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E. Nina Rothe

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“What is elegance? Soap and water!” - Cecil Beaton

Sandy Powell's costumes, a million possible wrong turns and the redeeming qualities of Disney's 'Snow White'

E. Nina Rothe March 23, 2025

I’m talking about the 2025 live action film of course, which features a finale by the grand dame of costume designing that simply had me gasp for air. And yes, that’s one of the film’s redeeming quality… Come discover the others.

Long long ago, in a land far far away, a young woman made the decision never to talk about films that she didn’t like because, and I quote “life is too short.” That young woman was me of course and now I’m breaking my rule, but am still enchanted by some aspects of a recent film I watched. And will reserve my right to criticize it, just a bit.

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You see, I’ve thrown my rule to the wind when it comes to the new 2025 Disney live action version of the 1937 animated Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Before I get to the wrong turns the film took, I want to point out the greatness of the film, which lies in its production design and choice of costumer. As well as the music. I loved the understated feel of the setting and the way the costumes seemed like something we could put on right here, right now. Well, if we lived in a castle, or walked a red carpet — in the case of the Evil Queen’s outfits — or hung around a cottage in a forest, surrounded by animals and grass. And the music, combining the original songs by Larry Morey and Frank Churchill along with new ones by Pasek and Paul

A personal connection to Snow White, the woman

I think what made me connect more deeply with the film is what happened on the Monday, after I’d watched the special Sunday screening of Snow White, directed by Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer is a fave film of mine, BTW). The Sunday morning screening in Leicester Square was a special treat all its own, thanks to my lovely friend Rich who took me along as his plus one. We had hot chocolate and carrot cake cupcakes in shades of Snow White and even had our photo taken next to paper cutout deer and a real grass — complete with wildflowers. I loved every minute of that.

Then, on Monday morning, I was reminded of the real Snow White themes in my own life, when I got the feared yearly email from my wicked stepbrother, which of course mentions my own evil stepmother. Bing! And just like that the character played so convincingly by Gal Gadot came to life again, right before my very eyes.

Fashion makes the world go round

When a filmmaker, or a production, employs a wondrous woman like Sandy Powell to come up with the costumes, you can bet your life on it, it’s going to be pretty looking. And Snow White doesn’t disappoint. The ending along is the stuff of cinematic legends (see a sneak peek above) and more often than not throughout the preview viewing of the film, I was reminded of Brigadoon, a favorite musical starring Gene Kelly, Cyd Charisse and Van Johnson. See what I mean, below! That butter yellow costume alone is very very Snow White, 2025.

You can’t please all of the people, all of the time

With a film that goes back almost 100 years, it’s hard not to cause an uproar when remaking it. Plus, it didn’t help the production that Disney wanted to be absolutely politically correct in the new version of Snow White, beginning with its heroine’s name which now takes after the snowstorm during which she was born, and not her lily white complexion. Or that its lead actresses represent the polar opposite viewpoints of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. I mean “Oy Vey!” That right there is a PR nightmare, with Rachel Zegler going rogue on social media and Gal Gadot being, well, Israeli.

Add into the mix of this new Snow White a strange group of CGI “little people” or Dwarfs, as they were called in the original film, and you’ve got a cinematic bomb waiting to explode. And not in a good way either. Thank goodness kids don’t give a damn about politics or political correctness and one little girl to my left at the screening started dancing freely during the ‘Heigh-ho, it's home from work work we go’ song, reminding me of the power of cinema in those less jaded than I am.

The soundtrack of our lives

Along with those well-known songs like ‘Whistle While You Work’ and the above mentioned ‘Heigh-ho’ which were written by the original duo of Morey & Churchill for the 1937 classic, another duo of talented songwriters has injected the film with some memorable songs — the kind you sing along in your head as you exit the theater… Yup, it happens to some people, namely, me.

The songwriting duos of Pasek and Paul, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, are of course responsible for the kind of songs that La La Land provided us. One of the songs from the 2016 film, directed by Damian Chazelle and starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling as an ill fated couple, won both the Academy Awards and Golden Globes that year for Best Song. I’m talking about ‘City of Stars’, which one of my neighbors who plays the piano, actually pulls out every Friday, as if to welcome the weekend! I love it, still today, and every time I hear it.

The duo are also behind the Tony awards winning musical Dear Evan Hansen, and the soundtrack of the film The Greatest Showman which walked away with the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media.

So, while the new Snow White may not win it all, including the top spot at the box office on the film’s opening weekend, it definitely holds a special place in the heart of this little-girl-all-grown-up-now, who used to watch the film on Super-8, projected by her dad on the walls on our home, in Florence.

Images courtesy of Disney, used with permission.

In Minimalist fashionista Tags Disney, Snow White, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Sandy Powell, Evil Queen, Larry Morey and Frank Churchill, Heigh-ho, Marc Webb, Gal Gadot, Rachel Zegler, CGI, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, Pasek and Paul, La La Land, Golden Globes, Academy Awards, City of Stars, Dear Evan Hansen, The Greatest Showman, Tony Awards, Grammy Awards
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