ELEANOR GUTHRIE, or her whole journey shown with her outfits :
*Note: This is a personal analysis and nothing is official. You are free to disagree with what I see, it’s just a personal opinion that I want to share.
It’s fascinating how we can see the whole evolution of the character of Eleanor just through her clothes over the seasons. I had fun watching very carefully everything she wore in each episode of each season and we can really see an evolution of mentality with each new wardrobe.
SEASON 1 : Businesswoman and spirit of rebellion.
Eleanor’s outfits in season 1 perfectly reflect her state of mind at the start of the show. The education that her father gave her via Mr. Scott was certainly rich, destined her for civilization, and marked her. At the same time, Eleanor grew up on an island where she finished her education among pirates. She is, at the start of the show, determined - like Flint - to create a semi-civilized Nassau, which would be somewhere between the security of civilization and the freedom that piracy offers. Her outfits reflect this state of mind divided between two worlds that she would like to see united.
She wears outfits that are both too elegant for pirates but too inappropriate for civilization. Her outfits also reflect the position of power she has over Nassau. She wears a lot of atypical and masculine things, like belts or ties. The fact that she wears her outfits also shows a certain spirit of rebellion towards the patriarchy of her time. She shows with her outfits that she considers herself the equal of men in terms of business because, with the power and the affairs that she conducts, she is indeed their equal.
In spite of that, it must have been difficult to earn their respect and even more to maintain it. We see in a scene of 1x02 with a merchant who refuses trade with her because she is not her father and who only agrees to sell his cargo to her after Vane threatens him. It is easy to think that she wears outfits with masculine touches to remind them that she is in power, that it is she who manages the trade within Nassau and also by simple rebellion against the oppression of men on her.
Despite this, Eleanor manages to retain some elegance and femininity to her clothing. She wears her hair rolled up in very elegant and tight buns, always accompanied by barrets or other hair accessories. This way of keeping her hair tied always had to be very practical given the heat that must reign on an island in the Caribbean. She wears a lot of jewelry, fine gold necklaces, small earrings, bracelets that sometimes look a little tribal (I like to imagine that these ones are gifts from Scott or Max, but she could surely acquire these by trading throughout the Caribbean), as well as some old pendants and rings typical of this era.
She also happens to wear stockings, although these stockings are special for this time. The only time we see them is when she sleeps with Vane, and they are black, very fine and sexy, which is not at all typical of the stockings of this era. I like to think that the black of these stockings is linked to the black of piracy and that attractive nature of these stockings is still linked to a rebellious spirit since it would be inappropriate for a woman of civilization to wear stockings like that but in Nassau? Nobody cares.
Her boots are generally elegant and refined too, although they remain practical boots. She wears many tight waistcoats, sometimes leather, sometimes fabric, always accompanied by light blouses. She only wears skirts, generally wide, which does not bother her to move quickly. She wears relatively pale colors, ranging from gray to brown, passing through light purple, or beige, except for her final outfit, which is of a dark burgundy and which is her most colorful outfit of all the season. Her most notable accessory is also, of course, the bunch of keys that she always wears attached to her belt. This set of keys from Nassau, which alone represents all the power she has on this island in this season. We can see a little of this outfit being some kind of victory outfit. At the end of the season, Eleanor finally has everything she always wanted, independence from her father and Nassau belonging entirely to her, with a new business that is entirely controlled by her and only by her.
SEASON 2 : Piracy and the beginning of the problems.
Eleanor’s outfits in Season 2 say something quite different. She keeps some things similar to what she wears in season 1, her large white or beige shirts, belts and the keys that are still so representative. But there is a lot of noticeable change and the biggest change we can see is that her outfits are much closer to pirate outfits. She already has a lot less color than before. Knowing that black is the absence of color and refers to piracy (I am thinking here of the absence of color on pirate flags), it’s surely is not a coincidence that her outfits are suddenly darker. She almost wears only brown, beige, gray, black, and sometimes a rare dark green, and this applies as much to her skirts as to her shirts. The most notable element is that she no longer wears any of her waistcoats that looked elegant, instead, she has replaced them with a brown pirate-like leather jacket and reminds us of the jackets that we can see on Flint, Vane or Anne.
