Your historical knowledge on fashion has really opened my eyes and i consider it a valuable source as an artist/content creator. I was wondering what your opinions are on the costumes of the film ‘Crimson Peak’? del Torro always creates a fantastic atmosphere, but I am curious if the fashion remained accurate or if it was exaggerated.
Thank you so much! That really means a lot to me.
My opinions on the costumes of Crimson Peak are basically just two straight hours of happy squealing. Let me elaborate.
The designer, Kate Hawley, knocked it out of the park in terms of grounding her work in the time period (1901) while still using artistic flourishes to flesh out the characters and support del Toro’s vision. Most of the costumes are pretty darn accurate in form:
(Edith vs. a 1905 image of “shirtwaist suits.” Accurate but still uses color, texture, fabric weight, and trim to play into her light and butterfly themes.)
(Lucille’s blue dress vs. a Natural Form fashion plate c. late 1870s-early 1880s. A bit older than Edith’s “ten years out of date” estimate, and that was one thing a lot of fashion history people questioned. But it is fairly accurate, and the extreme style difference helps set her apart from Edith in a way that even modern audiences with no knowledge of historical clothing can recognize.)
And those are just two examples. The entire movie is like that. It’s a breath of fresh air and I love it so much.
There are still clear artistic choices, and lots being said with colors, patterns, etc. Also what characters AREN’T wearing- because we’ve seen Edith healthy, happy, and in control with pompadours and neat, fitted skirts, her wearing a loose nightgown with her hair down shows that she’s Very Not Okay. Lucille's tight, restrained-looking clothes underscore her violence being “set free” when she trades them for a huge, billowy robe. It all benefits from a solid basis in the fashion realities of the era.
Imagine! If designers could just save the beachy waves for accurate situations, they could contribute to the storytelling! What a concept! </s>
So yeah. I adore the costuming in Crimson Peak. 10/10 would pine over again.
