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izloveshorses · 3 months ago
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Sorry if you’ve answered this before, but out of the outfits Anya wears in the musical is there one that you think feels the most representative of her in its design?
oooh this is an excellent question, idk if i can give just one answer. so i'll give three!
(anyone who knows more than me about fashion/costuming/textiles is welcome to chime in, i'm just working with vibes and being obsessed with The Character for seven years lol)
Big Red
the most obvious choice is Big Red (what she wears in the finale). Linda Cho's masterpiece was designed as a timeless look, something not quite period appropriate but a representation of how Anya/Anastasia is now a timeless figure, someone who managed to escape history and the narrative. the jewel pattern forms a phoenix shape, a creature known to die and be reborn in fire, which fittingly matches the very name of Anastasia ('she will rise again').
so, symbolically, Big Red makes the most sense for Anastasia, in a broader sense.
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Blue Ballet Dress
but while Big Red is perfect for Anastasia, I think the blue ballet dress is more suited to Anya, in a way. it's tighter fitting than Big Red, but it moves. pictures don't really do it justice but it's quite remarkable to watch in person. it's shimmering and fluid, it's flexible and light. And I think, if you watch the Broadway production specifically, Big Red is so stiff and lifeless. It restricts while Blue moves with. Which can represent the choice Anya has to make at her crossroads: live in restrictive glory as Anastasia or remain fluid as an anonymous woman? Anya adapts, survives. and to me, that is who Anya is more than anything else.
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Pink Hartford Era Dress
if we can expand beyond broadway and return to the pre-bway run at Hartford, I'd like to include the pink dress. In act i she seems more tomboyish, but in reality she just simply didn't have the means to wear anything beyond what was available to her. (The lore of the brown coat™ is that it was stolen off of a man which is why it's so ill fitting lol).
But by this point in the show she no longer has to rely on practicality and affordability to dress herself, she can afford to select something that represents her more. Now that they're in Paris she has access to anything under the sun! So I believe she chose this dress on her own, and I believe when you have the freedom to choose your own wardrobe, your wardrobe starts to express your personality. It's soft and sweet, it matches the pink blossoms that surround her when she sings Journey to the Past, representing hope and rebirth and springtime, echoing broader themes of her journey, etc etc. And she gets to be girly. Just a little bit. The color is also a bold choice imo. She stands out! She's no longer in drab neutrals, she's in bright and irresistible pink!
So. I can't not include the pink hartford dress on this list.
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