The costumes in Atonement were designed by Jacqueline Durran. All the costumes were specifically made for this movie which was set in the 1930-40's in England. The costume that is most admired and referenced to is the green gown which Cecilia was wearing when Robbie and her brother Leon came for dinner. This is also the dress she wore when her and Robbie made love in the library. This dress is often mispercieved because of the slit down the middle which reveals Cecilia's leg every so often. It has been argued that people did not dress like that in the 30's and misunderstood as "slutty". Costume designer Durran wanted all Cecilia Tallis' clothing to weigh close to nothing. "'With Cecilia Tallis' clothing, we wanted everything to be as light as possible, so that she was this beautiful butterfly wilting in the heat". Cecilia's costumes were all created with the 30's and 40's kept in mind, yet it was still appealing to the modern eye. Apart from Cecilia's costumes, the other costumes Durran found the most intense were the army uniforms in the Dunkirk beach scenes. All the fabrics were made in Poland for it is much cheaper there. 250 soldiers were dressed in the uniforms that Durran and director Joe Wright wanted, and for the other 750, they had to compromise. The nurse uniforms are the last costume I am going to mention in this blog. I found these to be very interesting and personally my favourite costume in the movie due to their simplicity. Durran expresses "the original nurse costume was made of literally a striped dress and white apron". The apron was made from Polish bed sheets because of the weight and weave.
The setting of Atonement mainly takes place in the Tallis' family estate. This estate is actually owned by Caroline Magnus. Magnus didn't have much money to maintain the mansion, so she was actually forced to auction off some of the valuable contents. The estate wasn't in very good condition and it was mispervcieved until the film makers of Atonement took over. She was hoping that producers might find the home interesting, and obviously they did. Most of the movie was set in this old fashioned Victorian home in England. It is a beautiful estate which enhanced the overall feel of Atonement. This estate is now found as a tourist attraction, where "Atonement Tours" are offered. I have provided pictures to follow in order for you to get a sense of the set in Atonement.
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| The Tallis' family estate Bird Eye View of the Estate |
Where Cecilia and Robbie "did the dead" Where Cecilia removed her shoes after the fountain incident
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