Fit for a queen: challenges of dressing Victoria
By Priya Rao |
January 3, 2010, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
BRITISH costume designer Sandy Powell was not very knowledgeable about Queen Victoria when she signed up for the new film "The Young Victoria."
"I knew what everyone else knew -- that she was not very attractive and wore black, but I thought the script had an interesting take," she recalled. "Quite often these monarch movies are dull, but this was good."
There is no shortage of interest in the movie's focus on the early life of Victoria (portrayed by Emily Blunt), which includes her turbulent ascension to the throne at the age of 17 against the wishes of her mother, the Duchess of Kent (Miranda Richardson), and her passionate relationship and marriage to Prince Albert (Rupert Friend).
"She was a very, very young woman, but knew her own mind. She made sure that being a woman shouldn't hinder her," Powell said.
It was Powell's job to relay this confident and determined demeanor through Victoria's fashion. A veteran of award-winning period pieces such as "Shakespeare in Love" and "The Aviator" (winning Academy Awards for both), Powell sought to create a dramatic contrast between what Victoria wore before and after she became Queen.
Thus, the monarch-to-be's wardrobe starts off very doll-like with heavy floral decoration, and over the course of the film undergoes a drastic change to darker colors and more fitted dresses.
"Before she ascended the throne, she was still under the control of her very domineering mother and kept young. Therefore her clothes resembled little girls' party dresses that were very pretty and frothy," explained Powell. "Once she becomes queen, she gets to make her own decisions and her style becomes more streamlined and sophisticated."
Much like Victoria's transformation, fashion itself was going through a transitional period, according to Powell: "In the 1820s when Victoria was young, clothing was highly decorated and over the top, but at the time she became queen, a switch-over happened," she said.
"Lines became simpler, skirts were less full -- it all became more austere."
"I knew what everyone else knew -- that she was not very attractive and wore black, but I thought the script had an interesting take," she recalled. "Quite often these monarch movies are dull, but this was good."
There is no shortage of interest in the movie's focus on the early life of Victoria (portrayed by Emily Blunt), which includes her turbulent ascension to the throne at the age of 17 against the wishes of her mother, the Duchess of Kent (Miranda Richardson), and her passionate relationship and marriage to Prince Albert (Rupert Friend).
"She was a very, very young woman, but knew her own mind. She made sure that being a woman shouldn't hinder her," Powell said.
It was Powell's job to relay this confident and determined demeanor through Victoria's fashion. A veteran of award-winning period pieces such as "Shakespeare in Love" and "The Aviator" (winning Academy Awards for both), Powell sought to create a dramatic contrast between what Victoria wore before and after she became Queen.
Thus, the monarch-to-be's wardrobe starts off very doll-like with heavy floral decoration, and over the course of the film undergoes a drastic change to darker colors and more fitted dresses.
"Before she ascended the throne, she was still under the control of her very domineering mother and kept young. Therefore her clothes resembled little girls' party dresses that were very pretty and frothy," explained Powell. "Once she becomes queen, she gets to make her own decisions and her style becomes more streamlined and sophisticated."
Much like Victoria's transformation, fashion itself was going through a transitional period, according to Powell: "In the 1820s when Victoria was young, clothing was highly decorated and over the top, but at the time she became queen, a switch-over happened," she said.
"Lines became simpler, skirts were less full -- it all became more austere."
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