Emma Corrin’s character, “Lady Chatterley’s Lover”, is immediately visible onscreen. Her clothing mirrors her emotions.
In the opening scene, Lady Constance Chatterley wears a demure, lace-trimmed wedding dress — a classically styled, fitting look for the young aristocratic woman she is. As she returns to Clifford’s country home (where he is paralysed from World War I), a succession of sophisticated, dark outfits takes over. Her muted appearance signals her position as lady of the home and the growing sense of entrapment in her marital relationship, which is now lacking intimacy because her husband has been injured. When she finally meets Oliver Mellors (her future partner), everything changes. Her style and personal liberation is enhanced by her choice of sartorial styles.
Emma Corrin plays Lady Chatterley. Jack O’Connell portrays Oliver Mellors. Credit: Netflix – Courtesy
Emma Fryer (the film’s costume designer) said that Constance’s clothing should reflect her journey and talk about the freedom and romance she feels.
Lawrence’s 1928 publication scandalized literature because of this freedom. The plot involves an affair between Lady Chatterley, a young married woman of upper class, and Mellors who are also married but not divorced. This was during times when social relationships among different classes were considered unacceptable.
The new movie, directed by Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, is largely faithful to the book, yet presents its characters and different themes — class division, female empowerment, sexual consciousness — with a depth and sensitivity that’s rarely been afforded to Lawrence’s original work.
Sure, there are many sexy scenes that will make you lust. But throughout the film, Constance and Oliver — who’s played by Jack O’Connell — are shown as vulnerable, even fragile beings whose erotic connection isn’t merely a result of physical attraction, but of the desire to be happy and liberated from the confines of social expectations.
Corrin’s attire is key to showing that freedom and giving a new spin to the popular period drama genre.
Emma Fryer (the film’s costume designer) said that Constance’s clothing should reflect her journey and talk about the freedom and romance she feels. Credit: Parisa Taghizadeh/Netflix
“Clothing that you can wear today”
Although her pre-Mellors outfits featured dark and heavy colors in reds and purples, Corrin’s lady chatterly wears light, delicate, lightweight fabrics and subtle layering. This was to make it easy to pull off during raunchy sex scenes. The outfits include breezy skirts and simple camisoles. There is also a variety of cozy cardigans.
As well as changing the color palette, it now includes baby pinks and sunshine yellows, and floral prints along with gentle blues. In the last part of the film, as she travels to Venice in the aftermath of the scandal around her extra-marital affair and is shunned by the high society she once belonged to, her style transforms again, embracing vivid greens, textured patterns, and bold pops of color by way of sashes — a hint, perhaps to her growing sense of self-confidence.
A scene from Venice, featuring Lady Constance looking more relaxed. Credit: Massimo Calabria Matarweh/Netflix
Fryer described this stylistic evolution as “there’s a real feeling of looseness in the film.” She’s clearly trapped at Wragby when she first meets her. [the estate she and Clifford live on] Slowly, however, she opened up. With that picture in mind, I approached the costumes.”
Fryer began by researching extensively the period and studying photographs, drawings, and 1920s fashion to make her moodboard. She was inspired by Lady Chatterley and the style she chose matched her vision.
She said that the entire decade between the Victorian era’s end and the beginning of the postwar period was “incredibly fascinating fashion-wise because there was so many changes.” “Clothing became less rigid, less tailored — the corsets had finally gone. This helped Connie to connect with her free spirit and world, and also brought Connie’s closet back together.
Constance was presented as the contemporary woman that she is by the costume designer. In London, she visited Harrods and Selfridges. The final designs included authentic 1920s-inspired and 21st-century pieces, as well as custom-made items.
She explained that “From the beginning, Contance’s wardrobe should have a kind of timeless quality and modern styling.” She is a modern woman, so it was crucial to reflect that in her wardrobe.
Fryer said that mixing and matching makes it “sorta playful, light and very contemporary.” You can wear it today and still feel fabulous in it.
A beloved genre is shifted
According to Faye Woods (associate professor of film and television at University of Reading), “Lady Chatterley’s Lover”, this modernization puts it in line with the trend in popular period dramas in recent years.
“Many of today’s period dramas try to approach history in different ways or through different perspectives — in the instance of Lady Chatterley, from Constance’s point of view — to explore underrepresented stories, and sort of give a new spin to the genre,” Woods said in a phone interview.
Fryer stated, “From the beginning, Contance’s wardrobe should have a kind of timelessness and modern elements in its styling.” She is a modern woman, so it was crucial to reflect that in her wardrobe. Credit: Parisa Taghizadeh/Netflix
Woods explained that “recent adaptations let audiences daydream while at the sametime interpreting the past in an understanding as their own,” Woods noted. Their popularity is a result. It is something we enjoy, even though it’s not our favorite thing.
She said that clothing plays an important role in this phenomenon.
Woods explained that costumes in period dramas often emphasize texture and touch. Woods stated that by putting a lot of emphasis on fabric, construction and details they add depth and dimension to the story. This is true in both large-scale and intimate scenes as well as those depicted lavishly.
Particularly in dramas that predate contemporary feministism, the wardrobes of female characters can be used to show the limitations women are living in and the changes they want to overcome. Lady Chatterley is one example: The “shedding” or reversal of her formal gowns is not a choice of fashion but a defiance of aristocratic elitism.
Netflix has “Lady Chatterley’s Lover”, which will be available on November 25,
Add to your queue: The modern-day Costume Dramas
“Marie Antoinette” (2006)
Sofia Coppola’s ‘Marie Antoinette’ shows the extraordinary world of Queen France during her reign in 18th century France. The exquisite costume design spans silks to florals and candy like fashion. Even if the film doesn’t excel, the costumes are and they offer true cinematic spectacle.
Hulu’s history comedy about Russia’s Catherine The Great revolves around clothes. As Catherine transforms from a young girl seeking love into a married ruler who wants to take over her husband’s kingdom, the entire ensemble of the future empress’s wardrobe becomes stronger and more bold.
1995, “Sense and Sensibility.”
Emma Thompson wrote a brilliant script that adapted “Sense and Sensibility”, Jane Austen’s 1811 novel. Here, too, the costumes are pivotal to the story of the two female leads: If Marianne wears elegant dresses in deep, rich hues that suggest her passion and creativity, her older and far more grounded sister, Elinor, is in whites, blues, and browns — earthy colors that speak of her prudence and prevailing sense of duty.
Jacqueline Durran, a costume designer, gave the core colors and styling elements for each March sister in Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s novel “Little Women” (2019). These stunning looks reflect the unique personality of each sister.
The series on the life of a young Emily Dickinson looks like a traditional costume drama, but the juxtaposition between the clothes — historically accurate to mid-19th century Massachusetts — and the modern script and music create a powerful tension (social expectations vs. modernity) that ultimately makes the show.