Princesses, Pirates, and an Empress: Dressing the 18th Century Anachronistically on Screen

The costume designer for the Marie Antoinette (1938), Gilbert Adrian, researched the 18th century dress extensively, yet cut dress trimmings on bias, had shoulders revealed in court dresses, and wigs that were more 19th century than 18th. Marie Antoinette (2006) has more or less the same level of accuracy. “Anachronisms are found in almost every motion picture that portrays another period,” says costume and textile historian Edward Maeder, “… instead these costumes take elements of past styles and combine them with aspects of contemporary fashion,” (Landis, 2013). When the internet is filled with takedowns of the historical inaccuracies in films and TV, on screen depictions of the past continue to be anachronistic. Anachronisms are not always due to a lack of research, but sometimes quite the opposite! Good costume designers research their given period thoroughly, and, much like Maeder said, choose what to keep and what to change.  Often these reasons are to better connect with modern sensibilities and styles, but these changes can also be done to elevate a piece of media into historical fantasy, or to say more about the themes and characters than any piece of completely historical costume could hope to do. With a focus on costume, three different pieces of recent media will be analysed: Marie Antoinette (2006) The Great (2020—) and Our Flag Means Death (2022—) and used as evidence of successful anachronistic costume that highlights their stories and character