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"Fantasy and reality often overlap": Contextualizing Disney Undressed
37 Plays2 years ago
In this mini-episode, learn a bit more about just who in the heck I am and what kinds of things I'll be researching on this fashionable journey through the wonderful world of Disney fashion! I share my background with Disney along with a couple examples of topics that pique my interest such as historical influence on animated costumes in film and Disney-inspired fashion in the real world.
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Transcript
Introduction to Disney Undressed
00:00:09
Speaker
Hello there, welcome to Disney Undressed, a podcast where we explore the magic of costuming in Disney films, parks, and other media. I'm your host, Marley, a fashion scholar, curator, and enthusiast of almost all things Disney, particularly when it comes to fashion.
00:00:25
Speaker
So welcome to the inaugural episode guys. Today I'm going to share a little bit about myself and sort of set the stage for what to expect on Disney Undressed.
Marley's Fashion Scholar Background
00:00:34
Speaker
So I'm an independent scholar and curator based in Southern California. I studied history, archaeology, and anthropology in college, and I have a master's in fashion curation.
00:00:44
Speaker
I write for various types of publications that include book and exhibition reviews as well as journal articles, and I've curated and co-curated exhibitions for the Rombere Ballet Company on London's South Bank, the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park, and the Women's Museum of California.
00:01:00
Speaker
The one thing that all of my projects and research has in common is fashion. So as a fashion scholar, I study fashion history and theory and have applied this to my curatorial work. In addition to a sort of traditional appreciation of historic and contemporary fashion, I'm also really interested in how these things interplay with costuming in film, and obviously I am particularly interested in the costuming around Disney.
Influences of the Disney Renaissance
00:01:25
Speaker
So my Disney journey began as a kid growing up in Southern California during what is affectionately known as the Disney Renaissance, that period between roughly 1989 and 1999 in which many popular animated films were produced at Walt Disney Studios such as The Little Mermaid and The Lawn, The Lion King,
00:01:46
Speaker
and a ton of other really successful properties. So I definitely remember watching Ariel, Aladdin, Belle, and Mulan embark on these really daring journeys of self-discovery and that their important moments of transition are marked with wardrobe changes.
00:02:03
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and you know as a kid when we visited Disneyland it was such an exciting experience for me to get to see these costumes in person and really complete the mental image I had of these characters with this sort of tactile reinforcement of these gowns.
00:02:18
Speaker
Dress is undeniably an incredibly important part of the human experience. Across the globe, everyone has some amount of experience with dress, either more or less of it, depending on geographic location, cultural or religious affiliations, or personal preferences. Mircea Prada has said fashion is instant language, which is just so true.
Fashion as a Societal Indicator
00:02:40
Speaker
It's also a visual marker of societal changes and cultural preoccupations at specific times in history.
00:02:48
Speaker
Fashion and dress are so telling of what is happening at large in the real world, so it is sort of doubly interesting to see its effect on screen through the medium of film and television. I operate in my research with a sense that there is much value in the study of fashion and dress history in and of itself, and I also pause that there is much to be gleaned from fashion's intersection with popular culture.
00:03:15
Speaker
I often find myself having really engaging conversations with other people about a particular movie or a Disney theme park or whatever else. And I always think to myself, wow, I wish I had written that down or that would be a really interesting journal article or a blog series. So I think that a podcast might be a good way of creating springboards for my various research projects in progress, as well as germinating the seeds of new projects.
00:03:44
Speaker
Also, just to have an arena to discuss these topics with others and get some really interesting perspectives and insights that I might not reach on my own.
Balancing Credibility and Entertainment
00:03:53
Speaker
Merit's being said that this podcast is not going to have a stale, overly academic tone. Certainly everything will be well researched and we're striving for credible analysis, but this is also meant to be an entertaining and convivial atmosphere where I can have fun chatting with my guests about fashion and Disney.
