Wonderland’s Wardrobe

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Absinthe and personality crises notwithstanding, Tatiana finally makes it out into the marvellous garden glimpsed through that tiny door at the bottom of the rabbit hole…

I’ve very much enjoyed my little sojourn in Wonderland, but like Tim Burton’s grown-up Alice, I can’t promise I won’t be back. I just might take a leaf out of costume designer Colleen Atwood’s book though, and make my comeback in some new finery.

I finally saw the film only a few weeks ago. Leaving behind too high expectations (after reading middling reviews), I found myself thrilled most with the brilliant art direction and various costume changes Alice made. Why limit our heroine to one blue dress indeed? I particularly loved the scene where, accompanied by the sound of dressmaking scissors, the Mad Hatter – in fond reminiscence of Edward Scissorhands – swiftly fashioned a tiny gown for the shrunken Alice to don.

Check out the various incarnations of Alice’s classic LBD (Long Blue Dress) – and one red – below. (My own blue dress comes courtesy of Melbourne label Ammo, and the half-apron is a 1920s original.)

Alice, fresh from her engagement party, in ladylike powder blue.Deliciously en déshabille; precariously robed in Grecian folds, Alice nevertheless manages to run in this beribboned gown.A little snippet of a thing, Alice slips into a creation worthy of Wonderland's own couturier, the Mad Hatter himself.Scarlet befits the Red Queen’s court; back in blue, and back in the real world where shipboard adventure awaits.Many thanks to my cat Hero, who graciously consented to model for me.