red hats and petticoats

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by

Kate Davies Designs
in ,

Susan left an interesting comment on my post about Powell and Pressburger’s Red Shoes, which has really made me think about the association between children and red garments, and how both have been represented in literature and film. There is Red Riding hood, of course, but the two examples that sprang immediately to my mind, and about which I can’t stop thinking, are the red petticoats from the Railway Children . . .

Jenny Aguter waving her red petticoat to prevent disaster in the Railway Children (1970)

. . . and Nancy and Peggy’s bold red nautical / piratical hats in Swallows and Amazons

Nancy and Peggy in their hats in Swallows and Amazons (1974)

I read and loved both of these books as a child, but it is the on-screen images of both hats and petticoats in the 1970s film adaptations that really stick indelibly in my mind. And all these years later, I’m clearly still profoundly influenced by Nancy and Peggy’s style . . .

What red clothes in books or films do you remember and why?

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Comments

36 responses to “red hats and petticoats”

  1. kwestrichard Avatar
    kwestrichard

    Hmm. My daughter had a thing for the Danish TV series of The Killing so I knitted her a couple of the sweaters – one using gorgeous undyed wool. However a red jumper featured in the series. I thought it was beautiful although I never quite worked out that pattern- still on my to do list.

    Reply
  2. Claire 'Word by Word' Avatar
    Claire ‘Word by Word’

    I just finished reading and reviewing on my blog, Elaine Feeney’s How To Build A Boat and in it a boy is grieving for his mother who died in childbirth. He has only ever seen Noelle in a video of her competing in a swimming gala, wearing a red swimsuit. The book cover also features a boat painted red and inside the flap, the lone swimmer in her red swimsuit. It is not yet a film, but I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that it will be made into one.

    Reply
  3. nobutterfly Avatar
    nobutterfly

    The red shoes of the witch in The wizard of Ozz that Dorothy gets to wear on her trip

    Reply
  4. Eliza57 Avatar
    Eliza57

    Little Old Mrs. Pepperpot wore a long skirt of red and white stripes. I remember as a child being struck by a (pleated) skirt that was red on the outside and white on the inside. The cover of the book showed a bright blue sky with a bird carrying Mrs. Pepperpot (She shrunk!) by the skirt. The tiny houses on the ground had red roofs too.

    Reply
  5. Deepa Avatar
    Deepa

    When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
    With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me. – from Warning, by Jenny Joseph

    I see Red Hat Society chapters everywhere here in the U.S. What a legacy to leave behind!

    Reply
  6. mouchkamoers Avatar
    mouchkamoers

    Bonjour, Merci pour vos articles toujours si intéressants. A propos du “rouge” et en tant que conteuse, j’aimerais partager avec vous un conte arménien que j’aime particulièrement et qui s’appelle “le fil rouge”. Je l’ai en français mais ne sais pas comment vous le faire parvenir. Merci de votre réponse. Karine

    Reply
  7. Stina Avatar
    Stina

    It seems that in every book I read there is a girl/woman in a red dress, but right now I can’t remember a single one. However I do think of Pippi Longstocking’s red apron over a blue dress, Winnie the Puh’s red sweather and little My’s red dress (my favorite moomin character).

    Reply
  8. Susan Avatar
    Susan

    I’ve always wondered: what is a riding hood, as in Little Red Riding Hood? She’s going on foot to her grandmother’s house, after all.

    For red in films, the poisoned apple that Snow White eats in the Disney cartoon.

    Reply
  9. Dianna Avatar
    Dianna

    In the 1993 film adaptation of The Secret Garden, Mary has a red knitted beret that’s stuck with me. I first saw this film as a child, so when I finally rewatched it in my early 20s, I realized that the film had a profound impact on the development of my style without me ever knowing it!

    Reply
  10. Jenny Avatar
    Jenny

    There’s a Rosemary Sutcliff book called “Flame-Coloured Taffeta”, in which a young girl’s memory of a dancer’s petticoat is a reoccurring theme. Loved all her books, but I’ve always wanted to SEE “flame-coloured taffeta”!

    Reply
  11. Karen H. Avatar
    Karen H.

    I immediately thought of Joan’s red dress(es) in Mad Men and the red swimsuit Kate Winslet finds in a mail order catalogue in Little Children. The color red is key in both costumes.

    (https://www.allure.com/gallery/best-mad-men-beauty-looks) (https://www.yourprops.com/Sarah-Pierce-s-Kate-Winslet-Red-original-movie-costume-Little-Children-2006-YP831255.html)

    Reply
  12. thornmaiden Avatar
    thornmaiden

    I don’t have a particular film in mind for red, but I am a little obsessed by the Autochrome photographs of Christina Bevan: https://blog.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/christina-mervyn-o-gorman-1913-photograph-girl-in-red/

    Reply
    1. Kate Davies Designs Avatar
      Kate Davies Designs

      Oh my, yes!

      Reply
  13. knitigatingcircumstances Avatar
    knitigatingcircumstances

    Three that immediately spring to mind: Rudolf’s nose, Velma’s skirt (Scooby Doo), and The Cat in the Hat’s hat.

    Reply
  14. jandjbowerc5e32b0be9 Avatar
    jandjbowerc5e32b0be9

    I would never wear a red hat, even now. Where I grew up there was an expression ‘Red hat and no knickers’ so I was anxious that no one would be curious!

    Reply
  15. Deborah Zimmer Avatar
    Deborah Zimmer

    I think for me, the most iconic and sad is the girl in the red coat in Schindler’s List.