00:04:15
Speaker
When it comes to Disney fashion, I'm interested in how fashion is represented in costumes on screen and how it manifests back into fashion in the real world. For their inspiration, to their construction, to their intention in character development, I'm fascinated by the process of costuming in animated and live action film.
00:04:37
Speaker
How did the iconic styles of some of our favorite Disney characters come to be? So I'll have episodes that focus on breaking down the costumes of a particular film or series and comment on the historical context behind them. What eras are represented or referenced in the clothing? Is this reflected in the overall design of the environment of the story?
Costume Development in Disney Films
00:04:57
Speaker
And what additional influences factored into their construction, including historic and contemporary fashion as design sources?
00:05:05
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I'm also going to tie in details on the production history of individual films, as well as the Walt Disney Company history. And this is where the value of my esteemed guests is really going to shine. I'm intrigued by how Disney artists not only researched for the inspiration in creating clothing for characters and how subsequently character development relies on costuming.
00:05:32
Speaker
What do artists think about contemporary fashion in their own time? What are their interpretations of historical fashions? What kinds of traits do they want to convey? And what kinds of dress styles do they think can accomplish that? If I boil it down to a couple main points, it would be A, how does a contemporary context influence an artist's interpretations of real world fashion? B, how does fashion influence costume design in film? And C,
00:06:01
Speaker
how is costume used as a tool in film, both animated and live action, to enhance and reinforce character development? And this last point is sort of the crux of how not only artists interpret fashion and dress, but how the audience or viewers of the film or other media will interpret the costuming out the other end.
Cruella de Vil's Fashion Evolution
00:06:20
Speaker
And all of this is part of a larger study of the psychology of fashion and all of the social aspects of interpreting dress.
00:06:28
Speaker
So for instance, one of my current ongoing research projects is about fashion and 101 Dalmatians. I'm working on one paper right now that focuses on Cruella de Vil and she's a super obvious and excellent subject when it comes to talking about fashion in Disney. I've been thinking about Cruella in a lot of ways recently because she's this amazing case study and everything about her leads down a different path of analysis, whether it's her sort of physicality on screen, her actual costuming,
00:06:58
Speaker
the design inspirations for her, Mark Davis's experience and influence in her animation, whatever it is. All of these paths, they converge into this singular woman who is an absolute paragon of depravity and shamelessness. And Cruella is quite a distinct character in that her initial iteration by Disney is the visual foundation for every additional version that they've created. I have really enjoyed comparing
00:07:28
Speaker
everything about Cruella with Dodie Smith's novel in the 1950s and the subsequent live-action films in the 90s as well as the recent Cruella movie. The recent movie is obviously super fashion focused so there's a lot to talk about there but even the prominence of Cruella's job as a fashion designer in the live-action films from the 1990s have a lot of fashion moments.
00:07:50
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There's even pretty substantial fashion commentary in the 1961 animated film. I will definitely be doing future episodes I'm sure it'll be more than one on 101 Dalmatian, so I won't get super far into it now
Impact of Disney Costumes on Fashion
00:08:05
Speaker
Moving over to real-world Disney fashion, I'm interested in how the costumes of Disney characters take on a life beyond the screen. A couple examples include the impact on mainstream fashion and the cross-collaboration of Disney with other companies for clothing and other merchandise. This can be officially sanctioned stuff like brand collaboration with designer labels
00:08:26
Speaker
or more mainstream fashion brands. Also, unlicensed third-party merchandise like Etsy artists who make Disney themed clothing, mouse ears, etc. I also researched Disney fashion subcultures and other real-world fashion that is inspired by Disney characters and properties.
The Art of Disneybounding
00:08:44
Speaker
Disneybounding, for instance, is the practice of creating outfits that are inspired by Disney characters. It's really about identifying key colors and motifs from the individual character in their film. So for example, if I wanted to do a Disneybound as Merida from the movie Brave, I might pick some jewelry that has arrows as a motif or find a teal or dark green plaid skirt or a sweater with a black bear on it.
