In The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby is given suits representing new money, but not who he is. It may represent who he thinks he is, with white suits showing he believes he’s pure and has good intentions. but I believe giving him outfits representing loss and mourning would be better. Gatsby has lost everything in life ever since the war: his old life, his family, his friends, the girl he loves. He feels empty inside but tries to hide it all by keeping himself a mystery. Being a mystery can make you feel like you’re a part of something, this guessing game people have. It can give you temporary happiness, something that you can laugh about with people. He’s heartbroken yet hopeful for the chance to get his one true love back. He’s an antagonist in a way; he’s doing anything to get money, and the only way we know he has is through bootlegging. we never learn if he has had to kill someone, whether in war or not.
Gatsby is extremely broken but holding himself together through hopes and dreams. There’s an art form in Japan called kintsugi, which is where they use gold to fix broken ceramics. In a way this style can be similar to Gatsby’s situation in more than one way, He’s broken and fixing himself the way he wants to be, the gold being used in the art can represent he’s building himself up with money which is what is giving him the hopefulness that Daisy will come back to him.
Another thing you can use is the colors White for sophistication and wealth, emerald green for vitality and growth, rich reds, and black for emptiness, loss, and mourning. Gold for wealth. If you give Gatsby a black suit with gold streaks, like it’s covering the cracks from losing himself could represent him well. even a Emerald green suit with a black shirt and white accessories such as a tie, watch, handkerchief, feather, etc. can represent he’s hopeful for the future he wants and truly believes he will get it but with the black showing he has lost who he was and has done extremely bad things to get where he is. This gives you a glimpse of who he truly is, who he believes he is, all while giving him the new money look if the right fabrics and suit style are chosen.