She also wears coarser, larger and less elegant boots. Her jewelry has also changed a lot, she only wears a necklace for the entire season, and it’s a gold medallion, which once again is very reminiscent of piracy, and only two types of earrings, one of which also recalls pirate coins (and her old rings). She still wears elegant buns a few times, especially for certain meetings at the tavern, but in the vast majority of the season, her hair is much more neglected. We see that she ties it quickly most of the time instead of spending time styling them and for good reason: she no longer has this free time for it. Taking full independence implies more responsibilities and we can see through the difficulties she has in running the consortium that she no longer has time for this kind of thing. She is too busy between the problems that Flint and Vane cause her in the season, as well as the danger that Ned Low represents for her.
It’s a season which brings her, on the aesthetic level, much more to piracy than her outfits in season 1. She favors more the practical side than elegance, it saves time and conveys that this is the season where Eleanor is the closest to piracy (aesthetically) that she’ll ever be. Her final outfit is also completely black, of course, it’s a mourning outfit for the death of her father but it may also represent Eleanor’s farewell to piracy, making her wear an entirely black outfit, the key color of piracy, for her last scenes in season 2.
SEASON 3 : Colors of England and prisoner.
Season 3 is, of course, the big visual and aesthetic change for Eleanor. She is on the other side now, on the side of civilization… but not yet entirely and we can feel it in her outfits. She starts the season with an outfit very similar to her last one of the end of season 2, a dark brown/black shirt and skirt, perhaps the same as the one she wore at this moment, and it’s her prisoner outfit. It’s perhaps a visual way of representing that right now, colors of piracy are a danger for Eleanor, since she is now on the lands of civilization, in the hands of the English.
Once onboard for Nassau, we can note one point: Eleanor lost everything after her arrest, her clothes are therefore provided by Rogers and by the English. We can thus note that her dresses are all the same, without accessories, jewels or flourishes. They are elegant and suitable for an English lady while remaining very simple because Eleanor remains a prisoner in this season.
The symbol in this season is more represented by the colors, which are much more vivid than the old outfits of Eleanor. It is quite interesting that Eleanor have three outfits which together form the colors of the English flag: a red dress, a blue dress and a light gray dress, almost white. I think almost all of her dresses have special meaning. The dark outfit of the beginning represents the new danger that piracy represents for Eleanor (knowing also that she have now many enemies among the pirates, much more than before since she has no more power over them). The light gray outfit from episode 3x03 can also represent a kind of transition outfit, it’s the outfit she wears arriving at Nassau, not a colorful outfit. Therefore recalling her past with piracy, we can further emphasize this link with one of the dresses she wears the most: the dark green dress.
This dress represents what remains of piracy in Eleanor. She always wears this dress at times reminiscent of her past with piracy. She wears it first when she tells Rogers that he does not know Nassau, unlike her, then again when she talks to him about her past with Vane and how she conquered Nassau. It is also an outfit that can be linked to Vane, because she wears it when he sees her on the deck, again when she learns of his return to Nassau, when she will face him in the fort and finally when she decides his fate with a discussion with Max. She also wears it when she faces Hornigold, which is also a part of her past. It is her dress which, with the two outfits of the beginning, has the least color, and which is therefore the most connected to piracy and to her past.
The blue dress may be related to Rogers. Blue is the color of purity, of hope, and Eleanor begins to be hopeful about civilization and Rogers towards the middle of the show when she decides to become Rogers’ mistress (since he is married, this is what she is in this season). It is also the moment when she wants to wash away the sins of her past concerning betrayal, and thus perhaps wanting to adopt a “pure” color, to show perhaps also, consciously or not, a false image of her to Rogers.
