Spoilers ahead*
From muck boots to lace bows, Pearl’s fashion is anything but pure.
From the twisted mind of Ti West, Pearl, the prequel to a24’s X-rated slasher film, X, has recently been released in theaters. It centers around a young woman, Pearl, portrayed by Mia Goth (appointed the Shelley Duvall of the 21st century by Tik Tok), and her search for stardom.
Stuck in her exiled small town, with her family farm as her oyster, Pearl discovers herself through temptation, self-expression, and of course, murder. At its core, Pearl is a trapped, isolated teenager needing an escape, and a traveling dance company looks like the way out.
Although Pearl isn’t sporting high fashion, homicidal maniac like the iconic flower dress in the last minutes of Midsommar, her choice of knee-length dresses and hairbows develop her character just as much. Throughout most of the film, we see Pearl in muted teal blouse and denim overalls as she does her farm chores and pitchforks a goose to death for her crocodile’s supper. This is the least disturbing thing she feeds the crocodile. She is also seen in an array of Cinderella-esque bandannas and Kansas girl Dorothy’s pigtail bows. She’s a farm gal. What more can you expect? This look of innocence is plastered over Pearl for most of the movie.
In the third act of the film, after killing her mother and ransacking her closet, Pearl dawns a blood-red, traditional 1918-style dress as she auditions for a traveling dance troupe and axes her sister-in-law to death. Red is a key color in horror, representing death and corruption. It can be taken quite literally that the blood on Pearl’s hands is now represented in her attire. She has spent her whole life in search of fame, and she’s done bleeding into the background. During her awkward and perplexing dance audition, she stands out in comparison. While most of the girls are in pink and pale pastel, Pearl is utterly and horrifically bold.
After her attempt at stardom and her successful killing spree, Pearl realizes, with the wise words of her newly deceased mother, “make the best of what she has.” She returns to her “farm fit,” restoring herself to the mundane life she once had. In the credit scene, strikingly resembling Timothée Chalamet’s world-famous Elio cry in Call Me by Your Name, but in a sick and twisted way, Pearl greets her husband with a pained expression of joy.
Pearl is a highlight movie of the horror season. Her subtle yet meaningful wardrobe evolves with the movie, and Mia Goth’s performance is nothing but Oscar-worthy. Although I didn’t watch Pearl for the fashion, I found it hard not to appreciate it.
Words by Evan Skovronsky.
Graphic by Emily Strycharz.