00:09:11
Speaker
just to sort of reference visual things from the film itself that would be associated with this particular character. It's important to distinguish that bounding ensembles are not cosplay, they're not costumes, they're very much themed outfits that represent an individual's personal take on a specific character. Bounding also isn't reserved just for characters. People can create outfits based on entire movies, theme park rides or foods or other Disney related media.
00:09:39
Speaker
The fashions of events like dapper day where practitioners often wear vintage or vintage inspired clothing are also fun to think about. The specification is for people to dress up a little or a lot and embrace contemporary fashion as well as vintage styles. On the official website for dapper day dapper is defined as neat and trim and dress appearance or bearing.
00:10:02
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The point is for everyone to celebrate their own style and not dictate a strict dress code or time period. A lot of the time dapper day ensembles also incorporate bounding.
Fashion in Disney Parks
00:10:13
Speaker
Bounding and dapper day are such great fashion trends to study because there's so much participation from people all around the world and it's fascinating to observe how different people interpret the same characters look into a personal fashion statement that's unique to themselves. Park fashion
00:10:31
Speaker
is a large cornerstone of my research and there's all sorts of facets to that. So besides Disney bounding and Dapper Day, I'll talk about Disney branded merchandise that people wear in the parks that are purchased on site or online and from different types of vendors. Some objects have become these incredibly sought after collectibles and status symbols like Mickey and Minnie ear headbands, spirit jerseys, and mini backpacks. Over the last few years,
00:10:58
Speaker
They've come to include all sorts of themes and designs, including holiday ones, specific park rides, Disney film characters, and even specific events that happen across the various parks. There were close to 100 different styles of ears available across Disneyland and Walt Disney World in 2023, so obviously the company is very much aware of their popularity and collectors demand for new styles.
00:11:24
Speaker
These items are very much aspirational fashion, and there's a whole culture around collecting them, which sparks conversation around things like Veblen's theorization about conspicuous consumption and the display of wealth or status via dress. Of course, there's also countless shirts, sweatshirts, hats, bags, you name it, that you can buy at the dozens of shops and kiosks around the parks and properties. And I'm really hoping to delve into many of those throughout the course of this project.
Interdisciplinary Disney Research
00:11:55
Speaker
There are some really interesting things that are going on out there in the Disney Studies universe, and if you have a niche interest in something Disney related, chances are there's someone out there doing research at the cross section of Disney and whatever discipline you may be interested in, be it gender studies, performance, film studies, sociology, you name it.
00:12:15
Speaker
Over the course of the show, all rope and guests who have a really cool niche focus for their own research or preoccupation, or who can speak to a particular aspect of the Walt Disney Company's history, or who can talk definitively about a specific film. So for example, I'll bring on costume designers, researchers, fashion historians, psychologists, other podcasters, and other academics who research the various branches on the Disney tree.
00:12:43
Speaker
Something I'm aiming to do during each episode is to sort of leave you with a few resources also that support the discussion and that you can check out if you want to go further down the rabbit hole.
Recommended Resources and Conclusion
00:12:54
Speaker
This might be books, other podcasts, academic journals, or online resources. So for instance, the first one I'd highly recommend is the Art of series.
00:13:04
Speaker
which is published by Chronicle Books. These books are a fantastic visual reference for individual Disney and Pixar films that include things like concept art, digital renderings of environments, and character studies. This includes, gosh, everything. You know, the art of Frozen, the art of The Incredibles, the art of Encanto, and many, many more.
00:13:24
Speaker
Episodes of Disney undressed will be rolling out quite slowly at first, but hopefully over time we'll find our rhythm and become lots more sophisticated in our technical presentation. I appreciate your listening and I hope you enjoy undressing these films as much as I do. And with that, I'll wrap up this first little mini episode. In the words of Cruella Darling's, don't worry, we're just getting started. There's lots more bad things coming, I promise.