She/Her

and EVEN WHEN things were more muted/neutral, the neutrality was OFFSET by ACCENT COLORS and HIGH CONTRAST between the wood tones and everything ELSE

ALSO AMERICAN COLONIAL INTERIORS POPPED OFF, Y'ALL (IN TERMS OF COLOR/COZINESS)

PEOPLE USED WHITEWASH AND COLORFUL TRIM OR EVEN JUST COLORFUL FURNITURE IF THEY COULD AFFORD TO DO SO

AND DON'T GET ME STARTED ON FRENCH AND BRITISH AND AMERICAN WALLPAPERS

"ELIZABETH" YOU CRY, "WHY ARE YOU BEING SO EXTRA THIS MORNING?! IT'S MONDAY"

Because, my friend, my war on GREIGE will NEVER end.

Historic interiors were filled with LIFE and LIGHT and COLOR. ALWAYS HAVE BEEN.

Part of the reason we don't see a lot of textile art is because, frankly, textiles tend to degrade over time - especially ones that had utility! And yes, pigments and weaving and dying all boosted the expense of things, when we were finally reliably block-printing fabrics and broad reams of paper, it was no longer just the wealthy who could afford pretty patterns!

In the Americas, a far wider variety of pigments also became available because of the abundance of... well, a shitton of flora and minerals, some of which weren't as common in Europe.

WHY THE HIGHLIGHTER COLORS? you ask.

CANDLES.

Those colors reflect candlelight and natural sunlight REALLY WELL.

Humans LOVE bright colors, it's NOT just a thing for kids. We live in a brilliant, vibrant, multifaceted world. We ALWAYS have.

(If ever you have the opportunity to visit the Stencil House at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont (pictured above at 3, 4, and 5), I highly recommend.)

And that's before you get into American painted murals:

But that tagline, Being agreeable never did a woman any good and the director's near disdain for history and the original text outlined in this article:

“I’m a little bit sick of the sort of fetishization of that time period, and this idea that everybody spent, like, seven hours doing their hair and makeup, and everything was always pristine, and somebody was always waiting to help you out of your dress or whatever. I’m not a historian, but I don’t buy all of it.”

"I know I'll be criticized for lack of historical accuracy, so why don't I call you all creepers for liking up-dos before you can protest. Also, I'm proud to be ignorant."

“One of our actors hadn’t seen the previous film, and he hadn’t read the book, and he asked me whether he should,” Oakley recalls. “I was like, ‘Well, maybe don’t.’ It’s kind of important for some people to come at this without any of those preconceptions. Something I would love is for people who know nothing of the book and who haven’t seen previous versions of it to see this and to connect with it.”

Remember when we were all so excited that Ian McKellen was a huge fan of the books of Lord of the Rings and kept them on set? Where did that energy go? Though honestly, I'd be happy to see a new Sense & Sensibility adaptation that leaves 1995 alone. If Margaret is a pirate again, I'm out.

I find this sentiment confusing as well-- I do get that getting an actor to not compare themself to other actors who have done the part can be good, because they can bring a fresh take on the character, and they won't be imitating a past performance, but then when you go one step farther, and say, "you shouldn't even read the book!" that's when it seems kind of odd to me. Like surely, reading the book, seeing the thoughts of the character, understanding more about who they are, surely that could only benefit a performance?

Incidentally, this is why I don't care that the recent Wuthering heights wasn't realistic period dress or society etc. It was blatantly symbolic (and Symbolic!) and wasn't trying for realism or period accuracy, so I don't criticise it for period inaccuracy. Like, who walks across the moors in a massive tulle gown in real life? No one ever, and that's the point. It's obviously performance, and that's what its going for. My criticisms are based on other criteria.

But this new adaptation of S&S seems realist - the colour palette and grading, the costumes and hair that aren't accurate but look like something real people at some point in time have worn, the characters that read like real(ish) modern women... It's trying to read as realist without being realistic and just. What's the point in setting it in the past then?? Why adapt Sense and Sensibility, a realistic realist novel, into an unrealistic realist movie?

I'm just so tired of earth tones being "realist." People wore bright clothes! The past wasn't drab, honestly it might have been brighter than now given our whole obsession with beige minimalism.

But no, it's not realistic unless it's BROWN and BORING

This is just modern minimalism imposed on the past. Just make a modern.

a) If you are doing Jane Austen, you are doing the top of society, percentage-wise. Stop lying to yourself. (Even the Dashwoods. They're poor in comparison to their previous situation but they still have incomes and more to the point, their old clothes.) They have servants. There is someone waiting to help them change clothes.

b) Oh my god it does not take hours to twist someone's hair up and stick a comb in it, and cosmetics were minimal. The alternative to pristine is not "full blown mess".

There are a shitton of videos on Youtube about people putting on period clothes or doing period hair, often with explaining the various parts of it and giving close-up views of cool details, and even with narrating everything it still only takes 10-15 minutes max to get into outfits from eras that have much more elaborate clothing than the Regency. Hairstyles are similar. And they didn't wear much makeup. Compare that with the time it takes to do a trendy blow-out hairstyle and full makeup today, and it may actually take less time to get ready in the Regency period.

Any movie, no matter how accurate it is, is going to change things for the sake of making things more palatable to modern audiences. That's part of theater. The question is which things are they changing, what message is the audience receiving, and most importantly, does it serve the plot and the characters and the themes. And usually, it doesn't!

Here's the thing about costumes in theater and movies. A character's clothes and styling should tell you something about that character. Here is a shot from a stage version of Les Mis. You can tell that the woman crouched down is decently prosperous; you can tell that the woman behind her standing up is, well, dirt poor. You can tell that the man kneeling down is closer to the crouching woman in status than to the standing woman. You can tell their relative social status at a glance without any further information.

Besides class and gender, costuming can be used to tell you how a character is feeling, their relationship to other characters, their attitudes towards tradition and generational conflicts, and so much more. Are they conservative or a free spirit? Are they shy or outgoing? Are they angry or happy? Costuming and styling choices are character choices--so many times, actors will say that their character's costumes changed how they inhabited that character, how they played them.

Though his fifteenth nameday was still half a year away, Prince Jacaerys proved himself a man, and a worthy heir to the Iron Throne.

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON

Mia asleep in Meredith’s arms….

MEREDITH & MIA → 1x06 Molnija

“I’m so glad you’re okay.” “I’m so glad you’re here.”

happy thanksgiving @imfunnyandrude! i love you so much. thank you for being there for me, and for always being there to talk about whatever and whoever <3

Eddie, who's wound so tight he's about to burst, hell bent to restore his honor as a guardian. Looking at every single thing like it's a threat.

Rose filled with rage and frustration that Jill's safety is out of her hand. And wracked with crushing guilt feeling like she ruined the life of everyone in that car.

Adrian in genuine agony having to be around Rose, desperately trying to disassociate so he doesn't have to comprehend that she's there. Also furious he's being shipped off to Timbuktu.

Jill who was pulled away from everything she's ever known, dealing with the fact people are actively trying to kill her, and recovering from the trauma of her attack. And now also is given a front row ticket to the shit show inside of Adrian's head.

All the while you got Abe, completely unbothered, just vibing trying to get someone to play the license plate game with him.