Decoding the Makeup and Wardrobe of Crazy Rich Asians

How in the world do you keep up in everyday conversations when you haven’t even seen Crazy Rich Asians yet? The movie is creating a huge buzz, and as of the date of this blog, it has received a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and 7.6/10 on IMDb. It may have gotten some odd mixed reviews from the general public, but the Asian-American community is for sure riled up in full support. Well, at least on Twitter.If you haven’t seen it yet, don’t worry because I’m not here to spoil the plot. Yep, no spoiler alerts here because you have to watch it yourself! And if you’re reading this prior to doing so, then consider yourself well equipped to analyze the beauty and deep consideration of its makeup and wardrobe.

Makeup In Movies, Specifically Crazy Rich Asians

Every movie has makeup and wardrobe teams–that’s a given. What sets them apart is how deeply they consider each character and the setting of each scene. If you haven’t gathered by the title, the movie is about crazy rich people. It’s not about rich people, but crazy rich people. So, you can already anticipate seeing lots of scenes involving glitz and glamour.At first glance, it may not seem like it took much effort to create each makeup look, but characterization is more complex than it seems. It’s not all about personality. The artists had to take into consideration if the character came from new money or old money, American culture or Asian culture, etc.Without spoiling it, here are the few facts you need to know to go through this with me: the movie takes place in America and Singapore, there are Asian-American characters and pure Asian characters, there are some characters who are not so rich and many who are incredibly rich, the movie highlights differences between cultures and classes, and there are zero characters that are not Asian.I guess that last one was just a fun fact. Anyway, let’s dig right into what we see on the big screen and what the little details mean.

Notable Characters

There are many characters in the movie, but we’ll observe just a few that will help us decode the makeup and wardrobe of Crazy Rich Asians.

Rachel Chu (Constance Wu)

Rachel is a Chinese New Yorker and Economics professor who must go to Singapore to meet some crazy rich Asians and gain their acceptance. Notice how her makeup is simple and even when totally dressed up, she looks very natural. She doesn’t wear much jewelry, and her hairstyle constantly changes. Her brows are soft, her blush and lip colors are very natural, and only a slight shimmer was used on her eyes. Her wardrobe consists of dresses you would see the average Jane wearing in the spring, highlighting her American working woman character.

Peik Lin Goh (Awkwafina)

Peik Lin is Rachel’s former college roommate and friend from Singapore who advises her on how to gain acceptance in Asia. Her wardrobe is eccentric to say the least, but it matches her wildly outgoing personality. With blonde hair, pink cheeks, bold brows, winged eyeliner, and gold nails, she almost looks like a Korean pop star. That was intentional to portray the look of new money wealth. The most notable thing about Peik Lin’s makeup and wardrobe is that no one else in the movie has a look like hers. The point was clear that she is absolutely unique. 

Eleanor Young (Michelle Yeoh)

Eleanor is a mother figure who comes from old money and who must uphold the traditional family’s standards. Throughout the entire movie, Eleanor’s hair remains almost exactly the same. She also has very natural makeup, but unlike Rachel, her wardrobe is full of rich colors and is self-owned. From maroon to emerald green, Eleanor’s wardrobe stays on point with elegant pieces of jewelry accenting each outfit. She looks perfectly put together 100% of the time, depicting that her strong personality is as irrefutable as her style. 

Astrid Young Teo (Gemma Chan)

Speaking of perfect, we finally come to Astrid, who is a down-to-earth, filthy rich philanthropist and fashion icon. Astrid’s hair and makeup show more variety than any of the aforementioned characters, but she is the most flawless of all. With Astrid, we see different looks from scene to scene. She has some looks with natural makeup, smokey eyes, bold lips, more noticeable blush, different hairstyles, and that perfect (and totally natural) beauty mark. You honestly can’t help but ponder on how wonderfully gorgeous and graceful she is in every single one of her scenes. She was quite obviously and admirably a crazy rich icon with an image to uphold.

Makeup and Wardrobe Decoded

So, as you can see, even the smallest details can change how you perceive characters in a movie. Portraying old money wealth involves elegance, rich colors, and absolute perfection. New money involves flashier displays of wealth. Portraying Americans involves a lax sense of fashion and makeup. Portraying Asians requires the message that effort was given to look proper.Could you imagine if Rachel entered each scene as perfectly as Astrid did? Well, if you haven’t seen it yet, think about it while you’re watching. You’ll realize that your reaction to each character changes based on how they look and act. Yes, movie goers tend to “judge a book by its cover” and the makeup and wardrobe teams know that! This is why it’s so important for makeup and wardrobe artists to take into consideration the characters in films, television, magazines, ads, and more. You can literally change perceptions, and ultimately enjoyment, by changing how characters look.At MicroBladers, we love to help people look the way they want to be perceived by enhancing their natural beauty the way makeup and wardrobe artists do. With semi-permanent techniques, we can enhance your brows, lashes, scalp, and more! Look average, look rich, look eccentric, look natural. Look however you want. We’ll help you achieve it. Click here to learn how!