    Reply
  16. mespiceley Avatar
    mespiceley

    Hello Kate

    I’m greatly enjoying your posts on colour. The current season at Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum is called World in Colour. https://www.ashmolean.org/world-in-colour-season. This includes a variety of courses and events, some of which can be attended online. For example:

    *Unweaving the rainbow: Nature’s colours in Victorian art, fashion & design: * Tue 14 Nov, 2–3pm, https://www.ashmolean.org/event/unweaving-the-rainbow-talk

    *Ethical fashion: * at the Museum and online on Wed 29 Nov, 6–7.30pm: https://www.ashmolean.org/event/ethical-fashion-in-conversation-talk

    Margaret

    https://www.ashmolean.org/world-in-colour-season

    Reply
  17. mariebaskeyfield@hotmail.co.uk Avatar
    mariebaskeyfield@hotmail.co.uk

    !!! I knew, before I opened the read, Nancy and Peggy’s redhats – My Saturday treat was going to the library for another Swallows book…….read and re-read……then I could afford my own copies, met my love (well, he had his an set of Swallows, green bound hardbacks with the lovely illustrated dust covers). Together we re-read, camped out, climbed Kanchenguja, canoe Sailed to Wild Cat Island…..I’m still re-reading. Those red hats, thank you for reminding me……I really should knit one!💕🙃

    Reply
  18. Susan Avatar
    Susan

    oh my, all the interesting comments…….I am such a ‘scaredy cat’ that I am glad I never saw/read any of the stories/films spoken of. I am 82 and still remember those red ballet shoes. I was taking ballet lessons at the time and I guess my mother thought it would be good to see. Then there was the Wizard of Oz…Scare Crow terrified me and she had to take me out of the movie!! Don’t even remember seeing the Ruby Red Slippers.

    Reply
  19. angalmond Avatar
    angalmond

    Mammy’s red silk petticoat in Gone With The Wind

    Reply
  20. Rebecca Avatar
    Rebecca

    I mean this is rather on the nose, but Schindlers List comes to mind first

    Reply
  21. Veda Crewe Avatar
    Veda Crewe

    This is a fascinating conversation. Red seems to have an indelible impact on the viewer. As a theatrical costume designer I have learned to consider carefully when using red on stage. The same would apply to film. I had an actor one time choose to wear red stockings in the nightmare scene in “Iolanthe” with his white nightgown and it had a huge impact. Those stockings rather took over the scene! The clarity and power of a clear true red is unmistakable. Nothing subtle about it. What fascinates me though is what a classic it can be as a nail color or accessories color, almost being treated as a lively neutral! How can that be?
    Thanks for the thoughts on this Kate. I have always loved how you have used red as an accent enlivening things in your art!

    Reply
  22. BevSwayze Avatar
    BevSwayze

    Not clothes but I do remember seeing a film as a child called “The Red Balloon.”

    Reply
    1. sarahbutters Avatar
      sarahbutters

      Me too, a vivid memory from primary school in the early 1970’s

      Reply
  23. Helen22 Avatar
    Helen22

    I remember watching, as a child, the 1957 Universal cartoon film of ‘The Snow Queen’ with the characters Gerda and Kai. Gerda wears red throughout the film and her red shoes help her to find Kai after the Snow Queen has stolen him. The Snow Queen’s world is monochrome and she terrified the living daylights out of me – as did the robbers, but I was completely fascinated by it.

    Reply
  24. Angela Pea Avatar
    Angela Pea

    Oh…the red gown Audrey Hepburn wore in “Funny Face”; Julia Roberts in “Pretty Woman”; and the yards of red velvet Olivia Hussey wore in “Romeo and Juliet”.

    Reply
    1. Kate Davies Designs Avatar
      Kate Davies Designs

      Yes!

      Reply
  25. Diane Hannah Avatar
    Diane Hannah

    The film that immediately springs to my mind is Don’t Look Now (1973) starring Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland. The dwarf in a bright red coat is a haunting image even 50 years later!

    Reply
  26. Fiona Avatar
    Fiona

    I have vivid memories of a wool bonnet and mittens that my mother knitted for me, when I was perhaps four years old.
    They were patterned with snowflakes and little doll-like figures of boys and girls in white, on a background that was, of course, red.

    Reply
  27. Liz Davey Avatar
    Liz Davey

    How many people said “Bobby get off the line” when looking at that photograph from The Railway Children (after “Flannel petticoats” that is)?

    Reply
  28. Julia Avatar
    Julia

    I do love your posts on ‘Colours’. Such amazing research and always wonderful writing.

    ‘Swallows & Amazons’ is one of my favourite books from my childhood, but just a slight correction – the photo is from the 2016 film version. The period details are lovely.

    And yes, Rhiandrinkwater, ‘Don’t look now’ is one of my favourite films, but my goodness how scary!

    Reply
    1. Kate Davies Designs Avatar
      Kate Davies Designs

      No, that’s definitely Kit Seymour and Sophie Neville – in 1974!

      Reply
  29. sarahincromer Avatar
    sarahincromer

    An interesting train of thought for today’s deliberations, thank you Kate. My standout red memory is the ruby slippers from wizard of Oz, this set me thinking because as a child I disliked red! After a little unraveling of the memories I realised that it was to do with the ‘purple slipper incident’ – hmm!

    Reply
  30. rhiandrinkwater Avatar
    rhiandrinkwater

    On a darker note there’s the red coat in Don’t Look Now…

    Reply
    1. Kate Davies Designs Avatar
      Kate Davies Designs

      OF COURSE!

      Reply
    2. Marise Cremona Avatar
      Marise Cremona

      And even darker, the red coat in Schindler’s List

      Reply

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