Moulin Rouge! directed by Baz Luhrmann depicts the sensual, sinful and glamorous world of the French cabaret “Moulin Rouge” right in the heart of the bohemian movement in 1900. The musical revolves around the passionate love between a poor English writer, Christian (Ewan McGregor), and the star courtesan, Satine (Nicole Kidman). However, they have to hide their affair, especially from the Duke (Richard Roxburgh), who threatens to sabotage the Moulin Rouge if Satine is not solely his.
Conflict arises when her role as a prostitute makes Christian unsure if she loves him or the Duke, who promises her the secure future of becoming a “real actress”. According to the film’s costume designer Catherine Martin, “Nicole is already very beautiful, but she may not be everybody's idea of ideal beauty, so we needed to make it clear with the costumes that that's who she was.” As a result, Satine is dressed in grand and extravagant costumes to emulate her as the most beautiful and successful woman of the Moulin Rouge -- one that is sexually available to men, but emotionally unavailable, until she falls in love with Christian. The costumes also exhibit the emotions Satine is experiencing throughout the film.
When Satine first appears on a hanging trapeze, she is instantly the center of attention as the “Sparkling Diamond”, almost literally. Donned in a black and silver sequin corset with fringed skirt at the back, the costume makes her body sparkle and glisten in the spotlight. Fishnets, black silk gloves, and a top hat complement the look.
Not only was the costume used to accentuate Satine’s beauty, but blue lighting was also manipulated to make her pale skin glow and stand out like a shining diamond. Furthermore, her make up of bright red lipstick matches her red hair and juxtapose with her blue eyes.
The surrounding men in black tuxedos contrast with her white diamond costume, making her even more of a spectacle. Although she wears a similar hat to the men, she is still strikingly different because of a band of diamonds across it.
Satine changes costumes on stage, hid by the Can Can Girls' skirts as a curtain, and emerges in another grand costume full of feathers and diamonds. It is a spectacular light pink corset with an extravagant feather train, similar to an exotic ostrich.
She manipulates the costume to coax Christian, who she presumes is the Duke, and shakes a pink diamond heart that coincidentally covers her private parts, almost in his face. She also uses her feathered skirt to seduce him, shaking it in his direction. The costume highlights the sexual parts of her body, heightening the image of her as man’s ultimate fantasy, and Satine uses that sexual appeal to get what she wants.
The colours of the light pink feathered costume stands out against the bright yellow, orange and red of the other Moulin Rouge dancers, making her beauty distinguishable amongst the crowd.
The feathered skirt also accentuates the energy of Satine as she dances, another aspect of her that makes her sexually attractive.
Even after she is carried backstage from her fall, her white gloves draw focus to her lifeless arms, depicting the tragedy of Satine as a damsel in distress.
Yet, she returns preparing for the Duke in a red dress, complete with constricting corset lacing that an elderly woman is tying tighter for her. When Satine displays her red dress to Zidler, she asks if she is a “smouldering temptress”, the personality that Zidler predicts the Duke would be most attracted to. The tightening of the corset highlights the physical pain that Satine endures in order to make her body appear perfect for the Duke and emphasizes that all her clothes are meant to satisfy her suitor.
But in the Elephant Room where Satine and Christian are alone, Satine is changed to a black, seductive corset with sheer black stockings and a cape-like peignoir -- a long, sheer outer garment that comes from the French word peigner (to comb) and was used as a dressing gown.
Her black costume contrasts with the bright red setting and her red hair, framing both her body and her face.
As Christian reads out his poetry, Satine tries to react sexually, throwing herself on the rug and using it to display her sexual reactions. However, when Christian bursts into song, she immediately stops her gestures, completely captivated. The red rug is wrapped around her entire body and she blends into the mise-en-scene. Perhaps this is the point where Satine feels more of herself and more comfortable in her skin, or in this case, red hair.
This represents the beginning of Satine becoming more emotionally available to Christian, and starts to fall in love with him.
However, when Satine finds out he is not the Duke and the real Duke shows up, she promptly hides Christian behind her costume and peignoir, coincidentally where her private parts are. This provides humour and her costume hints again at Satine being sexually available to Christian.
But as the Duke observes her figure from the bottom up, enjoying what the costume reveals and draws attention to (particularly her legs and shoulders), she is also exposing her body as being sexually available to him.
Satine manipulates her costume once more, using her peignoir as source of distraction for the Duke to let Christian escape, twirling it with her arms in a sort of frenzy, and inviting the Duke to dance with her. When the Duke finally leaves, she walks to Christian in exasperation to berate him, using her peignoir to cover her legs. This suggests a sense of insecurity and guardedness as she realizes that Christian is not the Duke she needs to seduce, and indicates that her clothes and her body are not meant for him anymore.
