Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland (2010)

 Costume Designer: Colleen Atwood

Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland is a remake of the classic tale Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. In a very Tim Burton style, the land of Wonderland is transformed into a deliciously wonderful whimsical world full of bright colours and amazing visuals. 

Due to the sheer amount of costumes in this film, due to the large amount of characters in the film, I have decided only to critique the costumes of: Alice, The White Queen, and The Red Queen, . This is because not only are they the main characters of the film, but they are also main characters in the sequel. This means that we can look at the change of costumes over the films to see character development through clothing. (You can read the next review for Alice through the Looking Glass here)

Alice (Costumes in Chronological Order)

(Alice's Day Dress from the "Real World" - Also used for promotional campaigns)

This blue day dress is the first dress that we see the grown-up character of Alice in. In the film, Alice is wearing this dress to a ball at Lord Hamish's family estate where Lord Hamish hopes to propose to Alice and secure her hand in marriage. The dress is an ankle length two-tiered skirt with a button down bodice and small capped sleeves. To further aid the critique of this dress, the film tells us that this is set in London, 1871.During this period of time, the large crinoline skirts that are so stereotypically seen as Victorian, were falling out of favour. Instead, the bustle skirt was becoming more and more fashionable. Alice's dress falls into neither of these categories, but that is not to say it isn't historically accurate. Cleverly, Atwood has chosen to take a garment more fitting for a child and size it up for an adult. The result is that Alice still feels very child-like, and the audience understands her naivety as to the world and what is happening around her due to living a sheltered life of certain privilege.  The colour choice lends itself to this analysis of Alice, as this light blue has connotations of naivety and innocence. Coming back to the question of historical accuracy though, I have to say that it isn't entirely historically accurate. Although Atwood's decision to put Alice in something perhaps seen on a child is a good idea that works here, it isn't historically accurate as Alice would not have been allowed to attend a ball where she was to be engaged looking child-like. Also, for 1871, the silhouette is also wrong. Although bustles weren't as big as they would get in the 1870s, bustles were a part of fashion and Alice would have probably worn one. The colour, however, has been seen in fashion plates of the time and so we can assume that there is no problem with colour. The bodice would probably have had longer sleeves and been more intricately decorated. However, this dress is also supposed to be a take on the signature "Alice dress", and the similarities there are many. Of course, the blue colour as this is the colour associated with Alice. The silhouette matches, as does the sleeves and shape of the bodice. Of course, Alice lacks her apron here, but she is supposed to be older than the classic Alice, and so for this reason that is okay. Overall, I can understand this dress being the one used for promotions, as it is the most obviously Alice, without feeling like a carbon copy of what's been done before. I do like this dress

(Alice's Undergarment Dress)

This dress has to be one of my favourite costumes and comes second in the film. This dress comes about after Alice has shrunk to get through the door in the room at the bottom of the rabbit-hole. As Alice shrinks, her dress (the one above) doesn't shrink with her, and so when she emerges from the folds of her skirts she is wearing this. This dress seems to be made from her shift, and the construction is really clever. For starters, the piece of ribbon around her neck holding the dress up is supposed to be the little piece of ribbon used to keep clothes on hangers. Then, the dress is gathered up around her waist and secured in place by the lacing on the shift, and then the rest if allowed to hang around her legs. This dress is amazingly constructed and helps the audience to understand Alice's height even when we cannot see what is around her. What I will say though is that some things about this dress are done for aesthetic purpose. the ruffle on the neckline, for example, is the perfect size for her now. But if this was supposed to be for a normal sized human, why would the undergarment have such a tiny ruffle? same with the ruffle along the bottom of the skirt section. These decorations would be far too small on a normal sized shift, and so probably wouldn't be a feature. the use of stripes is effective here though, as it serves to make Alice seen smaller and thinner than her usual self. This dress is very cleverly thought about, and I do think it is a successful costume. However, it is obvious that some things were done purely for aesthetic purpose. 

(Alice's Teapot Dress made by The Mad Hatter)

This next dress of Alice's comes about when she is shrunk down at The Mad Hatter's tea party so she can hide in a teapot and escape the Queen's party that is hunting for her. Hatter makes her this dress using a bit of fabric from the other dress, and the result is this simple strapless dress with empire waist and a skirt that finishes at mid shin. Of course, this dress IS NOT historically accurate to the fashion of 1871, but I don't think any of the costumes on the characters in Wonderland need to be or should be. Wonderland itself is a separate place from London, working on its own timeline. Therefore, to judge this dress, or any of the other costumes against the fashion standards of 1870s England would not be helpful, as it does not matter. This dress is extremely simple in design, echoing the idea that Hatter had to make it on such a small scale. There isn't really much to say about this dress other than it's nice. It isn't seen for a long time in the film, and there isn't much exciting about it to comment on... so we'll move along.

