Monday, February 18, 2008

Pre-Raphaelite Gowns in Movies

Ahh, after a weekend at home, I'm ready to return for more Pre-Raphaelite lovelies!

Today's blog is dedicated to Maggie, the amazing creator of The Costumer's Guide to Movie Costumes, and Lisa, the modern artistic dresser and talent behind Arteffex.

Having a keen interest in costumes, as I've already recently mentioned, I get a thrill out of seeing gowns and costumes in movies, and recognizing or being told what art they were inspired by. Below are three of my favorites. Dress 1 was pointed out to me by Lisa, dresses 2 and 3 were discovered on Maggie's site.

This first example is my personal favorite. From the movie Snow White: The Fairest of Them All, Snow's mother wears a gown that is a direct duplicate of William Morris' Guinevere, or La Belle Iseult.


A side by side comparison of the dress from the movie, and the dress from the original painting. I can't believe they even had the fabric pattern duplicated!

The second example is from Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (I love this movie). The absolutely captivating character of Laura wanders her villa garden wearing a lovely robe very reminiscent of Waterhouse's The Soul of the Rose.

Finally, the gown worn by Miranda Richardson in Sleepy Hollow could have been inspired by several Pre-Raphaelite artworks of similar gowns, but I personally feel it comes closest to Edward Burne-Jones' Sidonia Von Bork.


If you see any more examples of gowns used in movies that remind you of Pre-Raphaelite art, please please please let me know! I just love seeing art come alive in three-dimensional ways.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

In Possession, there's a scene where Blanche is painting Christabelle...and her costume--and the setup itself--is a rather obvious Rossetti tribute...(Blanche's studio is also filled with reproductions she has done of other pre-Raph painters...something I found to be a rather nice realistic detail--given the artistic tradition of copies, throughout the ages! :))

Grace said...

Hooray! Another one to check out. I have been meaning to see Possession and this is good inspiration :) Thanks

Anonymous said...

Wow, they all look amazing side-by-side and now we'll all be on the lookout even more!

I wonder if Miranda's gowns as Queen Mab in Merlin had similar inspirations? Certainly the gowns that Morgan le Fey wears in that movie have a Grecian Goddess look, but nothing I can pinpoint exactly...requires further investigation.

Grace said...

Hmm...I could definitely see the gowns in Merlin having a bit of PRB twist to them :)

Anonymous said...

Saw Perfume recently, well done in general, good character building, original cinematography... expresses a lot about human nature as well.

Grace said...

I was fascinated by the fairy tale mood of the whole film (Perfume)

Sphinxvictorian said...

I'm glad you picked up on that resemblance of the gown from Sleepy Hollow to the Von Bork gown. I thought I was imagining things! I need to see that Snow White film, how gorgeous!

The gowns that Titania wears in the Midsummer Night's Dream with Michelle Pfeiffer have some definite Pre-Raphaelite influences.

Grace said...

Sphinx, I'm glad you noticed too! I didn't even realize it until my friend Maggie featured it on her website :)

sherminekyle said...

i had noticed Miranda Richardson's gown in Sleepy Hollow also the gown in the fairiest of them all.

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ShermineKyle said...

Crimson Peak has Mia Wasikowska looking like The Bridesmaid of John Everett Millais.

Anonymous said...

In the film, "Mists of Avalon", actress Caroline Goodall looks at times like she stepped out of a pre-Raphaelite painting. Google her name and the name of the film to see.