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I saw Beauty and the Beast yesterday and I really enjoyed
it, but there was one big take away I had walking out of the theater: Belle’s
signature yellow gown.
There have been a lot of posts going around complaining
about Belle’s dress, and before I saw the movie, I was right on board with
them. Based on the original movie and the feelings that are associated with
that iconic gown, initial images of the dress were a disappointment at best. I
went into the movie expecting to be sad when she came on screen in the yellow
gown.
Let me tell you, that I was very much the opposite. The
tried and true trope of the awkward/outcast/quirky girl who’s smart but not
very fashion forward/doesn’t fallow fashion conventions or spend much time on
her appearance/doesn’t fit into the “normal girl” category (spoiler, no such
thing, but that’s a different argument) who gets a makeover and is transformed
into a princess who is suddenly soft-spoken, reserved, and revealed to be oh-so-pretty
now that she’s learned how to walk in high heels and wears make up is near and
dear to movie-makers’ hearts. We’ve seen it over and over and over again, we
know the formula and we’ve come to expect it.
This is not that
movie (Neither was the original, though it follows the same kind of formula, but
I digress). Belle even says at one point, “I’m not a princess.”
Even after she arrives at the castle, her dresses remain practical and simple and follow the same style, despite the fact that the wardrobe could have outfitted her in absolutely anything she wanted.
What I loved most about Belle’s gown is that this:
looks like
it belongs to the same woman as these:
As does this one, which she wears after The Beast has changed back into a prince:
Her personality, ‘spunk,’ and fashion sense are not magically
changed because she lives in a castle, and I think the story is all the more
compelling because of it.
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