Elizabeth (1998)

Directed by Shekhar Kapur.  Starring Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush.

Elizabeth is a biographical drama depicting the early years of Queen Elizabeth I and her rise to power.  In the beginning, Elizabeth is portrayed as a young, naive character with flowing red hair, a soft, simple face and an air of timeless, classical features.  As the film progresses the audience witness her features and aura harden as the pressures of being the Queen of England rise.

During the first few scenes, Elizabeth is seen to be young, fresh-faced and carefree.  Her make-up is exceptionally simple and consists only of soft, dewy pale skin, the tiniest hint of blush and very little else.  Today, this make-up appears regularly on catwalks for Spring/Summer collections, with the purpose of mimicking sporty or wet-look skin.  Elizabeth's hair is also worn loosely- a popular look amongst young girls during the Tudor era.

A young and simple looking Elizabeth, plain-faced with most of her hair left down.

Not only are Elizabeth's hair and make-up seen to change as the film progresses, but so is the way in which she dresses- naturally as she becomes Queen her outfits, jewellery and accessories grow more elaborate.  At the beginning of the film, Elizabeth is adorned in simple- yet clearly aristocratic items of clothing, and is often seen wearing a pair of simple pearl earrings, and complimentary neck jewellery.  Her hair is generally adorned with classic jewelled pieces.  This all serves to emphasise that she is a wealthy young woman from an important background, as someone of a lower class would wear something far more simple; as exemplified in the image below:

'Lady with a Squirrel', by Holbein.  An example of what someone of a lesser background may have worn during the Tudor era- just before Queen Elizabeth's reign. The caul was also a common choice of headgear amongst the poor.

Furthermore, As the film progresses, Elizabeth adopts even more rich and elaborate attire; her hair begins to frizz at the top of her head, and her dresses become larger and more intricate.  She starts wearing more jewellery than ever before, highlighting the fact that she is Queen, and the richest woman in England.

The Queen during her first year or so of reign.

However, as her reign progresses we notice that Elizabeth does in fact start to wear more make-up.  Although a natural English Rose, her skin does start to pale more and the rouge on her cheeks and lips intensifies- albeit only slightly.  Common sense somewhat dictates that Elizabeth started to wear more make-up as she grew older due to the stresses of ruling a country becoming apparent on her face.  Stress often causes our cheeks to sink and our faces to hollow- hence the increasing amount of rouge (or blush). Elizabeth also starts to wear her hair up more so than in the beginning; again most probably due to stress- unfortunately stress has the tendency to show up physically on our bodies.  It is likely that her hair started to grow lank and did not look as thick and healthy when worn loosely as it did when she was merely a young Princess.

The extremities build until we reach the end of the film in which Elizabeth is seen how she is remembered historically:

Elizabeth's final aesthetic

The white, matte face, rouged cheeks and lips, and high rounded brows are all what has come to be known as the 'classic Elizabethan look'.  Women would use concoctions mixed with lead to achieve their ghostly pale complexions.  Rouges were made of anything ranging from crushed berries to rat's blood.  Many historians actually argue that this was more than just a mere fashion trend for Elizabeth, as she is said to have experienced a case of smallpox during her younger years and wished to hide the scarring.  However, the common people looked to the aristocrats for fashion inspiration so naturally, this white face make-up became a trend.

With regards to the scene in which Elizabeth shaved off all her hair in order to be reborn as a virgin; historically, there is no evidence for this.  Many argue that this was simply the trend because wigs make it easy to frequently change hairstyles. Therefore this is arguably, historically irrelevant.  This scene was most probably included in the film in order to engage the audience through dramatisation. 

 However, it is interesting to note that comically enough:- women went to extreme lengths during the Elizabethan era to achieve Elizabeth's strawberry blonde- ginger hair, such as dying their hair with urine!  Frizzing hair using irons warmed in a fire was also very popular.

