Back Into The Closet: Why James Lawther kept his hand in a Ziploc bag behind-the-scenes to the hidden meaning behind Alyssa’s jackets, all the costume secrets from The End Of The F***ing World

Back Into The Closet: Why James Lawther kept his hand in a Ziploc bag behind-the-scenes to the hidden meaning behind Alyssa’s jackets, all the costume secrets from The End Of The F***ing World

Costumes are a television show essential. Without them, a show is rendered completely unbelievable, but with them they catapult our imaginations to a particular time and place, leaving behind a legacy in the process.

Whether it’s Villanelle’s pink dress in Killing Eve or Ugly Betty’s poncho, there’s usually always more than meets the eye and a whole world of tiny details that escape unnoticed.

Each week Back Into The Closet will deliver an exclusive look into the wardrobes of some of the world’s leading series to bring you all the costume secrets and niceties we might have missed.



Last time we caught up Watchmen costume designer Meghan Kasperlik, but this time around we’re delving through The End Of The F***ing World’s wardrobe with Emma Rees.


Alex Lawther kept his hand in a Ziploc bag to stop James’ prosthetic hand from coming off

Alex Lawther took extra measures to keep his prosthetics from coming off (Picture: Channel 4)

James revealed back in the first series that he burnt his hand in a deep fat fryer in order to feel something.

As a result, actor Alex Lawther had his left hand covered in prosthetics ahead of filming – and it turns out it was a little bit of a nightmare.

Speaking about how he managed to keep it all intact, Emma told us: ‘Alex had to wear a Ziploc bag on his hand most of the time when he wasn’t shooting.

‘This was because it was heavily powdered and he was wearing black for most of the series and he didn’t want to risk ruining his costumes.’

We bet that wasn’t a pain.

Alyssa’s jackets have a secret meaning and link back to the show’s father figures

There’s a hidden message with Alyssa’s jackets (Picture: Channel 4)

If you paid extra close attention in both series one and two, you’d have noticed that Alyssa (Jessica Barden) wore both her dad’s jacket and James’ dad’s jacket.

‘In the first series it was on purpose but in the second series I snuck it in,’ Emma said. ‘The grey jacket she wears with the wedding dress is actually Phil’s jacket and she finds it in the back of the car.’

James’ dad owned the jacket before Alyssa got her hands on it (Picture: Channel 4)

Explaining why Alyssa finds comfort in the jumpers owned by both father figures, Emma added: ‘It’s because James and Alyssa both suffer from abandonment issues and grief and clothes can provide that emotional link to save them both.

‘That was the idea behind it. Not everyone will pick up on it.’

Speaking of jackets…

Alyssa’s green jacket has an upside-down Irish flag in series 1

Blink and you’d definitely miss this one, but Alyssa’s series one jacket features an upside-down Irish flag.

‘We sewed it on upside-down by accident,’ Emma confessed. ‘We came up for a reason as to why she’d wear it upside down and we decided it was it was almost a “f*** you” to the rest of the world.

We like that.

The parrots on James’ Hawaiian shirt aren’t always in the same place

James’ shirt is pretty iconic (Picture: Netflix)

The costume department had got ahold of a number of Hawaiian shirts for James in series one – but they weren’t exactly identical.

‘There were a few,’ Emma told us. ‘The one that we chose is rayon. They were all different eventually and the parrot was always in a different place. It was really difficult.’



At the end of filming, Aex took one of the shirts home with him as a memento. Can we blame him?

The colour red is pretty significant for both Alyssa and James

Notice the red theme? (Picture: Channel 4)

The colour red cropped up a lot in both series and chopped and changed depending on how powerful the character was feeling.

‘Alyssa began in red but as the first series progressed, the power dynamic shifted and she lost her colour,’ Emma explained.

‘Meanwhile, James started to realise his own strength and his colour came back up and ended with the Hawaiian shirt.

‘There’s lots of red on Alyssa, like her bra and her red cardigans.’

Emma continued: ‘In the second series we took all the colour out of her again and brought it back again in little tiny pops and then she’s back in the red jacket in the finale.

‘The red gave it quite an impact.

Back Into The Closet is a weekly series that delves into most iconic costumes to ever grace television, from shows past and present. Check back each Thursday for the latest wardrobe secrets.

The End Of The F***ing World is available to stream on Channel 4OD.

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