The Piano - Costume

 

Costume is used throughout the film in a symbolic way. This is shown when Ada tells Flora to deliver the piano key to Baines (at 1:29:55) and as she runs off, Flora is wearing a white fairy apron with angel wings, which represents Flora’s innocence, youth and purity. Flora - up until now - has been presented in the film with neat, clean clothing and her hair in a tidy up-do. After the production, Flora is shown to be content with her fairy costume as she continues to wear it.  She chooses to change her path when she is walking on the planks, and decides to deliver the piano key to Alisdair instead, switching from the plank leading to Baines to the plank leading to Alasdair and she slightly falls off, showing that she's making a bad decision and there is worse to come. When Flora reaches Alisdair, her wings and apron are slightly dirty. Once Flora arrives home after running through the dark, rainy forest, her white apron is muddy and dirty and her hair is wet, tangled and messy. As the scene goes on, her costume gets significantly dirtier. When Alisdair chops off Ada’s finger, Flora's mothers blood sprays on Flora’s right cheek, her apron and the centre of the string holding Flora’s wings. This scene shows through Flora's white apron and wings that Flora is losing her innocence as her costume gets dirtier. When the blood sprays on Flora, it's viewed as Flora's ultimate loss of innocence and how she has been thrown into the world of adulthood. The use of the dirty, muddy, conditions makes the audience feel uncomfortable for Ada and Flora. This idea is linked to Ada, who uses Flora as her communication with other people through sign language. Because Ada heavily relies on Flora to speak her thoughts and is very dependant on her, when Ada is dragged into the violent scene, Flora is as well. Ada's costume is also used in a symbolic way, her dress being painful and uncomfortable and she is made to wear it because of the society she's in. The netting under the skirt is used as protection for Ada against Alistair and it shows her unwillingness to be affectionate and love him as the ideal wife would. It is used as a barrier when Alisdair grabs her and pulls her 
as he's only able to grab her by her chest. It is also used as protection at the beginning of the film, where Flora is being sheltered underneath her skirt at the beach to protect her from the harsh conditions. Throughout the film, Ada's dress becomes a symbol of her and other women's pain and suffering.