Costume Spotlight | Jane Eyre (2011)

I'm starting a new blog series dedicated to reviewing costumes from films and stage shows, sometimes focusing on a single costume or, like today, reviewing costumes from a whole movie or production. At the moment I'm only planning on posting this segment once a month, but that could increase in the future.

At the end of each post I'll be rating between 1 and 10. Please join me in the comments and let me know your own thoughts and rating!

To kick things off I thought I'd start with one of my favorite costume films, Jane Eyre (2011). This is the latest movie version of the classic book written by Charlotte Bronte. The story is about a girl (Jane Eyre) that was orphaned and abused as a child but now is governess to a young girl and falls in love with her employer, the mysterious Mr. Rochester.

Please note, this post does have minor spoilers in it, though I don't mention any of the big spoilers.

Jane Eyre (2011) via Focus Features

The film follows the original story of the book very well for a 2 hour film and depicts the Gothic genre of the book very well. It stars Mia Wasikowska as Jane and Michael Fassbender as Edward Rochester.

The costumes were designed by Michael O'Connor, who was very specific in making sure everything was as authentic as possible to the era the story was set in.

While the book is originally set in the 1830's, film adaptations are rarely set in that time because of how wacky the fashions were. That's why this, and most adaptations are set in the 1840's instead.

The following is from Michael O'Connor. “The lining, the buttons, the stitching, everything was totally researched. I always say, ‘Is there a reference for that, is that something they did?’ And if people say [they] don’t know, then I say we can’t do it—there’s so much information from that time that there’s no excuse not to have it.”

Jane Eyre (2011) via Focus Features

When asked if he was ever tempted to vary from authenticity, he replied “It’s tempting, but there’s no need. The truth is interesting enough. Jane is a sort of plain character, but that doesn’t mean she’s unstylish. She’s wearing shades of gray with white collars, and she can still look quite smart or quite nice and serviceable—not overly fussy.”

I think it's worth noting that over all, the costumes in this film are historically accurate for the 1840's, however as it is with all costumes, there were some elements that aren't perfectly accurate. Some of the costumes are tailored slightly different to be a little more modern (i.e. sleeves being cut tighter than they would have been in the era), and one bonnet (bellow) in particular is designed more for decoration than any useful need.

Jane Eyre (2011) via Focus Features

O'Connor on Jane's wedding dress: “The thing was to make it simple. Rochester is always trying to buy her things, which she rejects because that’s her character. So [the aim] was to make it a simple dress, and shorten the length. Jane’s a country girl, it’s a country dress, and it’s fitted and tight-sleeved, rather like her day dresses, like her character.” via

Below is a photo of the dress made for the film compared to a fashion plate from 1844, around the time the story is set. You can see just how similar the two are and just how accurate for the era the design is.

Fashion Plate c. 1844 Le Moniteur de la Mode

Wedding Dress (Jane Eyre 20011) Designed by Michael O'Connor

Jane Eyre (2011) via Focus Features

Blanche Ingram
Jane Eyre (2011) via Focus Features

Rochester and Jane
Jane Eyre (2011) via Focus Features

Jane Eyre (2011) via Focus Features

Mrs. Reed
Jane Eyre (2011) via Focus Features 

The use of color and texture is so beautiful in this film. You can practically feel the fabric just by watching. There's such a variety of different fabric textures between dresses made of silk, cotton, and lace, and the crocheted gloves, knit shawls, straw and lace bonnets, the frilly fichu's and wool jackets.

While there's so much variety in types of materials, they all help keep the gloomy atmosphere that comes with the Gothic setting and really helps build the visual feeling of the film.

Jane Eyre (2011) via Focus Features

What I love about this adaptation is how well it represents this particular era of fashion, which often gets overlooked. It's an elegant era and still slightly silly with the amount of petticoats women wore to achieve a voluminous silhouette and the slightly crazy hairstyles.

Overall, I give the costumes in this film a 9 out of 10.

Rate between 1-10 in the comments and let me know your thoughts.

Costume Review | Beauty and the Beast (2014)

Last week my sister and I watched Beauty and the Beast (2014), which is a French production of the classic story we all know and love thanks to Disney. I didn't know much about this adaptation going in except that I had seen several of the costumes on Pinterest and I was interested to see it since the new Disney live action version is coming out soon (which I have been less than thrilled by costume wise from what we have seen in trailers so far).

