The Young Victoria Dress Analysis

The Victorian Age, a time that is commonly known throughout history for its stoicism of dress for women and men. The women and men of the Victorian age all dressed in ways that covered their entire bodies. The men wore suits, while the women wore dresses that were extremely modest. However, in the movie The Young Victoria the director chose to have the men were dressing in what would be considered proper Victorian standards for men. However, Queen Victoria and the women of Royalty dresses in ball gowns that revealed a significant amount of skin, while the servants and lesser class also dressed in proper Victorian garb. This paper will look at the significance of the costume choices for women, and the possible reasons for why the director chose
these different costumes for his characters. The most significant paradox between history and the movie concerning costuming is the dresses that Victoria and the women royalty wore compared to history. In the movie during the birthday celebration of the King it is clear that the women are wearing dresses that reveal their skin and cleavage. Now, perhaps the director decided to have the women dress in these costumes because it is more appealing to a modern audience. After all, most movies in recent years have women in costumes that either strongly portray sexuality, or reveal enough skin to content at least the male audience. However, while this could be a factor in the director’s decision for these costumes, there seems to be something more going on. Looking particularly at Victoria’s dresses the audience notices that she wears the most revealing outfits when she is portraying her power as Queen or as a woman. For example, the bedroom scene with Edward where she orders him to obey her. This indicates that the director chooses more revealing costumes to show the difference in personal power between individuals. This difference in personal power is further shown when comparing Queen Victoria’s costumes to that of her servants.
This is really shown in the scene when Edwards returns back to England and Victoria is waiting with her servants to welcome him. All of the servants are wearing very stoic and blue dresses. While Queen Victoria is wearing a very ornate and somewhat more revealing dress compared to her servants. The servant’s costumes of stoic blue can be considered as revealing their lack of personal power. They do not reveal themselves like the royalty, and they wear very plain colors, so they do not stand out. Furthermore, the color of dark blue on their costumes is a very mellow color and is not catching to the eye. However, Queen Victoria reveals plenty of skin which shows her power, in that she has no shame revealing that much skin because she doesn’t have to care about the proprieties of the age. Furthermore, her dress is also a lot more ornate than her servants. The many colors reveal the status that she carries, and that she has the power and money to afford to wear the more revealing dresses. Just like the other women in the royal court can wear ornate and revealing clothing. In conclusion, the costumes used in the film The Young Victoria have a significant meaning and impact on the film. While there is the element of appealing to the audience for the director to consider, this paper reveals that there is more meaning to the costume choices than just appealing to the audience. Rather, the director chose the ornate and revealing costumes of Victoria and the other women to show the disparity of power between individuals. This helps the audience unconsciously grasp the significance of certain characters, particularly Victoria, and her eventual rise to
power.