When Satine is conflicted between falling in love with Christian in spite of his financial circumstances or following her dreams to become a real actress, she is dressed in the earlier red satin dress. As she sings, the lighting changes, making her skin whiter and contrasting with her red hair, lips and dress.
Furthermore, the dress reveals a neckline that draws notice to her breasts, and aside from diamond earrings, there are no adornments or jewelry that take up any attention. The focus is still on her beauty and sexuality, but Satine is presented in a simpler way. The red dress personifies her most comfortable state of emotions, and when Christian woos her emotionally, she is still feeling secure and at ease. This is crucial because according to Luhrmann, her duet with Christian is the turning point of the film, where the action (and camera movement) slow down and the love story takes center.
Satine continues to be the dominant attraction, and as rehearsals for the show start, she wears distinctively eye-catching outfits from the rest of the characters, such as a white costume and hat while everyone else is in dark colours.
Close to the opening night, Satine is in a dark red regal costume with headdress and matching dark red lipstick, contrasting with the background characters who are in white garments, once again making her stand out as a result of her beauty.
When Satine is with the Duke in the Gothic Tower, the cold and blue lighting emanates her skin in a blue colour, making her red lipstick more noticeable. She wears all black and has a veil, as if in mourning.
Her costume emulates her miserable emotions and creates an ominous and dark atmosphere as she prepares for her doom – sleeping with the Duke.
Her dress makes her shoulders bare, perfect for the placing of the Duke’s intricate and ridiculously lavish diamond necklace. This was made of 1,308 real diamonds and platinum and was worth an estimated US$1 million, the most expensive piece of jewelry ever specifically made for a film. Through the diamond necklace, the Duke has officially “bought” Satine sexually.
However, she is not emotionally bought and realizes that she loves Christian more and cannot sleep with the Duke, compelling him to force himself on her. He strips her, leaving only her corset and undergarments left, the black colour contrasting again with her white skin and demonstrating her paralyzing fear.
When Satine prepares to run away with Christian, she covers herself in a flowery robe, but once Zidler rationalizes by saying the Duke is powerful enough to get rid of Christian, she takes the robe off in infuriation. However, she puts on a black coat, indicating her refueled determination and confidence in leaving. The drastic change in costumes depict the erratic emotions of Satine, who is constantly conflicted and confused about whether or not she can leave the Moulin Rouge with Christian.
Her emotions exhibited in her costumes are continued when Satine realizes she is dying and must leave Christian to continue the show. Her black coat, corset dress, and hat, foreshadows her death and displays her mournful emotions at the thought of leaving Christian. A pearl choker is also seen, representing the symbol of how Satine is forever chained to the show and the Moulin Rouge.
The hat’s veil is used as protection, hiding from what she really feels.
As Satine looks up, the veil is less obvious and as she walks past Zidler, the veil has almost disappeared. Her facial expression of determination is now clearly seen, and she prepares to do what is right, but not necessarily easy.
During the show, Satine enters onstage as the main feature, adorned with an elaborate Indian-inspired headdress with intricate beading, and wearing a revealing costume.
Zidler as the Maharaja encases the Duke’s diamond necklace on her, paralleling to the Duke’s bondage over Satine.
When Satine dies, her red lipstick and mouth are just shown, emphasizing her dying breath, and the blood coming from her mouth is exactly the same shade as her lipstick, demonstrating the detail in which even her make up illustrates her internal pain and suffering.
Because she dies right after the final wedding scene, Satine is in an Indian-influenced white wedding dress with diamonds, making it highly ironical as the white represents purity and happiness between a couple. This alludes to Satine’s responsibility as the “Sparkling Diamond” -- a sight to be seen, but never to be touched.
The amount of detail in each and every one of Satine’s costumes is significant as it displays her as the most beautiful star of the show, a perfect creation of men’s dreams. The costumes also represent her role as a courtesan who is open to sexual requests but remains emotionally closed, yet they reveal her innermost feelings throughout the film.
Bibliography:
Cinema, “Moulin Rouge: Production Notes”, http://cinema.com/articles/407/moulin-rouge-production-notes.phtml
The Customer’s Guide to Movie Costumes, “The Customer’s Guide to Moulin Rouge!”, http://www.costumersguide.com/cr_mr.shtml
The Film’s The Thing, “A Wardrobe Fit for a Courtesan”, May 7 2013, http://thefilmsthething.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/a-wardrobe-fit-for-courtesan.html
Freeman, Hadley, “Can-can do”, The Guardian, September 7 2001, http://www.theguardian.com/film/2001/sep/07/fashion
Girls Do Film, “The Spectacle of Moulin Rouge”, February 9, 2014, https://girlsdofilm.wordpress.com/2014/02/09/the-spectacle-of-moulin-rouge/
Luhrmann, Baz. Moulin Rouge!, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, 2001