The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is one of the highly rated shows streaming on Amazon Prime. The plot revolves around Miriam a.k.a Midge Maisel who is a stand-up comedian who goes by her stage name Mrs. Maisel. Set in the backdrop of late 1950s, this show attempts to celebrate womenhood. Midge who led a life of luxury in New York’s upper east-side, with a well-to-do husband, kids and family, suddenly realized one day that there is more to her life and her identity than what is offered to her by the society, and hence, set her foot in the craziest journey of becoming a female stand-up comedian.
The show has also gathered immense popularity because of the impressive art direction and costume. The vintage fashion has been glorified in this show like never before. It is very hard to justify this brilliance with mere words, yet I shall give it a try.
Firstly, the protagonist Rachel Brosnahan, has maintained a skin routine which enhances the look of almost every outfit she is styled with. There is a very careful choice made here with the protagonist by the show-makers because they are also establishing the relationship between women and their constant need to achieve the ‘ideal body standards’. And further, they are trying to push the idea about how unimportant it is, by depicting how Midge’s life fell apart despite having the ‘perfect symmetrical body’.
So moving on, beauty and fashion is definitely an important part of the show, and its presence is established with very subtle elements. Some of the very explicit ones can be, Moishe Maisel (Midge’s father-in-law) owning a garment factory named ‘Maisel and Roth’. The kind of coats and dresses produced in that factory, completely matches the colour palette of the costumes of all the characters. Even Midge’s job at the makeup counter of B. Altman, required her to look presentable at all times.
To understand her fashion in a more comprehensive manner, I decided to demarcate this discussion into five major aspects that I want to talk about i.e. the poster, play with the basics, attention to the details, vacation looks and street looks.
THE POSTER
The one aspect common to all her styles, which makes the show what it is, is the careful play with colours. When we look at this poster, we can easily understand the statement they are trying to make. If described poetically, ‘she is a verve of colour in the land of greys’. The colour defines her uniqueness, boldness and something which is very life-like in a rather dull environment. Her character is presented as someone who is flawless, and hence they haven’t experimented much with loose fabrics or messy hairstyles throughout. If you observe, the nature of the whole look is very stiff, yet chirpy.
PLAY WITH THE BASICS
On careful observation, I found that the makers play with the basic colours when they show the protagonist in a position of power. By basics I mean, the little black dress, or the bold red outfit which is quite personal to almost every woman. So, the viewers would know that her stage outfit is mostly her little black dress. Stage is the place where she is in her most powerful form because she speaks her mind, her opinions are heard, and she is closest to her inner self at that moment. The red dress was worn, in the initial episodes when her husband had walked out on her and she had decided not to take him back. Interestingly, that was also a powerful move and that power was expressed with her fashion.
ATTENTION TO THE DETAILS
Something common with all her outfits is its fit around her waist. The cinched waist is followed by either a bodycon fit, or a voluminous pleated flow; usually the latter. Another thing which requires to be appreciated is how their styling team always manage to strike the perfect balance between the solids and the prints. As you can see in the above outfit, the dress is grey with blue undertones, like the matte form of metallic colours. The brighter colours are very subtly placed like the matte yellow hat, and the red nail-paint. Not to mention, red nail-paint is something which you will find with all her outfits. Moving on to the highlight of the entire look; the floral pumps. They add the right amount of print and play to a rather monotonous outfit and that is where the fashion wins. The pumps are not highly elevated but exactly how much is required for the midi length of the dress to be appreciated.
VACATION LOOKS
A large part of the second season’s plot revolved around the Catskills. Midge flaunted her fabulous summer body and her outfits were a delight. The pictures shown above are two of my personal favourite looks from those set of episodes. The first one is a playful day-look which has encompassed within itself all the colours from the summer palette. Again the belt and cinched waist is a must. The second look is extremely chic and I was happy that she went for a darker lip-shade for this one (will discuss that in sometime). The whole checker print absolutely blends with baby pink and all I can say is they break the monotone of every outfit with absolute brilliance.
STREET LOOKS
As you can see both the looks have extremely contrast tones, and here is where I want to establish how dynamic their use of colour in the outfits are. They choose very vibrant colours and yet place it in such way, where it doesn’t come off as flashy. While the first look sets a mood of contemplation, the second one is more like, ‘Ready to take on the world’. Some common things are, the belted waist and her rust orange lip-shade which according to my scrutiny, she cannot live without. In both the looks, the layering is very interesting, and it is not the first option one would have in mind (in terms of colour), while layering it. So it also breaks certain mental blocks pertaining to colour.
Overall, with the whole baroque architecture and set design, their fashion team has done absolute justice in terms of the looks, and these are some of the million thoughts I had in my mind when I watched this show. It is not just critically acclaimed, but publicly recommended. For more such blogs, don’t forget to scroll down and follow. Have an amazing day!
~ Upasana