Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Miss Marple, Fashion Icon?
I had been meaning to post about this before. Rewatching the new Marple episode I had recorded a while back, I was reminded of the fact that I feel the "new" Miss Marple is adorable, but I found myself enjoying the fashions worn by the previous Marple more. From her oversized carpet bags, to her sweet knitted cardis, Miss Marple played by Geraldine McEwan was marvellous. I'm probably off my nut for even suggesting we look to Miss M. for fashion cues....but the colors and patterns, the lace collars and jabots, the HATS. I sort of love it! PS: if you saw my previous music post, which has since disappeared, APOLOGIES. Whenever this happens, it's usually due to embedding ending up being disabled or links being broken!
I'm allllll over it. Miss Marple IS a fashion icon. So demure, so elegant, so tea cozy. AH! I have a few 20's garments in my possession that whenever I put them on, I feel like I am immediately transcended back into the time when people had tea in parlors... So yes, 100% I am behind this!
ReplyDeleteI quite prefer the Geraldine McEwan Miss Marple. And I have long loved the "Granny Chic" style. There are several ladies that fall into that category that I see at daily Mass in my parish. They have been my style icons for years.
ReplyDeleteThere was a rerun of Miss Marple in Finnish TV last autumn, and I also looked at them "with that eye".. Both Miss Marple and the sidecharachters.
ReplyDeleteThey did a very well job with the costumes! And their hair, also...
Putting aside for a moment the fact that Agatha Christie is a genius, any television or film versions of her stories are worth watching for the fashion alone! I'm hooked on Poirot re-runs at the moment...
ReplyDeleteI have been called Miss Marple for years...Glad she's fashionable!!!
ReplyDeleteI have to say i prefer joan hicks as Miss Marple, though i've watched this series and thoroughly enjoyed it. I do feel in this series the character owns too many clothes, accurate though they are.
ReplyDeleteI too prefer Joan Hicks as Miss Marple, but I LOVE the clothing of Geraldine McEwan. Personally, I can't wait to be granny aged so the clothing I wear now looks "right" instead of just weird. I get a lot of comments right now. (Found your blog a little while ago, and love it!)
ReplyDelete"any television or film versions of her stories are worth watching for the fashion alone!" i absolutely agree with her!!
ReplyDeletei especially love the 2nd one
Yes! Geraldine McEwan is my favorite Marple. Though it isn't my favorite era, I think all the costumes in her version of the series are so fabulous, especially Sleeping Murder, 4:40 from Paddington, and A Murder is Announced.
ReplyDeleteYES YES the Poirot series has the BEST clothes. I agree with Miss Rayne's point about Geraldine's wardrobe being a bit too extensive to be true to the character of Christie's Marple, but I still LOVE LOVE LOVE it! Besides, the tv series took all sorts of creative licenses with plot and character. At least the clothes are spot on in terms of historical accuracy/authenticity!!
ReplyDeleteLet's just say I wouldn't turn down a few swagger coats, hats, or knitted goodies if Marple was cleaning out her closet ;)
ReplyDeleteHurrah for Granny chic!! bring on the tea cozies and doilies!!
ReplyDeleteI seem to recall that Joan Hickson wore the same hat in nearly all her episodes.
ReplyDeleteYay :) Geraldine McEwan is my favourite Miss Marple, and I love her clothes! But my friends are always telling me I am a 90 year old women trapped in a 20 year old body so perhaps thats why...
ReplyDeleteJoan Hickson's still my favourite Marple. <3 But Geraldine McEwan dresses the cutest. And I think the entire series takes liberties in terms of styling. Even though the clothes ARE authentic, I have to wonder how many women looked so glam as most of the characters do in post-war tiny English villages. Not that I mind because everyone looks fabulous. ;]
ReplyDelete-Andi x
Good point, Andi. But then, the more I learn about the 30s, the more I think it is plausible that, just as wartime women went to extra efforts to make do with what they had to keep morale up and look glamorous, so too did many 30s women fight off the Depression blues by sewing and knitting their own sexy and glamorous clothing, often inspired by Hollywood (I have a great Hollywood Pattern book that exemplifies what I mean--instead of going to the shops to buy outfits, it seems many 30s women would go out and buy a celebrity endorsed pattern). If you look at Marple's ensembles, they do contain a lot of knitwear--knitwear which it would not be a stretch to imagine a lady like Marple could have created herself, even with her more modest means? Oooh, I think I've got a great idea for a post. THANKS, Andi!
ReplyDeleteHehe, no worries! That IS a good idea for a post - I mean, she's practically never without her knitting!
ReplyDeleteI think most of the series is set in the 50s, though? Even though Marple did appear pre and throughout the war in the books, I've always had the feeling that they took the stories and set them in the 50s. Seeing as how they talk about returned soldiers, etc. But that's a very good point. Perhaps not every single English woman was as glamorous as those in Marple but I'm sure a lot were! And they do still have the dowdier ladies, like Jessica Stevenson's character in The Moving Finger and others.