23 thoughts on “Disney Princess Historical Costume Influences: The Little Mermaid

  1. I’m not sure you missed one. But your first wedding dress still reminded me of the white Gown in the Sisi movies where she is in Venice, I believe.

  2. I’ve always thought her wedding dress was ALLLL 80s as well. Maybe it’s just the Princess Di image I have.

      1. Diana’s dress had half length sleeves, and then lace ruffles that went down almost to the wrist. I agree that Ariel’s dress isn’t really all that similar to Diana’s, Ariel’s dress is more like the thousands of David’s Bridal wedding dresses that were inspired by Diana’s iconic dress.

  3. I always thought of her pink dress and wedding gown as looking like someone had seen a picture of a 1890s dress about 10 before and they were going off a combination of that and ”ye olde times” dress.

  4. The new live action movie is not the Disney live action version.DIsney does not have a release date for theirs yet.Also, the big bow that Ariel wears in her peasant dress is very reminiscent of the boss that little girls wore in their hair in the Edwardian era.

    1. I agree completely. Even the little puff and slash detail at the top of the sleeve is similar to things that show up occasionally in the 1860s, which I’m fairly certain was meant to look Ye Olde Tyme.

  5. Day-um, I didn’t even know the remake was about to drop, and I just watched one of the trailers, and nowI feel physically ill. Thank you for helping me avoid this movie in the future.

    1. The Little Mermaid movie coming out soon isn’t done by Disney, and isn’t an official remake — but there’s a lot of confusion given the title! Disney is still brainstorming THEIR remake of TLM.

      1. Is it true to the Andersen original? Because if it is, I’m on board. However, if it’s like the original story, I’d be hesitant to bring any child under 12 to see it.

          1. No not really! It does have the “Didn’t Get the Guy” angle in the very beginning! Unlike the Disney’s adaptation this adaptation is slow,joyless, and has little to no passion or charm! It just feels like an hour and 45 minutes of nothing! All in all this movie wastes so much potential in both story and Costumes!!!

        1. See, I was about 9 when I saw the Disney version, and I was furious when I realised they’d changed the storyline so completely (I’d read most of Anderson’s stuff by this time)

        2. Just looking at the trailer, I’d say not. It’s probably a “Little Mermaid lives in a oceanic theme park, gets her legs, gets her man” kind of story, lol.

  6. I’ve always thought Ariel’s wedding dress wasnt fantasy or historical and instead a pure product of the time. It probably could have come right out of a wedding magazine .

    1. Absolutely! My cousins married in 1989 and 1990 and they both wore Ariel wedding dresses. I remember watching the pictures at home and the dresses were in the same style

  7. The pink gown always reminded me of Cinderella, though I’m not sure why. The neckline? Heavier fabric on the hips?

  8. Will you do the animated beauty and the beast? And will you do the miniseries the woman in white?

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