Rotting from the inside. That’s how “Great Expectations” costume designer Verity Hawkes describes Olivia Colman’s Miss Havisham in Hulu’s six-part adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic novel.
The book has been adapted many times over, but its themes of “revenge, love, heartbreak, longing and jealousy were timeless,” says Hawkes.
An aging Miss Havisham still wears her wedding dress from the time she was jilted at the altar; she dwells in a world of grays to reflect the decay of the character. Hawkes was able to push the boundaries as far as her creations for the series, penned by Steven Knight (“Peaky Blinders,” “See”).
With the symbolic wedding dress a character unto itself, reflecting Miss Havisham’s state of mind, Hawkes went through different design ideas. The period pre-dated photography and she didn’t want it to look like “it was made in the 21st century.”
How did she crack it? “It came together once I found the floral fabric that would be used for the train. The dress was velvet and heavy. I didn’t want it to be perfect because I wanted it to have that sinking-in feeling.”
She also added in pinches and other distressed touches.
In contrast, Shalom Brune-Franklin, who portrays Miss Havisham’s adopted daughter, Estella, had a costume color arc that reflected a “flower in bloom.”
The high point is the burnt ochre dress Estella wears for a ballroom scene. Hawkes explains, “We wanted to make these big rose leaves — as sleeves.”
Such was the intricacy required just to get the sleeves right. “My assistants spent hours cutting, folding and creating those sleeves to look like roses,” Hawkes says.
Her biggest challenge aside from the sleeves was getting the rose structure right: “It was trial and error because you can’t cut a pattern.”
The ballroom scene is also a turning point for the character, who starts on a path to demise after learning Miss Havisham has an arranged marriage for her, and she has to travel to London. “She’s slowly dying. She doesn’t have a happy ending, so we wanted to show that through color,” says Hawkes. “It goes from pink Miya Mizuno/FX and dies off through browns and greens.”
Variety’s “Making A Scene” is presented by HBO, watch the full conversation above.
