Glee: Every Competition Look, Ranked

For a club with constant budget issues, New Directions had a seemingly endless costume department. Two to three times per season, the kids of Glee would take their talents to on the road to Sectionals, Regionals, or Nationals, and with each competition came a new look.

In the 11 years since Glee’s premiere, these costume choices have aged well, to varying degrees. Some were stunningly bad, others were just plain stunning, but they were all extremely high school show choir. Here are all 12 competition costumes over Glee’s six seasons, ranked from worst to best.

12 Season 2 Regionals

The worst entry on this list, the costumes New Directions wore to Regionals in season two are a hodgepodge of texture and attitude, and none of it really gels. The fabric of the dresses is clearly low quality, which is fair, considering it is a high school show choir, but the color and the silhouette just don’t work.

When these outfits, including their atrocious statement necklines, are paired with Capri leggings and army boots, the result is just disastrous. While other entries on this list can be seen as products of their time, this look was bad in 2010, and it is bad now.

11 Season 6 Sectionals

This look ranks low for originality but earns points for making sense plotwise. After Dalton Academy burns down in season six, the Warblers and New Directions form a hybrid team between the two schools. The resulting look is a bit of a hybrid, but not enough.

Though this competition is supposed to be two teams competing as one, the costumes end up favoring the Warblers far more than New Directions. The costume is essentially the normal Dalton Academy uniform, but with red blazers instead of navy. They also add skirts for the ladies, as Dalton was traditionally an all-boys school.

10 Season 4 Sectionals

This particular look is not bad, per se, but it just rather redundant. The black and gold color palette is a winning combination, but it is one that Glee has used other times to greater effect.

It also doesn’t help that this is one of New Directions’ worst competition performances ever. They chose to begin their set with “Gangnam Style,” and before they were able to move to another song, rookie member Marley Rose fainted due to hunger. The set was short, and, like the costumes, pretty forgettable.

9 Season 5 Nationals

This performance marked the final competition performance of many long-running and beloved Glee characters, like Artie Abrams, Tina Cohen-Chang, and Sam Evans. In a fitting send-off, the costumes for this scene are some of the show’s more unique.

However, they don’t really feel like show choir outfits, but rather Homecoming dresses. The white blazers on the men are a nice touch, but one that the show had already used, and to greater effect.

8 Season 2 Sectionals

Firmly in the middle of the pack sit the Sectionals costumes from season two. They’re not the best, not the worst, and they’ve aged pretty well, but not extraordinarily so. This competition essentially lacks any group number, instead, focusing on a duet between Quinn and Sam and a solo for Santana, and the outfits compliment the soloists particularly well.

These costumes are very “of the time” – the episode aired in 2010 – and some elements aged better than others. The maroon and gray color scheme still looks as good as it always did, but the silhouette of the dresses and the Capri leggings have aged less well.

7 Season 1 Regionals

The overall aesthetic of Glee did change after season one, and these outfits are a good example of the last of that early look. After season one, the budget grew, and with it came larger sets and more intricate costumes.

The charm of these outfits lay in how they actually look like something a broke high school show choir may dig out of their attic. They’re not terrible, but not particularly trendy either, nor do they look like they ever were. The material also complements New Directions’ setlist, comprised entirely of Journey songs.

6 Season 1 Sectionals

Immediately ahead of season one’s Regionals sits its Sectionals, and the very first time New Directions competes against other glee clubs. Being the first competition, there were no expectations, which ultimately helps this costume choice.

This is by far New Directions’ most simple competition look, and one of its most cohesive. The guys are dressed in black with magenta ties, complimenting the girls’ black dresses with magenta sashes. Like the Regionals outfits, these costumes actually resemble that of a financially struggling show choir. While other looks were better in terms of fashion, this one ranks high for its realism.

5 Season 4 Regionals

This outfit is the best example of a new twist on a new favorite. While it’s not the most original costume choice in the Glee canon, it is a great example of taking something that worked once and reworking it to make it work again, while remaining interesting.

The plum color is a great choice for New Directions, and one that they had, somewhat shockingly, stayed away from up until season four. The petticoats under the dresses are a detail that elevates the look, as are the cardigans the boys wear. This look is one that is extremely of the time (2012) and has also aged well.

4 Season 3 Nationals

Ranking near the top sits these outfits from the third season, the first time that New Directions won Nationals. The glee club opts for a kind of Old Hollywood high glamour look, a look befitting New Directions’ coronation as the best glee club in the country.

While the outfits themselves, particularly the red and black color scheme, are winning, it’s the details that make these costumes great instead of just good. The vests on the boys add a touch of formality for the occasion, and the girls all wear matching up-dos that match Old Hollywood aesthetic. Though it isn’t the club’s most original looks, it is one of their most cohesive.

3 Season 2 Nationals

While the season 3 look for the same event represented how grown New Directions were and how serious they took the competition, in season 2 they took the competition more lightly, and that’s exactly what this look is: light and fun.

New Directions seemed more excited to be in New York than at Nationals, and these costumes reflect that attitude.  The dresses are flouncy and only add to the high energy, dance-centric numbers that they brought to New York. They are dressed for a party, and it is a look unlike any other that the costume department dreamed up for the club.

2 Season 3 Sectionals

When it comes to original competition looks, the season 3 costumes for Sectionals are virtually unmatched. For this competition, against the Troubletones and the Unitards, nearly all of the girls were absent, leaving only Quinn and Tina, so the costumes lean more masculine to complement the makeup of the group.

The result is not only one of the most original, but the most uniform costume New Directions ever had. Every member is in a white blazer with only black and white details. And while the look is more masculine, overall, it doesn’t sacrifice its feminine silhouette in the process. It’s original, it’s creative, and it is truly one look for the books.

1 Season 3 Regionals

At first glance, this look might not seem like anything special. The color scheme, the detail work, and the silhouettes have all appeared on this list already. The thing that makes this look special, however, is the fact that this is the first time they all came together in one. In many ways, this is the final evolution of New Directions’ style.

Practically every competition costume that came after this one owes a debt to it. Even without the influence of the look, they are still outfits that fire on all cylinders. The red petticoats, the gold suspenders, the detail on the bodice; the look is more than the sum of its parts, but all of the parts are still pretty great on their own.

About The Author