It is important to note that the make-up artists and hair team did not in fact use any concoctions made of lead on Cate Blanchett, or frizz her hair with hot pokers!  Health and safety laws dictate that products containing lead must NEVER be applied to the skin, nor should one progress to burn an actors' scalp.  Also, it is important to note that the no make-up, make-up worn by Elizabeth at the beginning of the film was set to imply that the young Elizabeth wore little to no make-up at all, as before the Elizabethan era it was generally unheard of.  Make-up only really came into its stride during the 18th Century, in which Elizabethan make-up and the pale, lead-damaged skin was taken to a completely new level!

My First Few Days in Southampton...

Let's begin this adventure on the night of Wednesday, 16th September.  I was lying in bed, unable to sleep, anticipating the day ahead.  I was moving out of London- my home for the very first time, and I would be completely on my own.  In all honesty, the reality still hadn't quite set in;  I was still picturing it as an idea.  Staring around my bedroom, my whole life packed into a suitcase and numerous bags for life, I still couldn't accept that it was really happening.  I would be venturing out of West London and into something new- and terrifying!

It appears I have a hoarding problem...

On the morning of the 17th September, I remember hearing my alarm go off at 6am- I can't quite remember falling asleep but it was evident that I had- After having showered, got dressed, put my face on, and endured my mother crying in the kitchen- it still hadn't sunk in!!  I still couldn't believe it was really happening.  There I was, double and triple-checking I had everything I could possibly need, but I still didn't believe it was happening.  I felt like I would be going out for a few hours and coming home in the evening.

When my closest friend and her family finally arrived to help me load everything into the car, and begin the journey to this brand new town; I said goodbye to my mum as nonchalantly as I could, and got into the car I still felt like we were heading for a day trip out- denial is a powerful thing!  My best friend and I spent the entire car journey just chatting away about music and films.  Although I was starting to accept that this could very much be real- and that I'm not dreaming, I continued to push my thoughts about Southampton and the reality that I was about to move there to the very back of my mind.

It was only until later that night, after having spent a lovely day with my closest friend and said goodbye to her that I realised this was real, and I was on my own!  That was definitely a horrific moment and a number of tearful panic-fuelled phone calls to friends and family ensued!  

As  soon as I opened my eyes on Friday the 18th September, I burst into tears.  I had woken up thinking I was in my own bed at home.  The truth of the matter was that I was devastated!  I just felt like the world was crumbling- as dramatic as that sounds the homesickness felt unbearable and I couldn't stand to be off the phone with a close acquaintance for longer than about twenty minutes before I was dialling my best friend's number again.  I was  struggling to get used to my surroundings and accept that I was not in London.  This was not London, this was not my home and I just to accept that.  However, upon walking past the train station the temptation to just buy a ticket and go home was unreal!  The amount of self-control that took- let me tell you... 

Saturday 19th September; I can't do this anymore.  I'm going home.  But before I do, I'm going to take a walk and try to clear my head. 

Water can be so calming...

Then there's the sea- as soon as I saw this beautiful view; and the clear blue-green of the waters, I felt this thing called perspective begin rear its head into my sanity filter.  The reality of the situation is that this experience is going to be what I make it.  I am in an extremely privileged position where I have been presented with an opportunity to study and obtain a degree in a subject I am passionate about- how many people have that?  I was accepted onto a competitive degree course because lucky for me, someone could see some potential in me- something I struggle to see in myself most days.  The truth is, I really need to grab on to this opportunity and use it to grow as a person.  Yes, this is not London and this town is going to take some getting used to- but time is a truly magical thing!  It can heal almost any wound and allow an individual to adjust to almost anything.  Yes, I'm struggling with the social aspect, and yes, it's easy to doubt yourself but I need to give myself a chance.  I need to focus on all the positives which definitely outweigh the negatives and focus on all the fantastic opportunities that have been laid out before me. I'm determined to put everything into my work this year and make it count!  As we all know, you can't just pick up a make-up brush and expect to be Pat McGrath- it takes hard work, dedication, time and practise practise practise!  Slash didn't just pick up a guitar one day and become SLASH; Trent Reznor poured every ounce of emotion into the work of art that is the album : The Downward Spiral and JK Rowling did not write Harry Potter in one night.  Dedication is key!  Time to push myself and be the very best I can be.  The only true tragedy would be not to reach my full potential- whatever that may be!  Here's to an exciting year ahead!