Earlier I re-blogged that I agreed with everything but Rapunzel’s gown, and I was asked to elaborate. I’m sorry it took so long to do so! I wanted to make sure that, since I don’t have access to the materials I had when I studied medieval, renaissance, and early modern dress in University, that I was not just providing you with unreliable source photos or costume websites. I’m sorry if this is completely over the top, but as I said, I focused on this in schooling so I have no chill when I get to talk period dress.
First and foremost, I will say that Mother Gothel’s dress is right on the money. Her dress is from the middle ages (my guess would be from (1000-1175), and Rapunzel’s is more similar in various styles and details to 16th century gowns of varying classes.
We need to recall that Rapunzel will not have the same access to all the things that went into costumes of that time, so the foundations of the garment may not be the same, but when you look at the details, that’s when it becomes clear. It’s why all the gowns I describe below will have a fuller shape and structure. The things I’m talking about are:
1. A stiff corset with boning and/or stays beneath the bodice. I highly doubt Gothel would want to show off Rapunzel’s bosom and shape with a corset, nor make it more difficult to do day-to-day labor.
2. A hoop skirt, hip roll, bum roll, or various layering petticoats (Although her Parks counterpart wears petticoats and bloomers under her dress, Movie!Rapunzel only wears ONE petticoat).
3. Rapunzel would most likely not have someone to help her dress everyday. Therefore, a back-lacing bodice/corset/stays would be nigh impossible for her to wear. Trust me, I’ve tried to do it. Big fat nope. Front laced bodices were much more common in peasants, prostitutes, or working women of the merchant class, who could not afford their own handmaiden to dress them. I believe this would influence how Rapunzel would customize her gowns. She does have a lot of details similar to upper classes on her gown, but the front lacing is (typically) more lower classes. Upper-class women who did wear front lacing bodices would usually cover the the space between the laces with a nice stomacher:
The woman above here is wearing stays underneath, several petticoats, and maybe a hip roll, as well as a hoop skirt for volume. But imagine that front lace bodice there with NO corset underneath. It would shape like Rapunzel’s.
We also need to keep in mind that Disney has a history of looking at costuming over an entire century, and combining things together for a specific look, as they did with Snow White.
Now, in no way do I think Rapunzel’s gown is Regency period, at all. Regency styles of dress would always center around a raised empire waist, that was the hallmark of the style, with NO little to no bodice in the front. I think the similarity you see in the shape of the gown and how it hangs, is due to the fact that, as mentioned above, she does not have or wear shaping garments or underwear of any kind. The picture you used above looks like it’s a costuming website, so it is not actually accurate to the style, and is a nightgown/chemise, which I don’t think Rapunzel wears either. I have attached some examples for typical Regency gowns:
And a ballgown with a puff(ish) sleeve:
Rapunzel has a bodice (a lace up vest like portion on top). It may not be stiff or have structure (because, like I said, I do not think she would be able to make herself or think to make herself a corset/stays, or be given one), so the bodice is not rigid and doesn’t form that distinct body shape we think of for Tudor fashion. The A-line detailing on the skirt is not Regency either. Additionally, puff sleeves can be found in various decades of dress all across renaissance and early modern time. They drift in and out of fashion, pop up for some years then go away again, just like ours do on a decade basis. Apparently mom jeans are in again right now. I’m sure they will go away in a couple years. Similarly, the puff sleeve was prevalent in various decades, including Regency gowns. I would argue that Giselle’s turquoise dress from Enchanted is has more in common with Regency. I think it’s important we look at the other details of Rapunzel’s gown to truly pinpoint with more accuracy.
So, earlier in your post you showed a girl in a costume that looked like the dress Queen Arianna wears.
This is 100% a mesh of several 16th Century styles. No doubt. The A line overdress. The stomacher panel. The puff sleeve of the chemise showing through the sleeve of the overdress. The underskirt with a complimentary pattern.
The PEARL NECKLACE THAT LOOKS LIKE ANNE BOLEYN’S NECKLACE:
The only thing different is that her hair is not in a hood. But hoods suck. We like our women with free hair! Arianna would DEFINITELY have someone to help her dress.
Now lets look at Rapunzel:
Now, in my opinion, this is also 100% 16th Century dress, attempting to be high class, but not having the resources. A discount ladies dress if you will, which completely makes sense if Rapunzel made it herself. It’s a complete hodgepodge. The puff sleeve with the striping detail is like a watered down version of the classic 16th Century puff and slash sleeve of the times:
The bodice is a lace up bodice with no corset underneath like 16th Century peasantry-wear:
Her skirt mimics the A-line detail of upper class overdress’s skirt, but hers are not two skirts, they are one skirt. The seaming is what gives the illusion to the overdress. Here’s a costume to show what Arianna’s (and Parks!Rapunzel) does:
But Rapunzel’s is all one skirt. SHe has the A-line detail that is hallmark 16th Century, and she has the brocade (faux) underskirt pattern as well. And, she hand-painted her own details on there.
With this one you can see another feature, is that the top of the sleeve near the shoulder blade would be larger and taper down to a smaller style. This particular gown has the thin chemise similar to Rapunzel’s. I’ve seen that a few times in 16th Century gowns in Italy, where it is a bit warmer in climate.
Finally, you can see the focal point of the gown is at the natural waist. All the lines of the gown point to it, which is classic of 16th Century dresses. The focal point and seaming is not under the bust like a Regency gown.
BONUS: For her final gown, she retains some of her old style, more of her mom’s style, and FINALLY HAS A A HANDMAIDEN TO LACE A BACK CORSET:
So basically, I think that Rapunzel’s gown is pretty obviously 16th Century. A watered down hodgepodge of styles that would make sense considering the character. Most of the other analysis I’ve seen of the costuming in this movie comes to the same conclusion. I hope this helps and doesn’t come off as pretentious, I just got excited to share some info!
