Abstract This paper examines the interplay between the ancient and modern worlds by looking at the ways contemporary fashion trends of the period of a film’s production influence the ways ancient costume and style are depicted. Scholars writing about the reception of classics in popular culture face the challenge of educating people about the original sources, as well as explaining how the new texts explore social messages, cultural concerns, and artistic sensibilities relating to both the time of production and also to various points of reception. Anachronisms and appropriations are inevitable, not simply because of the unconscious perspectives of filmmakers, but also because the intentions of those involved in production are multiple. I examine four films produced over a period of approximately 66 years to explore how costume designers intertwine the changing styles of women’s dress, hair, and make-up with audiences’ expectations for the illusion of historical reality: Cleopatra (1934) with Claudette Colbert; Quo Vadis (1951) with Deborah Kerr; The Trojan Women (1971) with Katharine Hepburn, Vanessa Redgrave, Genevieve Bujold, and Irene Papas; and Jason and the Argonauts (2000) with Jolene Blalock.
Margaret M. Toscano (Thu,) studied this question.