The stripper clothes of Rita Sue and Libby were influenced by Mae West, harlot movies and silent films of the 1920s and 1930s, with additional research put into Asian harlots, Latin dancers and Hawaiian dancers. The costume designers chose the costumes of the Daily Brothers Show, a rival carnival, to have a new color tone to set them apart from the Carnivàle. The dress of Sabina the Scorpion Lady underwent several die-bleaching cycles to achieve a red-orange-purple color that would work well when filming outside.