Little Women (2019) : Costume Review
An era when women were confined to follow their heart’s desire and prohibited to have a say in society, author Louisa May Alcott published Little Women a novel in the year 1868 based on her own life experiences with her three sisters and detailed journey from childhood to womanhood, an immediate success both critically and commercially the story has been adapted into several movies since then making the most recent one a success, Little Women (2019) received multiple accolades for its portrayal of the March sisters from cast to costumes that gained Costume Designer Jacqueline Durran two awards for the Best Costume Design as she played with the traditional Victorian stiffness without restricting the characters into tight-fitted corsets or bustles from that era while taking inspiration from the paintings of Winslow Homer and photographs by Julia Margaret Cameron as revealed by Jaqueline in an interview.
The outfits that the sisters donned during their growing up years weren’t polished or well structured but hodgepodge pieces put together to show their meager situation even then each character had their core color palette and unified in checks most of the times while the story revolves around several lives we do have our favorites from willful young Jo to kind & gentle Beth to sweet & charming boy next door Laurie (also because Timothee Chalamet) each character costuming right into the role with varied silhouettes and accessories from the wardrobes of late Victorian, Pre-Raphelite and Aesthetic Movement.
Margaret “Meg” March played by actress Emma Watson in the movie is eldest of all the sisters and an ideal woman of the time who dreams of marrying someone rich to possess all thing fancy her early age outfits are a variation of American Civil War dresses in hues of purple & green adding ribbon or lace trimming either at the waist or the collar of her outfit to show off her feminine side while her most extravagant look wasn’t her bridal dress but the Bertha neckline pink evening gown adorned with ruffle trimmings at the front, ringlet and soft shades of roses & ribbons in her hair, an evening glove, a ribbon choker and a new name Daisy for the night, Meg’s outfit choices transformed from cotton dresses to jackets with ribbons and variation of the hoop skirt as she started her adult married life.
Josephine “Jo” March the second eldest sister played by actress Saoirse Ronan in the movie also said to be the character based on the novel’s author is boyish, smart, stubborn and the most creative one in the family who rejects the idea of love and marriage her wardrobe choices are a reflection of her personality from button-downs to swapping waistcoats & scarfs with Laurie, wearing plain woolly skirts her petticoats & pantalets on display while the most interesting approach in her look was her many cap phases throughout her role from balmoral to fiddler to bowler and pillbox (the only ladylike for Beth’s funeral), Jo’s color palette was in the shades of red & indigo, her tresses always in a mess without much care of the world she lives in jumping & whirling around with her “teddy” (a name she fashioned for Laurie) another most contrasting piece from her closet was a green colored military-inspired moleskin coat which she wore when she writes her book, throughout her journey from a teen girl into a woman she has beguiled viewers/readers with the way she wants every other women to be heard “I just feel like, women they have minds and they have souls as well as just hearts and they have got ambition and they have got talent as well as just beauty and I am so sick of people saying that love is all that a woman is fit for” — a moving moment from the film.
Elizabeth “Beth” March is a shy & quiet pianist of the family played by actress Eliza Scanlen in the movie and from the little glimpse that we had of her were seen in tartan plaids, knitted Sontag, lace-trim collar and Victorian cape(which was common against all the sisters) her choice of colors being brown & pink and her hair in pigtails or pulled back in a ribbon- a pure doll, and even though we wished to hide our books into the refrigerator to keep Beth alive (Joey’s reference from Friends) we lost her.
Amy Curtis March the youngest sister is played by actress Florence Pugh in the movie she is described as a regular snow-maiden who carries herself like a proper lady and the most fashionable among all the sisters, from civil-war dresses and bell-sleeved tartan plaid in her growing years to gracing Victorian peplum bodice and a faux fur scarf wrap her wardrobe color palette is soft in romantic hues of pastels, she grew away from bangs to fascinators with a braided bun and her most desired look in the movie is a capelet with intricate floral embroidery paired with a hoop skirt and elegance — a true European woman from that era.
Theodore “Laurie” lives next door to the March sisters is played by actor Timothee Chalamet in the movie who is depicted as a lean and tall country boy his wardrobe staples- genteel linen fabrics, courtly white shirt with bretelles, solid & printed waistcoat, a variation of ascots & cravats, high-waisted trousers and balmoral shoes all adding up to his young man persona.
The story of Little Women touches our hearts its characters, their dreams are so candid & soul-stirring that we keep going back to it and picture ourselves basking at the beach as the March sisters in a sun hat and prairie skirt running around with a kite in our hands.
Image Courtesy : Google