(Alice's Dress whilst at The Red Queen's Castle)

When Alice goes to see The Red Queen, she grows in size in order to be normal size again to gain entry to the court. Alice eats too much cake, growing too large and so becoming unrecognisable. Obviously, this means she grows out of the tiny dress Hatter made her and must therefore have a new dress made by the court servants from fabric found around the castle. What is interesting in this dress is although it isn't historically accurate, there are a lot of similarities between this dress and dresses of late 1860s and early 1870s dresses. The large skirt with a split overskirt is reminiscent of the crinoline hoop skirts of the 1860s, and frills and bows as seen on the dress were popular decorations throughout the Victorian era on garments. Although fully strapless dresses were not popular in the 19th Century, lower necklines with sleeves were seen. These parallels lend themselves to the idea of Alice's dislike of where she comes from. As The Red Queen is the main antagonist of the film, Alice associates the stuff she doesn't like from her own time: the clothes for example, with The Red Queen. The colour of red is an obvious connotation of danger, as well as being the signature colour of The Red Queen. This has to be my other favourite dress that Alice wears in the film, mostly due to the subtle nod towards her own time and link of her hating her society and so linking it with the evil in Wonderland. 

(Alice's ensemble whilst at The White Queen's Castle)

In my opinion, this ensemble is the ensemble that Alice would be most comfortable in and the one she would choose to wear. This is because right at the start of the film she makes remarks about not wanting to wear a dress, at the impracticality of them. She then makes a remark while dancing to Hamish about daydreaming about the women wearing suits and the men wearing dresses. Furthermore, throughout the entire film she has been forced to wear dresses of all styles, and here is something that both looks and feels comfortable. From what is seen of the outfit, it consists of a pair of loose-fitting trousers and a long overcoat with a simple blouse underneath. The ensemble takes away from Alice's femininity, something that has been tossed around by the characters (Her mother marrying her off and Hamish wanting a wife) and the costumes (the majority of them being dresses). This costumes serves to strip away physical identifiers and make both Alice and the audience question who Alice really is. This comes at a pivotal moment in the film too, as Alice needs to decide if she will become a hero for Wonderland and slay the Jabberwocky. The use of white here not only shows that she is welcomed into The White Queen's court, but also is symbolic of the soul-searching that Alice needs to do to become the champion and slay the Jabberwocky, ending The Red Queen's tyrannical rule. The silver decorations on the coat lend themselves to the feeling of whimsy throughout the film, but also hint that Alice is special, perhaps a little magic, like The White Queen.

(Alice's Armour to fight the Jabberwocky)

This final outfit of Alice's is hard for me to critique because my knowledge of armour is very little. What strikes me about this armour though is the skirt detail around the waist. I do think it's empowering, as it shows that Alice can both embrace her femininity as a woman and still go on to do amazing, brave and courageous things such as slaying a magical beast. this obviously goes against the values that 19th Century society had for women, and something that Alice seemed to struggle against back in her own land. The armour does flatter Alice's body, and is reminiscent of armour used in medieval times. I think the use of armour here really gives the film a fairy-tale like feel, upping the whimsical feel to another level and making the magic really apparent. 

The Red Queen

(The Red Queen's Costume)

Of all the costumes in Alice In Wonderland, The Red Queen's gown has to be my all time favourite. Not only does it have an iconic and regal feel to it, the whole concept of the costume is steeped in symbolism and features to elevate the character to the audience. The first thing to note about the dress is the silhouette. It would be easy to dismiss this gown as simply a historically inspired gown, but Atwood purposely chooses to replicate dresses popularised in the late 1500s to early 1600s, more specifically, The dresses worn by the rulers at the time: Mary I and then Elizabeth I. These two icons from English history are notorious for their stubborn and headstrong rules, and are famous as leading women with both questionable reputations (Mary I more so). To replicate this particular style of late 16th Century to early 17th Century gown means that the attributes of these monarchs as headstrong, stubborn and questionably moral women are also pinned into the Queen in Wonderland. The split overskirt with patterned underskirt, deep "V" stomacher, puff shoulders with long sleeves, and a collar are all typical features found on dresses of the era, and so the gown serves as a nod to the famous English Queens (As does the heart-shaped hair). Another reason to choose to replicate a gown from this time is due to the society in which both Elizabeth I and Mary I ruled over. Tudor England is quite notorious for the strict rules, and the bloody and gruesome punishments for upsetting the monarch of the time. Mary I is remembered in particularly for burning around 280 protestants for refusing to convert to the Catholic faith that Mary wished to instil. This became part of Mary I's reputation, and she is mostly remembered as a tyrant who abused her power and her subjects. Similar parallels can be drawn to The Red Queen, who calls for an execution (off with their head!) for the pettiest of grievances or "wrongs" done to her. Although I could go one forever, a final link to make is that The Red Queen banishes her sister, The White Queen, to rule over Wonderland. Mary I did this to Elizabeth, fearing that she would try to claim the throne from her. The colour palette of red and gold are two colours normally attributed to royals and royalty. This may have been chosen as colours for The Red Queen not only because of the red being associated with hearts and the playing cards, but also because The Red Queen’s character is built around her need for power over Wonderland and her tyrannical reign as the films main antagonist. With these being the most prevalent parts of her personality, of course it would make sense to cover her costume in them. The black in her costume serves as a device for the audience to let them know she is evil, as black is seen on most (if not all) of Disney's villains. Similarly, the use of a high collar along with a full gown is a common idea used on female villains, such as The Evil Queen from Snow White and so this allows audience to recognise as The Red Queen as a villain. Finally,  the gowns construction leads the character to having quite harsh and exaggerated lines in her silhouette: The sharp points of the collar, the sharp lines of the stomacher on the bodice, The lines on the dress and lines of hearts. This all leads to an idea of evil and villainy, as sharpness is often attributed with pain. It is also a link to the Queen's sharp temper and personality.

