#dido belle

[iridessence]

une reine sans le hameau | iridessence shot with Kelly Lenza

[maurawrites]

Gugu Mbatha-Raw in ‘Belle’

[that-film-journal]

2021 vol. 2

[katehasananxietydisorder]

Best period dramas. Period.

1. Belle (realism, honest to period)

2. Testament of Youth (realism)

3. Jane Eyre (sentimental for me)

4. Atonement

5. Devdas (truly iconic)

[sleepynegress]

I have been fascinated with Dido Elizabeth Belle since before the 2013 film, starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw. This is a short doc from the perspective of a fashion historian about her life, which was rarefied for the period. ...Favored w/in the Mansfield household and portrayed within the famous painting as equal to her white cousin (they hold hands and both look at the viewer). Some things, I see mentioned in this doc, I've also thought and wished were leaned into a bit more in the fictional biopic, portraying her. As mentioned in the doc, she does seem fun and lighthearted and mischievious. And I feel like they didn't emphasize the fact that she did run a lot of the various work around the house, from accounting to the fowl and she was paid. She didn't float around preening all day, as a "proper" lady, just shunned, as the film Belle, portrayed it. The thing that I've adored about the painting is the fact that she's pointing at her face with a smile looking directly at us... As if to say "Yeah, I'm black and I'm very happy about it/love my skin."

With that in mind, I think the discussion about the exotic clothing she's wearing w/in the doc takes on a very differing perspective, in my view. IMO, her "exotic" clothing is emblematic of her self-acceptance. So, while Gugu did an outstanding job in the film... I wish we could see a portrayal that I feel reflected more of what I believe her actual life and personality was like. Anyway, I did enjoy this short doc, despite some issues (that sad sloppy turban work) and thought I'd share. P.S. I also like to think she was ahead of the fashion curve, via an empire waist, in this painting (the drapping in the front gives that impression IMO)...which feels very Austenian/Georgian. And tracks, given how much aspects of black fashion culture does often trend ahead of the pack, fashion-wise.

[al-hekima-art-astro]

Dido Elizabeth Belle and her cousin Elizabeth Murray (1776)

Dido Belle (1761-1806). The illegitimate daughter of a british aristocrat Sir John Lindsay and an enslaved african woman Maria Belle. Her position was ambiguous in her household. I would like to think that she received some love hence this portrait in almost equal position to her cousin. We know she was educated and literate. But it was clear that her everyday life might have been paved with everyday tiny humiliation due to the racist system of her time which will keep remind her that because of her skin tone and her bastard position she was still not totally one of them.

[peggybrandt]

Belle (2013) dir. Amma Asante

[itsautomaticfaegirl]

Dido Elizabeth Belle Lindsay & Lady Elizabeth Murray, nieces and important women from the 18th Century

Painting ca. 1778 by David Martin

Film fragments & still: Belle, 2013, dir. Amma Asante

[where-our-stories-start]

Belle (2013)

[minim236]

Everyone thirsting over Sam Reid now as if he wasn't a dreamy abolitionist in Belle 2013

[iridessence]

*intro to Age of Consent plays* | XX

[maurawrites]

Gugu Mbatha-Raw in ‘Belle’

[nanshe-of-nina]

YouTube GIFs || Crows’ Eye Productions: Getting Dressed in the 18th Century — Dido Elizabeth Belle (1779)

In the later 18th century, two young women grew up together at Kenwood House, near London. Such was the affection in which the two young women were held, that their uncle, Lord Mansfield, commissioned a joint portrait of them from the accomplished Scottish portraitist, David Martin. Dido Belle and Lady Elizabeth Murray came into the care of Lord and Lady Mansfield when they were both very young; Elizabeth after the death of her mother and Dido at the request of her father, Captain John Lindsay.

… Dido was born in England. Her father, Maria Belle, was an enslaved African woman who had become the mistress of Captain Lindsay. Her mother’s history remains uncertain, but Dido and Elizabeth were cousins and they were cared for, educated, and loved equally by Lord and Lady Mansfield. … Dido Belle, loved and respected by her uncle, Lord Chief Justice Mansfield whose rulings in cases of slavery paved the way for abolition, may be more important than we can ever know.

[fuckyeahcostumedramas]

Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Dido Elizabeth Belle in “Belle” (Film, 2013).

[letskzuniversescreations]

Young Dido Elizabeth Belle (Lauren Julien-Box) in Belle 2013 (3m).

[behindfairytales]

Gugu Mbatha-Raw in Belle (2013) as Dido Elizabeth Belle

+20 avatars added to the pack on the source link