Thoughts/Analysis of Anne Boleyn’s costume
Seeing as my Katherine Howard costume analysis was so popular, I decided to make another one for everyones favourite gremlin: Anne Boleyn. Like her song, Anne’s costume is full of references and hidden meanings, so let’s go:
(Sorry for there being no cut)
In Six, Anne is portrayed as a slightly more chaotic version of what she would have been in real life. One way in which this is shown as the skirt of her outfit. The skirt is bouncy to show her as more childish and innocent, which contrasts with the historical perception as her being someone who was very calculating and almost considered evil by some people due to her role in the breaking of the church and the separation of Henry and Catherine of Aragon.
However, there could be another reason for why the skirt is styled like that. The space buns and the skirt make Anne appear more doll-like, which links in with the way she was supposedly controlled by her father. This is similar to Don’t Lose Ur Head, where the dancing is very much controlled in the beginning, when Anne is young, but as the song carries on, the dancing grows more wild and carefree. The image of Anne as a doll is also useful as it shows how Henry was looking for someone who was young, beautiful and who would give him a son. He wanted control over her, and would use her in anyway that helped him.
The colour green is associated with jealousy, ambition and cunning. These traits have been used in the past to describe Anne Boleyn, particularly with some historians saying she was ambitious in her ‘plot’ to marry the king.
The negative traits associated with the colour green are also similar to those forced upon Anne: in history, she was said to be jealous of Jane Seymour to the point of scratching her, some people assumed that she was the one pushing herself onto Henry VIII in order to move further up, and she is told by most historians as an extremely clever seducer of the king.
In Six, Anne is presented more quick minded and witty, breaking the role people were taught about. This is were the positive traits of the colour green come into play: growth, harmony and rebirth. This choice of colour could represent a new beginning for Anne, and one where she is happier as green has connotations of luck as well. Green is a peaceful colour, which is ironic considering Anne Boleyn historically had problems with both Jane Seymour and Catherine of Aragon, and so a pop concert with them actually there would be anything but peaceful. However, this use of colour could represent how Six is about women working together rather than fighting over their worth, and could be seen as a reminder that all of them get a new beginning with more people understanding their side of his story.
Green gowns used to be a synonym for sexual promiscuity (with the green representing grass stains), which means this dress could also be an reference to her being beheaded based on the false claims of sexual immorality. This colour could also be seen as ironic, considering it’s a reminder of the bad things that Anne is remembered for, and one of the messages of Six is all about impressions, and overcoming the roles people are forced into.
Most people know about the reference to ‘Greensleeves’ which was a song supposedly composed by Henry Viii in honour of Anne Boleyn. The song ‘Greensleeves’ is referenced in the first and last parts Anne sings about herself, and the melody reoccurs throughout the show.
One hidden meaning that this outfit has, is the lace which goes between the crop top and the skirt. This could represent Anne being insecure and uncomfortable with the revealing nature of her costume. This attitude could be in reference to how Anne- similar to Katherine Howard- was also mistreated by men. Obviously Henry Viii was the one who ordered her to be beheaded, but Thomas Cromwell was the one of the main people involved in her trial, and her father was said to be a highly controlling figure.
The final part of this costume is the ‘B’ choker Anne wears. There are two meaning behind this: one is that, historically, Anne Boleyn wore a necklace with the ‘B’ on it, and there is even a portrait with her wearing it. The other meaning is that, in Six, both Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard wear a necklace with their surname initial, which represents that they were both beheaded. The ‘B’ necklace worn in Six is chunkier than the historical one, and- from certain angles- looks more like a dog collar than a necklace, which could perhaps be a reference to how Anne was almost wild in her youth- carefree and innocent like a puppy. But as she grew older, people began to ‘tame’ and control her for themselves. And finally she became too ‘untrained’ and unuseful to Henry, so he had her killed.
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