The red dress is, of course, the most linked to civilization. It’s simply the color of the English, the color of the soldiers, and she fits perfectly in the mass of English when she wears it, moreover, she wears it in the scene where she makes her comeback on the island and in the tavern, which is very significant. She arrives surrounded by English soldiers in red with herself in red in the middle of them, perfectly matched, a symbol that she is now part of civilization. She wears this outfit every time she appears outside with Rogers on Nassau (except when she picks him up after he fought with Vane), and above all, she wears it when she hangs Vane, symbol that she just definitely killed the pirate part in her (or trying, at least).
For details, we can note that she wears boots similar to what she wore in season 1, smaller and elegant. Her hair is almost always worn down, which we have never seen from her before, and she styles them in a more elegant and appropriate way for a woman. Although she can sometimes tie them quickly (she may be with the English, but it’s probably always as hot in Nassau). We notice that she wears stockings again in the sex scene with Rogers, but very different from the ones she wore with Vane. Here they are red or dark pink in color, thicker, in cotton. These are much more classic stockings for women of this era. And of course, she wears corsets.
The last thing you can notice is her final outfit: a new blue dress, which only increases my opinion that the blue dress is linked to Rogers and to this new, more “pure” image that Eleanor is trying to adopt. The dress is thicker and heavier than the others, with detailed patterns, which is very symbolic for season 4: this indicates the place that Eleanor will now adopt in the next season, the place of governor’s wife.
SEASON 4 : Governor’s wife and civilization.
Season 4 is the natural continuation of season 3 for the aesthetics and clothing of Eleanor. However, she is now the governor’s wife, which changes a few details. She always wears very civilized dresses, similar to what we see in season 3, but at the same time very different. We feel in her way of moving that the dresses are much heavier, that the fabric is somehow of better quality. We can see that the patterns are much richer and more varied, which indicates more expensive dresses. Her position as governor’s wife means that she must wear outfits that indicate this position, as well that she is now a wife devoted to her husband.
She wears her hair tied in a way much more complicated than before, with very precise curls and even tighter styles. It’s probably the most complicated hairstyles that Eleanor has ever worn and which must be what takes up the most of her time. But as the governor’s wife, she must be well-dressed, and she certainly has a lot more time than she did before. Not to mention that she now has more or less a maid in the person of Mrs. Hudson.
Her outfits are very beautiful and rich, but nevertheless very impractical. We can notice in the scene of combat with the Spanish soldier that she still wears very traditional, pale stockings in cotton. She wears very few jewels, except two: her wedding ring, of course, but especially a pearl necklace with a bee pendant. No official explanation has been given about the bee pendant, but I see two possible interpretations, and one does not necessarily exclude the other. The first is that this pendant is connected to Vane, and by extension, to piracy, in reference to the nickname that Vane gave to Eleanor in the past and that we hear Jack pronounce once: “Lady Honeypot”.
It would be a nice gesture on the part of the costumers to show that, despite what she did to Vane and what she did to herself at this moment. (‘She doesn’t have a chance to really reflect on what she did to Vane, and what she was doing to herself, in that moment. I think she killed part of herself, in that act. Perhaps, in a way, that’s what killed her ability to achieve her end’ - Hannah New). By keeping something of him, she so keeps something pirate in her always (this whole theory was appreciated and approved by the actress on Twitter by the way).
The second interpretation is simply related to the popular term (especially in high school) of “queen bee”, which would be a symbol of her past power, recalling that she was once the “queen of thieves”. I visualize, in one way or another, this bee pendant as the last symbol of her past, of the power she had, the loves she lost.
We can also note an interesting detail: Eleanor only wears green in season 4. Metallic green for the first dress, water green for the second and more classic green for her final dress, another color reminiscent of the only dress which linked her to piracy in season 3. This could be the last link to her past, but I opt more so that this color actually connects her to Nassau, to the land that Nassau represents, this island for which she has fought all her life, and with which she died.
andulkaphoto
jbbartram-illu
yousharknotpass
annaxmalina
pixelskylines
vaporwave
