Instead, what you get are women’s costumes that are Right Out of 1885. However, the filmmakers could have gone for “clothes that look realistic to a modern audience, but aren’t specific to 1885” if they’d wanted. Women’s Costumes in Back to the Future IIIĪs mentioned above, the whole idea behind the costume design was realism.

Marty McFly in a Back to the Future Part IIIīut what I really want to focus on are the women’s costumes - in particular, Mary Steenburgen’s costumes. After Doc rescues Marty from almost getting hanged, they have this conversation: Of course, this isn’t anything like what anyone is wearing in 1885. 1955 Doc dresses Marty in what he thinks will be appropriate “Old West” clothes so that he’ll blend in when he arrives in 1885: The filmmakers have some fun with this realism.

Extensive research uncovered original clothing patterns and hundreds of new ‘antique’ costumes were created.” The first film was costumed by Deborah Lynn Scott, with Joanna Johnston taking over for parts II and III. All of the films are adventure comedies, but the costuming (in the historical portions) definitely aims for realism. According to the production notes, “Johnston scoured the costume houses of Hollywood and found that most of their costumes were made for the westerns of the ’40s, ’50s, and ’60s didn’t reflect the authenticity she sought.

He enlists the help of 1955 Doc to time-travel back to 1885 to save 1985 Doc. At the end, as Doc shows up in the time machine to take Marty back to his present, the machine is struck by lightning and Doc disappears … Cue Part III, in which Marty learns that Doc was transported to 1885, finds a photo of a tombstone showing that Doc is killed shortly thereafter. By the end of the film, Marty has managed to make it back to his present (1985) with the help of inventor friend Doc Brown. In the sequel, Marty and Doc travel to 2015 to fix a problem with Marty’s kids, then back to 1955 again to fix further problems. In the classic, first, Back to the Future, Marty McFly time travels to 1955, where he meets his own parents and becomes involved in their lives. What with the whole Back to the Future Day thing (October 21, 2015, was the “future” date that Marty McFly and Doc Brown travel to in Back to the Future II), we had a mini-BTTF marathon at my house (the husband is a big fan). I was enjoying rewatching all three films, but when Back to the Future III came on and we ended up in 1885 (geography unclear - supposedly California, but filmed in New Mexico I think - “the Old West”), I sat up straight and said, “Hey, these are some damn historically accurate costumes!”

Back to the future part iii -youtube