The White Queen

(The White Queen's Costume)

Much like The Red Queen's costume, The White Queen's costume is also steeped in symbolism and features found in historical context. Like The Red Queen's gown drawing inspiration from the Tudor era and Tudor monarchs, The White Queen's dress blends both ideas of the Later 1600s and the 1700s. This gown very much blends the styles of Elizabeth I and Marie Antoinette of France. The stomacher of the bodice is decorated with embroidery in a floral style with fragile chains going from one side to the other, and this was a common way to decorate stomachers of court dresses in the 1700s, especially when Marie was in court. The "V" at the bottom of the bodice was a style prevalent in both Elizabeth I's time and Marie's, but a "V" this low was more common in the 18th century. The style of the skirt is a blend of both as well, with the silhouette leaning more towards the gowns of the late 16th century but the overall feel coming off more as something found in Marie's court. The floral embroidery in pastel and overall light colour of the gown is very 18th Century, as it was at this point in history that pastel was becoming more fashionable as dyes became slightly easier to reproduce. Floral embroidery was very popular in both eras, but is seen more perhaps in the 18th Century. The silk or organza (hard to tell) apron over the front of the dress is hard to place, but I feel more comfortable saying that is more of an 18th Century fashion style, as I have seen it more prevalent in that era. Of course, the question is why these two historical monarchs for The White Queen, the symbol of benevolence and good in Alice in Wonderland. Well, Elizabeth may have been an inspiration due to The Red Queen leaning more towards Mary I, as then the fictional character's relationship matches their real world counterpart. It could also as well be that The White Queen is also quite stubborn and headstrong, but in a more passive way. She receives intel from The Red Queen's court and uses it to plan a calculated attack. Not only that, but she convinces Alice to slay the Jabberwocky, something she hadn't set out to do and didn't want to do until she met The White Queen. I do not think that The White Queen's character and Marie match up definitely, only that Marie was quite and independent woman at the time, taking her own court like The White Queen does. I interpreted this choice for her gown because Marie comes AFTER Mary I in a timeline, and is subtly shows that The White Queen is more progressive, with better ideas and so is ultimately the best leader for Wonderland. But this all done while still keeping an fantasy and whimsical element by using historical context. Of course, the colour palette of white and silver is to contrast with The Red Queen's red and gold colour palette, to play on the "light vs dark" that we see a lot in good against evil. However, I like how this isn't the black and white colour palette we normally see, instead it's opposite colours and opposite metals (silver and gold) against each other. Of course, with her name being The White Queen, we would be shocked if she wasn't wearing white. Unlike The Red Queen's gown being constructed of harsh sharp lines, The White Queen's costume is constructed in a way that feels rounded and soft, much like the Queen herself in her soft and caring personality for others. I think it has to be noted that both Queens where gold crowns, and this shows that both feel they have a claim to the throne of Wonderland, and so both wear a similar style crown made of the same metal. 

Conclusion

Overall, I have to say that I truly am in love with the costumes of this film. Alice in Wonderland is one of my favourite films, so there may be a tad bit of bias but the work that has gone into designing and creating these costumes is evident for everyone who watches the film to see. I have to say, however, that if Alice's blue dress was more historically accurate I would like it better, but I don't think that the dress is bad enough to be seen as unsuccessful. These costumes are just amazing and I love them so much. Amazing work by Colleen Atwood!