Henry in 'Stranger Things'Mr. Whatsit's Look Is Designed to Make Him 'Feel Friendly'

"We knew we wanted [Jamie Campbell Bower's Mr. Whatsit] to feel friendly and be a character that children would approach. So what I started to think on was the color of his suit being a nice, warm brown, which also is subtly a nod to Brenner's brown. When we did flashbacks to Dr. Brenner in the '70s, his suits were warmer and brown. So it's kind of that, history repeats itself and behavior is learned. So I feel like he learned that from Brenner, to stay approachable and stay warm and soft.

"I loved the punch of red in the tie because, as much as the suit's nice, the red is usually pretty alarming, and that helps with the aggression. Jamie had a great idea to wear glasses. So we kind of modeled him off of Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird. The glasses are on when he's with the kids and when he's telling stories and when he's friendly, and then they're off when he's not.

"I really wanted him to feel like Mr. Whatsit when he was Mr. Whatsit. So I looked up the most popular perfume of the time and it was a Chanel perfume. I wanted his clothes to have that smell so that when Jamie put them on, that would also put him in that mindset, because he is very method. So for Henry, we always set that cologne bottle in his trailer so he could spray himself."

Courtesy of Netflix

Sadie Sink and Caleb McLaughlin in 'Stranger Things'Max's Outfit Is Full of Easter Eggs

"It's Henry's fabric [in the patches on Max's jeans]. The viewers will notice it from when the Creels arrive to the house. It's a brown check shirt. We had multiples from season 4, and then we had enough that I felt comfortable cutting up one of the shirts for extra fabric for the patches. So there is the red check and then a red paisley fabric that are on her jeans that help patch up the holes that she's acquired because she's been wearing these clothes for so long and traveling through.

She's also in the same Red Wing boots that we see young Joyce in. When we see young Joyce passing out her flyers in the hallway, those boots are also the same. So it's meant to be that she's grabbing these pieces from these memories that Henry had.

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