Visual Stimulus

Thursday 31 May 2012

Aesthetics VS Authenticity

Beatrice has been the character that I've been really struggling to get right from the very start. My instinct was to put her in a Salwar-Kameez, as to a western audience, the inclusion of the trousers can represent Beatrice's hint of powerful masculinity. However, I didn't really like the aesthetics of the Salwar-Kameez, even the period ones look quite modern.
Today I found this photo which I absolutely LOVED and it screamed Beatrice at me straight away:
I think what I like about it is that it's quite 'punk'- or at least is reminiscent of the western idea of 'punk'. And if anything Beatrice is quite a rebel. There are a few problems with dressing Beatrice like this. Firstly, I'm not sure if it's noble enough, although she is slightly lower status than Hero, Beatrice has still been brought-up in a wealthy family.
However, the utmost problem is that most of what I like about this outfit is the jewellery and adornments- the mismatch of colours and textures. YET all the things I like are things that represent the fact that the woman pictured above is MARRIED. All the jewellery and the chuda on her arms are signposts that she is married and Beatrice could not be more of a bachelorette.

But I love the aesthetic.......

Thus, the problem arises.... do I ignore the cultural implications of what this outfit might mean- assuming  that not a huge percentage of the audience have the specialist knowledge of the culture to pick-up on the error? But this seems ignorant and pig-headed, sweeping aside all the research I've done into the Indian culture and cultural appropriation.
However, as a costume DESIGNER I think I have certain artistic license to choose style over substance, when my main role is to get the 'look' of the piece right- especially when it is potentially a fact that few in the audience will know. It's not like I'm doing a period production of Pride and Prejudice and decided to put Mr Darcy in dungarees..... surely it's not as blindingly wrong as that? But maybe to an Indian person it is.....

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