[Semi]Brief Synopsis:
The story appears to be set in the 1810's through the 1820's and is set in a strongly historically based but still fantasy world. It's is about a once wealthy family that has now appears to have lost all of their money on a ship that sunk in the middle of the ocean which forces them to move out of their high society house in the city to a plain country cottage.

Bell's father discovers the Beast's castle on his way home from the local tavern and on his way out he picks a rose. The beast attacks him then and basically tells him that in exchange for the rose he demands a life. He goes home and Belle decides that since she is the outcast of the family/has no future she should go.

So she goes and becomes the beasts prisoner. He provides her with a new dress every day and he has a very strict schedule of when to eat so she can't run off (or something like that). She has no interest in him and actually fears him. Oh, and there's a pool of magical water in her bedroom that heals wounds. Fun right?

At night Belle has dreams (thanks to the magically water it seems) of her running up to a mirror/portal thing which shows her the beasts past. He was practically Gaston in all but name (actually, I don't know what his name was in the film so maybe he was Gaston) and had a beautiful wife/girlfriend/fiance/I don't really know what because they never said. But they were in love.

Eventually, Belle makes a deal with Beastie that she can have one last day with her family in exchange for a dance. He accepts, they dance (this was probably my favorite scene in the whole film), he asks if she could ever love him, she screams in his face, he leaves. Er, it happened sort of like that anyways.

Point is, she got to go back home to her family, stuff happens, and she returns in time to save Beastie, who has just been shot. She and her brothers (they're so useful!) carry him into the magical water in her bedroom where he transforms back into human form because Belle somehow changed her mind and admitted that she loved him. I have no idea at what point she turned from hating him to loving him, but there you go.


Anyways, that's my "brief" synopsis. A lot happened in this film considering how slow it felt. My overall thoughts are that this film is visually stunning, but story wise, it moves rather slow and was really confusing. But every shot in the film looked like it came out of a magazine. I mean, just look at this!

Now, onto the actual point of this post, the costumes.I'm just going to be reviewing Belle's dresses because they were the main event costume wise and this post is going to be long enough with just her dresses.


The costumes for this film were designed by Costume Designer Pierre-Yves Gayraud. All of the costumes that Belle wears have a heavy Tudor influence, which I love, while the costumes of Belle's sisters and the rest of her family seem to be inspired more by the 1810's-1820's.

Belle's first ballgown she get's from Beastie is this cream silk/brocade gown. While it's definitly a work of art, I really didn't care for it. The sleeves are kinda weird, fabulous but weird, the skirt gathering looks like honeycomb to me and the neckline looks strange with the structure of the bodice of the lower half. I was glad that this one only got a little bit of screen time. But I really do like the fabric choice and her crown.

Next, is her emerald green, quilted velvet gown. Just look at it. It's stunning, isn't it? I love the Tudor influences on the bodice and the jewels, but my favorite part of this dress (besides the color) are the sleeves. Aren't they beautiful? Also, her hair fascinates me. I'm so glad they actually did something with her hair in this film because too many movies have their historical/fantasy fashions with the hair down in modern curls, which completely ruins the look and takes you out of the setting. I appreciate that they were able to do something kind of wacky, but subtle. It's enough to realize that this is a fantasy world while not drawing to much attention to it.

This next dress is my favorite. It's an aqua blue silk dress with these wonderful fluffy sleeves and the bodice is covered in a lace cutout in a matching color. I love the accessories on this costume: the collar and matching headband. I think my favorite part of this dress though is the color.

Now, I have to say that this next dress has me really impressed with the color. If you've ever tired to photograph something red, they know that it's really, really hard to do. But somehow they managed to make a giant red dress and still film it.  I am thoroughly impressed.

As for the design of the dress itself, this one was the last dress she wears in the movie and during the climax of the film. My sister really loved it, but I liked her earlier two dresses better. The only real reason for this is because I like softer colors and the bright red was a bit harsh, but design wise I really liked it. The skirt has a flowy top layer of what looks like chiffon, and the sleeves are relatively simple compared to her previous dresses. As for that giant necklace, I'm not a big fan. I feel like it's too big and weighs her down, especially with her hair in the pulled back style that it is in. If feels a bit out of balance.

My rating for this film as a whole is only 3 out of 5 stars, but for costumes I give it 4.5 and a full 5 stars to the art department. I love how the costume designer was able to create costumes that fit into a completely fantasy world but still manage to ground the costumes with familiar shapes and designs from history.

Have you seen this version of Beauty and the Beast? What's your favorite adaptation of Beauty and the Beast?