Netflix's Little House On The Prairie Took The Period-Accurate Costuming Seriously

Netflix's "Little House on the Prairie" series is a lot different from the beloved 1970s show. However, the adaptation has usurped the original in one regard: historical accuracy. While we know what the leading ladies of Netflix's "Little House on the Prairie" look like in real life, it took a lot of work to take the cast from modern to period-accurate. During an interview with Tudum, the creative team behind the series explained how they developed the costumes with care and diligence. Costume designer Mitchell Travers described the team's vision for the costuming as "handmade." "It was really important that we feel the hand on things that felt of another time," Travers said. According to Netflix's behind-the-scenes magazine, the costume team hand-stitched buttonholes, spun their own cotton, and crafted historically accurate basket-woven bonnets and nail-studded boot soles. 

However, as Travers told Women's Wear Daily, their goal wasn't to be 100% historically accurate, but rather to present a historical interpretation. Rather than designing a "museum," Travers and the team took some creative liberties in order to acknowledge the heart of the characters. "When we build all of these clothes, we do the buttonholes by hand, and we are looking at period techniques for construction," Travers explained to the outlet. "We're looking to our real research to figure out how to make babies' clothes from Godey's Lady's Book of 1868. We're interpreting it, of course — because that's costume design." The labor of love was a massive undertaking for the crew. For the Native American characters' costumes, they enlisted the work of Native consultants and Osage artisans to craft 3,200 pieces of authentic clothing and accessories. "We went to the community to ask for help. There's no other place where this work can be done," Travers said.

The original "Little House on the Prairie" costumes are iconic. While the Netflix adaptation's costumes are deeply researched, there's something about the ensembles of the 1970s television series that fans still adore to this day. Even the less intricate costumes are still beloved by fans. After all, Caroline Ingalls' white gown isn't the most expensive costume, but another dress sold for thousands at auction: Laura Ingalls' comparatively plain signature red dress. 

The original series' costumes were just as intricately made as those from the modern adaptation, but the designers weren't afraid to have some fun. When comparing side-by-side pictures of the 2026 and 1970s casts of "Little House on the Prairie," the differences in design philosophy between the respective series becomes clear. In the original show, Harriet Oleson in particular was often styled in elaborate, brightly colored Victorian dresses that set her apart from the rest of the cast (most of whom opted for toned-down frontier-appropriate garments). Over-the-top feathered hats, lace gloves, and flashy parasols were just a few of the perfectly campy accessories designed for the comically ridiculous Mrs. Oleson. Mrs. Oleson's snobbish daughter Nellie (at least during the first few seasons) similarly wore colorful, girlish frocks. Even Caroline wore eye-catching gowns, albeit on rare occasions (like when the Ingalls family thought they were receiving a large inheritance), that the costume designers would put together. Across five decades, creative teams have managed to craft beautiful garments that spoke to the characters and overarching goals of their respective adaptation of the beloved book series.