Ring Around the Colliers

The Movie: “Germinal.”

The Setup: Emile Zola’s tragic story of French coal miners--particularly Maheu (Gerard Depardieu), wife Maheude (Miou-Miou) and their seven children--circa 1880s. To qualify for the Oscars, the French film played a one-week engagement here in December. (Pictured is Jean-Roger Milo and Judith Henry).

The Costume Designers: Sylvie Gautrelet, Caroline de Vivaise and Bernadette Villard.

The Look: Frayed and filthy--and terribly odd-looking--uniforms and street clothes accentuate the miners’ pitiful lives. The sumptuousness of the silks worn by the mine owners is a visible dagger.

Men and women wear identical white cotton uniforms consisting of shirts with Chinese collars and button-up, sailor-style pants. Their lamps hang from their waists on wide leather belts. Their “hard hats,” made of boiled leather, feature wide brims that keep out dust and falling stones. Underneath, cotton caps capture perspiration.

In contrast, the clothing of the mine owners seems blindingly bright. Women wear blue, pink and red silk dresses; men don black or steel-blue jackets and colorful silk cravats.

Trivia: To achieve the proper grayish cast of coal dust, the fabric for hundreds of uniforms was stone-washed, then cut and sewn into garments before another washing with coal powder and more stones. Finally, they were put through a machine that mixes concrete, and made to look worn with cuts and patches. The process took more than three months. Even the baby’s clothes do not look white in this world--bonnet, jumper and blanket were dyed in tea.

Quoted: “I was told that (director) Claude Berri would make this film seven years ago, and I thought, “What would be nice?” Black or grey, maybe with spots of color. Then I thought this story was already so sad, to put sad colors would be worse. It would be completely stupid,” De Vivaise says, explaining why she chose softer earth colors for the miners’ street clothes.

Inspiration: Musee de la Mine in Wallers, France, as well as Musee d’Orsay in Paris for period paintings showing the poor.

Sources: Most costumes were made at Angels and Bermans in London or rented from Cosprop in London.