When did Timothée Chalamet in The King, with his bowl cut, grey wardrobe, and penchant for rolling around in the mud, become the poster child for style in the Middle Ages? Sometime in the last 50 years, all the color, pomp, and play was drained from medieval fashion in film. The irony is that this drab aesthetic is as much a Medieval fantasy as fire-breathing dragons, magical sorcerers, and immortal unicorns.
The last time I read about Victorian color choices, the author made the point that the new aniline dyes meant everyone went bonkers for strong colors that came from them, and then a decade or so later, things got less vibrant in counter-reaction.
I'm wondering if Technicolor did the same for film -- initially everyone was very excited about saturated colors (Court Jester, etc, as you mention) and then the film fashion reacted against that "old-fashioned" saturation with grunge, and it hasn't swung back yet.
The last time I read about Victorian color choices, the author made the point that the new aniline dyes meant everyone went bonkers for strong colors that came from them, and then a decade or so later, things got less vibrant in counter-reaction.
I'm wondering if Technicolor did the same for film -- initially everyone was very excited about saturated colors (Court Jester, etc, as you mention) and then the film fashion reacted against that "old-fashioned" saturation with grunge, and it hasn't swung back yet.