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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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