Dolores Abernathy costumes in Westworld speak volumes. From the beginning of season 1 to the end of season 2, her outfits show the evolution of her character.
Yves Saint Laurent once said, “I have always believed that fashion was not only to make women more beautiful, but also to reassure them, give them confidence.” After watching the the official second Westworld Season 2 trailer, Dolores Abernathy costumes help her show off this new found confidence. With that new found confidence, Dolores Abernathy (Evan Rachel Wood) is ready to unleash chaos across the park.
But before her transformation into the humans’ reckoning, Dolores was just a robot playing the role of a sweet farm girl. As the series progressed, the audience watched as she become sentient, and sought revenge against the humans. Evan Rachel Wood does an outstanding job using her acting talent to convey playing such a deep and complex character. And to help her dive deep into her character, are the costume designers providing her the clothes to complete the character. They have been behind her iconic look since day 1 of filming Westworld as we watched her transformation.
The First Of Dolores Abernathy Costumes: The Farmer’s Daughter
Underneath all the evil and debotchery that spread across Westworld, there was Dolores Abernathy. The girl-next-door/farmer’s daughter with her idyllic dreams and charming smile. A simple woman with her heart always beating to breath of her picture-perfect cowboy boyfriend, Teddy (James Marsden).
All of this “simple life” is easily captured through Dolores’ powder blue dress. In an interview in The Telegraph, season 1 costume designer, Ane Crabtree discussed going through old Wild West photos for inspiration. Crabtree even mentioned the reason for the clothing during this time period:
"Western clothing was invented to be worn long term and in harsh climates and also for hard work, but there’s also this really cool thread of individualism that was super exciting to add to each character by looking at those photos."
When you’re a host stuck in a loop or a part of a mega-corporation like Delos, you want to make sure there’s no extra spending on new outfits. In the case, the blue dress is very pragmatic not only for the time period, but as a way to cut costs.
Life Gets Harder: Dolores’ Pants Costume
The iconic blue dress is almost reminiscent of a fairy-tale princess locked away in a tower
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waiting for some knight to rescue her. In season 1 of Westworld, Teddy never saves her. Instead, she is somewhat saved by young William (Jimmi Simpson). It is during this timeline where all the bad mojo starts to really kick her sentience into high gear. Both characters end up in the sinful city of Pariah.
It’s here she wears her new outfit. Dolores trades in the blue dress for a pair of comfortable slacks. She better get comfortable because the small-town girl is about to venture into the big, nasty world. Her new outfit reflects this change. Now her costume is more suitable to handle the long rides through the brush and sand. And it lends her more comfort when she’s shooting down a band of Desperados. Yes, her taking aim at other hosts with a gun signifies a huge a shift in her personality. No longer is Dolores the simple farm girl.
Enter The Next Level
Chaos Takes Control
is what the season 2 tagline for
Westworld.
There’s no one better that resembles this chaos than Dolores Abernathy. After she killed Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins) during the season finale, it was open season on the humans. And one of the the new Delores Abernathy costumes reflects this change in her character.
HBO recently interviewed season 2’s costume designer, Sharen Davis. In the interview, she talks about how she wanted to show this new version of Dolores Abernathy:
"I was really intrigued by the badass women in front of the camera on this show. At the end of Season 1, we see Dolores and Maeve become sentient and branch out in two different ways. I had to deconstruct what the actors knew about how their character would look. In Season 2, we made Dolores look more rugged and durable while having Maeve, who’s still finding herself, continuously change clothes."
As Maeve searches for her identity, Dolores is fully aware of who she is in Westworld. Dolores’ costume pulls in elements from both costumes in season 1. Dolores is a character who is aware of where she comes from and where she is going. She has full understanding of her self. The combination of the two costumes show that Dolores has reached the next level. She has gone from the girl-next-door image to a strong leader ready to lead her people.
Get Ready For The Women Of Westworld
All the Dolores Abernathy costumes play a major role in defining the change in female empowerment. In many ways, Dolores Abernathy represents more than just a leader of Westworld. She is setting a trend in Hollywood. Whenever we think of Western movies, names like John Wayne and Clint Eastwood come to mind. But the show has flipped this genre on its head. Now it’s paving the way for more interesting roles for women. And all the Dolores Abernathy costumes play a majo
Next: Check out the new teaser poster for Westworld Season 2
We still have a weeks until Westworld Season 2 drops. Until then, we will continue to speculate on anything and everything Westworld.
Westworld Season 2 will premiere on HBO Sunday, April 22, 2018 9PM/EST
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