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  • This is about you know her from meeting the beast.

  • You know this dress and this one.

  • But are they accurate?

  • We got this fashion historian.

  • Hello, My name is April Kyle Hannah.

  • I'm a fashion historian at the Fashion Institute of Technology, and she's going to walk us through what Disney got right and what they got wrong about these dresses.

  • First, let's establish a time period pre revolutionary 18th Century France.

  • Great.

  • We know this because aristocracy still exists, As we all know from the movie, our young prince lived in a shining castle.

  • Let's start with the yellow dress right off the bat.

  • We know that this bright, intense yellow color was probably not possible in 18th century France before the invention of synthetic aniline dyes.

  • In 18 56 all colors were sourced from natural dye stuffs, including plants, minerals and animals.

  • Yellow colors tended to be pale buttercup or even a deep dark mustard with a brown under town.

  • Our second clue that Belle's dress might not be 18th century is the shape or silhouette in the 18th century.

  • The volume, as you can see in this fashion plate of Marie Antoinette, came directly out from the hips, whereas bells skirt as well bell shaped, so this is not accurate.

  • Let's draw bells, yellow dress from the undergarments up first up the underwear.

  • During the 18th century, the very first layer of undergarment that both men and women weren't were known as a shimmies, which was either made of cotton or linen.

  • For more than 400 years, women's undergarments consisted of the shimmies over which was warned.

  • The corset.

  • That's the next layer.

  • In the 18th century, courses kind of created a conical shape and the things in a very narrow waist and raising and lifting the bosom.

  • The course in the shimmies is just the very beginning.

  • We have more foundation garments that go on to create the silhouette.

  • That's the third layer to create the volume of the skirt.

  • Women were actually wearing basket like construction strapped around their waist.

  • These were known as Spanier's.

  • Pennies were often made of either would cane or even wire.

  • So as an aristocrat, your panties would be whiter, the higher rank you are.

  • Some of these skirts were so wide that they had to enter an exit of room sideways fell stress.

  • Silhouette is actually far more 19th century than it is 18th century.

  • Here we see a fashion plate from the 18 fifties.

  • This is remarkably similar to the style of dress that Bell is wearing.

  • The fourth layer would be the petticoats over the pan.

  • Yea layers and layers of petticoats would be warm.

  • Petticoats could wait up to 15 £20 and then the gown, which was in multiple pieces.

  • Your wasn't exactly like we think of a dress today because it didn't close in the front.

  • It was more of like a long jacket, the second part of the gown.

  • And in order to fasten your gown over your course that you would be wearing what's called a stomach er and a stomach.

  • ER is a stiffened triangular piece of textile that your gown would then be pinned or sewn to to keep the front of your dress closed.

  • Women were literally sewn into their dress each and every day.

  • Let's face it, 18th century fashion was not comfortable.

  • Finally, we have to look at bells hair, which for this time period is missing a huge component.

  • This is a puff this extremely trendy fashionable hair styles, which were created partially by a wig, which might have an under structure of wood or wire, and then the wearer's own hair would be arranged.

  • Around this, the height of some of these proofs could be one or two or three feet, even like we said huge.

  • So here's what Bell would have looked like compared to the original Disney look.

  • Ah, wait.

  • One more thing.

  • You will also know an 18th century fashion gloves were not so much of an important accessory fans, much more so Certain movements with your fan could be considered flirtatious, and you could even answer yes or no by placing the fan on one cheek versus another.

  • So finally, this is what Princess Belle would have looked like.

  • Now let's look at Belle before all of the dancing and singing with inanimate objects.

  • Bells, blue day dress Bell lived in a provincial town.

  • Was her blue dress appropriate for an 18th century commoner?

  • The two main things that are wrong with bells look in town is that she's not wearing stockings and she's not wearing hat, so this is not accurate, either.

  • Now we're going to draw every layer of this dress.

  • Her underwear would have also been Isham ease.

  • The next layer would have been stockings, regardless of class.

  • In the 18th century, all women wore knit stockings.

  • These were essentially like fi hi tights.

  • But because elastic had not been invented yet, you had to secure the stocking to your leg by tying a ribbon just above the knee and then the course.

  • It even working class women during the 18th century would have been wearing a corset, and this was considered proper and modest.

  • And this particular image we see a mail corset maker fitting, of course it to this woman.

  • It was actually legally mandated that only men were allowed to make courses, and this was all part of the 18th century guild system.

  • Next, the silhouette garment.

  • The silhouette of her skirt is not supported by the pan.

  • Yes, that we spoke about earlier.

  • Instead, there's just certain softness to it.

  • Beneath this would have probably been what's called a bum role, which were patted tubes that will warn tied about the waste.

  • On top of this thumb rule would have been multiple petticoats and then the next layer.

  • A Caracol being a short jacket attended have a little flounce in the back, and this would be paired with a skirt over the garments was the April 1 of the things that the animators absolutely got right was the fact that she's wearing a white.

  • During the 18th century, clothing and textiles were tremendously expensive, so to protect and care for your clothing, working class women tended to wear aprons over there textiles, and she would have worn a hat.

  • All women were bonnets, caps for hair ornaments to display your hair and public was a signal of sexual availability.

  • Finally, the last piece of this little kerchiefs around her shoulders is called a fish You, because the course it's forced to the breasts up and out.

  • Every once in a while, there is an occasional nip slip and the tissue prevented.

  • That provided a little bit more modesty.

  • So here's what townsfolk Bell would have looked like.

  • Compared to the Disney version, the Disney animators have taken design and aesthetic references, fanning several different decades to basically create romanticize, fictionalized historic past and this mix of film indeed, a tale as old as time.

  • And that's what Bell would have warned if she lived in history.

This is about you know her from meeting the beast.

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