How the New "Sense and Sensibility" Mixed Old-Fashioned Costumes With a Modern Look

Costume designer Grace Snell planned the look of the new "Sense and Sensibility" in chapters. Variety reports that the film, directed by Georgia Oakley, is a new take on Jane Austen's 1811 novel. Daisy Edgar-Jones and Esmé Creed-Miles play the sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood. Snell says the clearest chapters are the country and the city. First comes Barton Cottage, shaped by the landscape of Devon, where the sisters are most relaxed with each other. Then comes London, where the sisters are presented to society and the colors change. The sets, weather and seasons guided her designs.

The story starts with the Dashwood family, the sisters and their mother, at their Sussex estate, Norland Park. It is set between the Georgian and Regency periods, which Snell calls an unusual time of change, when fashion was moving toward the simpler style people link with Austen. Her ideas came from many eras, including period paintings, old costume pieces and even family photos from the early 2000s. In those photos, she said, she noticed how relaxed and comfortable sisters are with each other, and what that looks like in clothes.

One of her favorite details is that the sisters share clothes, which fits the age gap in the story. At the start, Marianne is 19, Elinor is 16 and Margaret is 13. Snell said sisters borrow and steal from each other, and she reworked fabrics so the clothes look loved, shared and passed around. She also took ideas from runway looks of the 80s and 90s. She wanted a film in which she could see her friends and family, and to knock down the wall that often makes period dramas feel far away.

It is still not a modern film. Snell studied historical dress at university and brought in a dress historian for three weeks of research. She wanted the fabrics, techniques and hand sewing to be historically accurate. The film begins in a time of mourning, which led to the idea of "shades of black." In London, Elinor and Edward wear shades of blue to show the disappointment of their situation, and brighter colors are kept for supporting characters. It was Snell's first period film.