Alice in wonderland dress

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One of the most iconic figures to emerge from the children's literature of the 19th century, and the most instantly recognisable from her attire, is Alice in Wonderland^[1]. This is mostly due to the original illustrations of the first edition by John Tenniel and their subsequent repetition with minimal alterations in every published volume or film work since. In the early coloured works, the original itself being illustrated in simple black and white, a range of colours for Alice's dress were used, most often red or yellow. Only with Walt Disney's animated 1951 version ^[2]did the use of pale blue for her dress being fixed in the general public's mind and this has become by far the most popular colour in subsequent illustrations. Similarly,before Disney Alice was usually portrayed as being brunette, but in the majority of works since she has long blonde hair. ^[3]

[edit] The Victorian Alice

The basic format of Alice's clothing as laid down by Tenniel is that of typical middle-class girl of the Victorian era, while unremarkable then, have remained fixed no matter what the era the work is set in since. She wears a relatively plain pastel coloured or dark dress which may button up the front or rear, contrasting white Peter Pan colour, puffed sleeves, perhaps edged with lace or broidery anglais and a number of horizontal parallel bands or a tier effect, usually of the same colour, round the circumference of her skirt above the hem. Over the dress she wears a pinafore, fastened at the back with a bow, which is white and edged in a darker colour, usually pink in the coloured versions. The front of the apron below the waist is all edged with a white ruffle of the same material as the apron itself and the border of the plain portion of the apron before the ruffle starts is edged with the same contrasting colour as before. The join between the edge skirts of the apron and non-edged bodice is hidden by the waist sash of the same colour. The front of the apron is embellished by two matching semi-circular pockets, edged across the top with the contrasting ribbon again. Probably the outfit most adhering to this standard in a live-action film as opposed to an animation is that worn by Fiona Fullerton in the 1972 musical version^[4], an exact copy of which is shown here.
By way of footwear, Alice is typically portrayed as wearing flat black patent strap over shoes of the 'Mary Jane' style. These are often combined with hooped stockings, as orignally envisaged by Tenniel, but these seem to have fallen out of favour, presumably in line with the more recent Disney 'standard'.

[edit] Notes