Dress in Detail: the "Scarlett" Dress

            Here I am with another Dress in Detail costume analysis! (If you missed my others, on Judy Garland's "I Don't Care" dress and Ginger Rogers's "Never Gonna Dance" dress, give them a read!) I must confess to you that I've never seen Gone With the Wind, but the costume design is legendary. Walter Plunkett (who I just featured in my Singin' in the Rain article) was the mastermind behind the extravagant, historical costumes of this film - and none were grander than Vivien Leigh's. I'll be taking a closer look at the famous red dress from the birthday party scene which perfectly sums up the character of Scarlett O'Hara.

            The "Scarlett" dress is meant to be a showstopping attention-getter, slightly scandalous for the 1870s. It certainly achieves its goals. The design for this costume was meant to be wildly different from both what the other characters were wearing and what Scarlett had worn in the rest of the film. That way, not only would it stand out in that particular scene, but also in Scarlett's whole wardrobe. Walter Plunkett chose the vibrant color on purpose, both symbolically (scarlet/Scarlett) and to convey the traditional meanings behind the color red - love, desire, revenge - that Scarlett's character embodies in the scene.

            The dress itself is hand-sewn from scarlet velvet and embroidered on the bodice and skirt with glass beads. The bodice is boned like a corset for structure and shape, and has a low sweetheart neckline. Ostrich feathers, dyed to match the velvet, form giant plumes on the shoulders and down the back of the dress. This, along with the gathering of the skirt fabric, gives the back the appearance of a "bustle" which was the dominant silhouette in women's fashion at the time.

            In 2012, the dress was restored to preserve it for future costume exhibits and as a wonderful example of costume design from the Golden Age. Feathers were added to replace the aging ones, and some skirt fabric was removed to prevent the dress from weighing itself down. You can watch a fascinating video about the restoration here. Today it remains in incredible condition for a costume that's over 80 years old!

            I hope you enjoyed my latest Dress in Detail! I love this costume and and I loved getting to learn more about it. If you have any thoughts for future dresses to analyze, let me know in the comments!