what does a so called ‘ rebel ’ look like ? A RECONSTRUCTION OF EFFIE'S COSTUME DESIGN IN DISTRICT THIRTEEN, INSPIRED BY DESIGNS FROM JEAN PAUL GAULTIER & VIVIENNE WESTWOOD.
PLUTARCH HEAVENSBEE
you're not a prisoner.
you're free to join the rest of thirteen.
EFFIE TRINKET
not looking like this, thank you very much.
during the capitol extraction, effie wore ⁽ ⁰¹ ⁾ a magenta draped dress, corset, & matching platform high heels. a long flamingo pink wig. skin - tone thighs. set of long acrylic nails, painted gold, & false eyelashes with golden speckles. gold necklace, bracelets & rings that resemble the shape of ribbons. in her purse, she brought essentials: a different pair of heels & sunglasses. ⮩ however, upon arrival, all clothes & personal belongings were confiscated by district thirteen guards.
instead, effie is given the standard thirteen wardrobe, ⁽ ⁰² ⁾ two jumpsuits, one wool jacket, one pair of combat boots, one button - up shirt. the cardigan & pants she sometimes wears are, of course, borrowed from haymitch.
she negotiates with plutarch access to her clothes again — surely an old friend would understand just how vital one's clothes are in a scenario of such vulnerability. her colleagues from twelve's prep team were just now being kept prisoners, & wasn't it for her tight relationship to the mockingjay, effie is certain she too would have a spot with her initials on those dungeons. her identity is all she has. it's... her brand of rebellion. she gets her belongings back, wrapped in gray fabric, then casually lays all of it ⁺ her district thirteen attire on the ground of her cubicle underground. surely she'd be able to come up with something to resemble even a shadow of her past self... ⁽ ⁺ ⁾
effie is left with an assortment of customized pieces that, with a little bit of luck & an unfathomable level of creativity should make up for a decent wardrobe. her days in the valley come in handy the moment she realizes the pieces would need some needle work, & she's able to remodel those shapeless pieces into memorable ones. ⁽ ⁰³ ⁾ the buttons in her jacket & shirt are rearranged to double breasted designs, on - par with the military theme everyone is supposed to be getting on board with; if this is what they are, rebels, then she might as well be a very well dressed one. waists are either adjusted to better fit her body or sintched with a leather belt, also borrowed, looped twice around her waist & resembling a corset. her corset, too, at times worn on top of her shirt to accentuate her sillhouette.
heels & gloves are the sole ode to color in her wardrobe now; her dress, once beautiful layers of magenta, now torn apart by those so called guards of thirteen. plutarch said it surely had been an accident. effie doubts it'd bring them anything but joy to destroy something beautiful for the sake of it.
still, even unable to sport her beautiful gown every day, confined to an immensity of gray days in that gray reality, effie tends to it tirelessly every day after work hours. she'll need something to wear once the war's over, after all. if it ever is. if they're ever free. surely they don't expect her to walk into the future looking anything other than fabulous. but then, an occasion: a wedding, something beautiful for the sake of it, like her gown, like herself. & so all those nights of raw fingertips stitching her beautiful dress back together seem to have found meaning, when she's able to wear it. nobody else seems to mind that a wedding should require a certain dress code, but effie's never dressed up for anyone but herself. her repurposed pink dress, pink heels, pink blush & lipstick from the stash that should be used on their mockingjay only — & she's ready for this excuse of a party. her hair up in pin curls; great aunt messalina said during wartime capitolites wore their hair up that way, so she does that in the absense of her wig.
her everyday beauty routine is a bore. there's little effie considers herself less excited about than showing a bare face to those people, but still, in the absense of creams & powders to properly paint her features, all she's left with is the possibility of pinching her cheeks to a pink & slipping a little something from the studio katniss does most of her on - camera work in. her priority is to add a little color to her lips & cheekbones, always, & if she's lucky a little contrast to her eyelashes.
why come back, if the war made sure her days in the capitol are well behind her? a: because she has a sister. there is no other place in this world she could go.
the valley is an elite institution of middle & higher education targeted towards the young women of the capitol, envisioned to build & groom girls into picture - perfect stylists, architects & ultimately escorts for the hunger games. while boys of the higher classes saw the academy & university as opportunities to join the making of the hunger games, young girls were taught to aspire to an early acceptance into the valley & spend the majority of their youth perfecting their visuals, skills & behavior in hopes of one day becoming escorts.
classes include a variety of skills that should make up for a perfect piece of the games — from fashion & interior design, as aesthetic refinement is of great importance, to modelling, public speaking & etiquette. history classes are repetitive & make sure to remind them, every single day, of the importance of the hunger games. alumni of the valley are expected to engage in four years of middle education, & two years of targeted studies in either fashion or architecture. to successfully apply to the position of an escort, two additional years of studies focused on team management & marketing are required.
. . . and walking out as ladies .
valley girls are known to be the shallowest of capitolites; they are social alpinists with greater care for looks than brains or feelings, aesthetically exaggerated versions of every trend, & altogether perfect products that barely resemble a real woman at times. every single girl in the capitol has dreamed of being one of them at some point, & only the fittest managed to make it out of those trying six years with a certificate. effie was no different. she loved the people, the networking of it all, loved the parties that happened at night & the classes in daytime, loved thinking that one day all of that would be useful.
none of it felt shallow at the time. none of it felt like brainwashing at the time. how could it, wrapped in the finest silks there are?
dear miss trinket,
this next saturday, a dinner party will be held at the hill house estate, right off route 41. you are invited as a guest to this event. your host advises that you introduce yourself exclusively through the alias of miss pearl for the evening, & kindly asks for you to refrain from discussing any personal information with the other guests. it will be to your advantage to be present on this date, because a mr. boddy will bring to an end a certain long-standing, confidential, & painful financial liability.
sincerely, a friend.
a group of strangers is invited to a mysterious mansion by an anonymous host — & only after an extravagant, peculiar full course dinner it is revealed that said host is none other than the man that's been blackmailing them all for secrets from their past. as the night unfolds, all guests are given weapons — at which point effie, dutifully concealed as one miss pearl, is given a small & lethal vial of poison.
when inevitably mr. boddy's body is discovered, revealing that one of them has taken matters into their own hands, all guests quickly realize their secrets might run much deeper than originally anticipated. it's a matter of time until bodies of staff members, visitors & guests alike start piling up scattered through the rooms of the mansion. it's up to the group to work together & uncover the truth before the murders & behind each other's identities.
