Carbon Costume

Marmee is a character from (the 2019 version) Little Women, directed by Greta Gerwig, and is played by Laura Dern. Little Women follows the classic story of sisters who are artists with big dreams and personalities. It follows the struggles and joys they all encounter together in the civil-war era.

Marmee is the mother of the March sisters. To dress like Marmee as she dresses at Meg’s wedding, for this wearable take on it, wear a green dress/ coat layered over a red skirt that matches a red/ rust-colored wide velvet ribbon at the collar. For another look, wear a long sleeve navy blue dress with a striped apron at the waist.

This past weekend, the 2024 Oscars were more than memorable thanks to Ryan Gosling bringing the Kenergy to the awards with his explosive live performance of ‘I’m Just Ken.’ Although Barbie didn’t win best picture or director, Ryan truly made a lasting impression by flooding our screens and the stage with pink. He was accompanied by a large ensemble of Kens supporting him as background dancers. The look of the performance was inspired by the famous scene featuring Marilyn Monroe’s ‘Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend’ from the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Of course in this case, Ryan is the iconic blonde and the ensemble wear costumes inspired by the men in the ensemble from the film. Choosing this classic film as inspiration is also fitting as Greta Gerwig took a lot of inspiration from large sweeping sound-stage musicals from that time. The I’m Just Ken scene in Barbie is actually inspired by Singin’ in the Rain, from the dream ballet sequence with Cyd Charisse and Gene Kelly.

Ryan wore an all-pink outfit to this performance. This can be created by wearing a hot-pink suit, pink shirt, pink gloves, pink socks, black dress shoes, and fashionable black sunglasses. The rhinestones can be added with AB rhinestones and glued with E6000. A black cowboy hat can also be added like he wears in the very beginning of the performance. This would make for a great duo or group costume with your favorite Kens as the background dancers.

Babette is a character from the film White Noise by Noah Baumbach, and is played by Greta Gerwig. The film is based on the original 1985 novel by Don DeLillo. This story follows college professor Jack Gladney and his family as they’re faced with “The Airborne Toxic Event.” They’re forced to evacuate their home and ultimately face their fear of death throughout the film and we see how each of them cope with this in their own ways. Babette is a very kind character who is married to Jack and teaches classes to the elderly for work.

Babette wears very fitting outfits for a working 80s mom with lots of purple and blue pieces. She tends to wear jeans and high waisted, wide leg, and pleated dress pants that are rolled at the bottom to show her grey suede ankle boots. If you have “important hair” like Babette, this costume could be perfect for you!

Frances is played by Greta Gerwig and is the main character from the film Frances Ha, directed by Noah Baumbach. The film follows Frances as she navigates living in New York. We watch her face adulthood and try to achieve her dreams of becoming a dancer, but she seems to fall behind the people her age in areas like having her own apartment, a stable job, and being okay with not living with her best friend Sophie that achieves this before she does.

This film is entirely in black in white, but her personality still shines through in what pieces Frances chooses to wear. She is a big outfit-repeater, usually wearing a floral dress with leggings underneath, her signature bomber jacket with a fur collar, and without the jacket she wears a white cardigan around her waist to make her stand out against the also-gray background she’s in. When she gets her office job with the dance company in the end, she dresses professionally in a knee-length skirt and the white button down we see her wear previously that fits perfectly into her new look.

Midge is a minor character in the hit 2023 movie Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig. Midge is Barbie‘s friend and neighbor. She lives with Skipper in her purple treehouse, based on the actual toy. Midge is noticeably pregnant. She is portrayed in the movie by Emerald Fennell.

Doctor Barbie is a character in the hit 2023 movie Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig. She is the resident doctor in Barbie Land. Ken visits Doctor Barbie after hurting himself the beach (trying to impress Barbie, of course). She is portrayed by transgender actress Hari Nef. Her appearance in the movie sends a supportive message to the transgender community.

Cowboy Ken is a supporting character in the hit 2023 movie Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig. He is one of the many Kens in Barbie Land. His partner Barbie is Physicist Barbie. His style is Western meets beach. He is portrayed by Ncuti Gatwa, who you may recognize as Eric Effiong from Sex Education and soon to be the 14th Doctor in Doctor Who. Check out Ryan Gosling’s Ken costume here.

Merman “Kenmaid” Ken is a character in the hit 2023 movie, Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig. He appears as the Ken counterpart to Mermaid Barbie. He is portrayed by former wrestling star John Cena, currently best known for his role as Peacemaker.