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Maria's Crisis (of Wardrobe)

Posted by: mamaleh 01:01 pm EST 12/06/13

I have a couple of questions about the sedate, light brownish, belted dress Maria wears when she first enters the Von Trapp household.

Why does Capt. Von Trapp despise it so? It is supposed to be shocking or just too lower-class for his taste?

From what I've seen and read, '30s hemlines, right up until World War II, were much lower than Maria's knee-length dress would indicate. Was that a wardrobe error?


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re: Maria's Crisis (of Wardrobe)

Posted by: LegitOnce 02:15 pm EST 12/06/13
In reply to: Maria's Crisis (of Wardrobe) - mamaleh 01:01 pm EST 12/06/13

This is something of a costumer's dilemma. The joke is that Maria had to wear whatever the convent had on hand, which in this case is the the dress "the poor didn't want." So the dress is supposed to be unattractive or at least out of style.

On the other hand, this is the dress Maria sings "Do Re Mi" in, so it should move well and have at least some charm.

A solution I have seen is to give Maria an "ugly" coat, maybe busy with a lot of braid or with leg-o-mutton sleevers over a more flattering blouse and skirt. She takes the coat off when she's introducing the song and, voila, she seems soft and approachable to the children.

High fashion in 1937 would have dictated a skirt a couple of inches below the bottom ot the knee, or just a little longer than Underwood's dress. Of course, governesses (especially ex-nuns) weren't right on the top of fashion, so probably Maria's skirts would have come to mid-calf or lower. Elsa's day dresses would probably be in the fashionable shorter length.

But there's a tradeoff between accuracy and attractiveness. Longer skirt lengths look better on taller women, and Underwood is only 5' 3". So I would think the shorter skirt was chosen to give her a longer leg line and thus the illusion of greater height. (She was also wearing about 4" heels which seem a little unlikely for a convent to have in stock.)


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re: Maria's Crisis (of Wardrobe)

Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 02:23 pm EST 12/06/13
In reply to: re: Maria's Crisis (of Wardrobe) - LegitOnce 02:15 pm EST 12/06/13

"On the other hand, this is the dress Maria sings 'Do Re Mi' in, so it should move well and have at least some charm."

Right, and that's one more problem the movie solved.


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"The poor didn't want this one" is the best joke in the entire show. Always has been. (nm)

Posted by: GrumpyMorningBoy 01:43 pm EST 12/06/13
In reply to: Maria's Crisis (of Wardrobe) - mamaleh 01:01 pm EST 12/06/13

nm


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re: Maria's Crisis (of Wardrobe)

Posted by: allineedisthegirl 01:10 pm EST 12/06/13
In reply to: Maria's Crisis (of Wardrobe) - mamaleh 01:01 pm EST 12/06/13

It's a running gag (which was handled ineptly this time around). The dress is supposed to be hideous, obviously so. Maria didn't choose it. It was surrendered by the most recent recruit on her way into the abbey and given to Maria to wear to her new job. Later on, when she runs away (back to the abbey), she enters the Mother Supperior's office just as another new postulant (who should be wearing another distinctive(ly bad) dress), is being welcomed. Sure enough when Maria goes back to the Captain, she's wearing the new postulant's dress (the one that's so bad "even the poor didn't want this one."

Also connected (and mis-handled last night) is the costume gag when Maria's discarded curtains show up as "play clothing" for the children.

db


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re: Maria's Crisis (of Wardrobe)

Posted by: mamaleh 01:20 pm EST 12/06/13
In reply to: re: Maria's Crisis (of Wardrobe) - allineedisthegirl 01:10 pm EST 12/06/13

Oh, I got that about the worldly clothes being recycled for the poor (if the pieces are not too hideous)--but what about the hemline? It seemed more '40s than '30s to me. And I've seen a lot of '30s movies on TCM.


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re: Maria's Crisis (of Wardrobe)

Posted by: JereNYC (JereNYC@aol.com) 01:38 pm EST 12/06/13
In reply to: re: Maria's Crisis (of Wardrobe) - mamaleh 01:20 pm EST 12/06/13

I've always wanted to see a dress that wasn't so much hideously ugly, but perhaps a bit racy and shocking for the time and place. Maybe this might be part of the reason that the dress' original owner was sent to a convent. And why the poor didn't want it. The Captain's disdain for the dress could then be about how inappropriate it is for a governess to wear around children. I've never thought the Captain would care that a dress was ugly (he probably wouldn't even notice), as long as it was appropriate dress for the situation.

I see nothing at all wrong with the dress in the film and it seems right for a young woman spending the day traveling. And it fits her perfectly, something I wouldn't expect a random dress from a random girl at the convent to do.

URL: Jere-Rigged

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