The Most Confusing Detail Of Rachel Zegler's "Awkward" 'Snow White' Costume, Explained
The internet has a lot of thoughts about Rachel Zegler's costume. After set pictures first leaked on the internet, people had called the live-action adaptation "awkward," "weird looking," and just straight up "bad," but recently, I've seen some questions surrounding the actual construction of the dress we're all so familiar with. And since I'm a costume history nerd, I decided to break it down for you — especially since one addition to Rachel Zegler's outfit is arguably more historically accurate than the cartoon.
Disney's Snow White has two main influences: the 1930s, when the original cartoon was released, and 1500s Germany, where the story is set. When you look at the film in that context, you can see just how much Snow White's design is influence by both periods, like her short, curly bob, which was very popular among younger girls in the 1930s (hello Shirley Temple!).
However, there's one costume detail that has confused a lot of viewers in the past: Snow White's collar. I'm one of those confused viewers, and remember watching the movie as a child and wondering what the purpose of her collar was! Well, after taking fashion history in college and doing a little bit of research, I've finally got an answer.
Snow White's costume seems to incorporate the classic 16th century partlet, which was a lightweight garment without sleeves that women wore with their bodices. Fashion historians agree that partlets were probably used for both warmth and modesty since dresses were fairly low-cut for the period.
However, you can see that Snow White's doesn't cover her chest at all, so the Disney interpretation really seems to be more of a decoration — just like her puffed sleeves!
It was common during this period for sleeves to feature slashing, "deliberate cutting of fabric for decorative effect" (via ), and its miniature version, which was called pinking. And the new Snow White design features something the original doesn't: long sleeves!
Even though some viewers admit they're , FIT reports German women preferred "narrow sleeves, often with gaps where their chemises would be puffed out," so it could be argued that the live-action Snow White is more historically accurate than the cartoon. And that's one detail I never expected from this live-action adaptation.
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