“You won’t miss me, I’ll be in the baby pink cardigan,” read the text.
“I’m wearing pink too,” I replied.
Priyanca Kumari, a second year Journalism student at Sheffield Hallam University, studies in the same faculty as me - yet we’d never met. We arranged to come together after a lecturer saw a connection in our interests. She’d spotted a theme running through our work. Apparently we both used Disney films and parks as the subjects of our feature writing.
When meeting the fellow Disney fan to share our love of the magic it seemed I’d found another similarity - but this time in the style stakes.
Perhaps her character fashion inspiration is Aurora from Sleeping Beauty, I thought before the meeting. Of course, the pink ball gown granted by Flora (one of the three good fairies), rather than the blue one granted by Merryweather (another good fairy). Perhaps even Ariel from The Little Mermaid when she visits Eric’s palace for dinner in pink or maybe Cinderella when the mice sew together a pink dress for the ball.
“Actually I haven’t got a particular style that I am bound to everyday, because it depends on what I’m doing or feeling,” said Priyanca when asked about the pink preference.
Although she isn’t certain about a particular Disney style, she is certain that Belle from Beauty and the Beast is her favourite Disney princess. In fact, Belle is her most loved character of all.
“I did have a Belle nightgown,” she remembers. “Saying that I can’t believe I never had a princess costume. I’m going to take that up with my mother.”
Priyanca remembers the first time she met Belle in Epcot theme park, Orlando. She was there on a Christmas break in 2004. Walking along a cobbled alleyway in The France Pavilion, two little book shops sat at the end of the path.
She said: “I had no idea two princesses were going to be there. They were signing autographs.”
First, she met Aurora. Then Priyanca’s sister came from the shop next door to say that Belle was in there, so she recalled abandoning Aurora to go in search of her heroine. When she finally escaped she found Belle signing books in front of a display of even more books.
“It was quite quiet, so I could have a conversation with her. I told her I was her biggest fan, her biggest admirer.” Then Belle put Priyanca’s name in a special guest book off the shelf.
“I must have asked for about ten or fifteen different pictures, so I could make sure I had the perfect one,” she said.
Talking about looking picture-perfect, Priyanca thinks Belle has the most perfect dress. “It’s the most flamboyant and elegant in a golden yellow colour. It’s beautiful,” she said. “It’s funny though, because I don’t really have many yellow clothes or anything gold myself.”
If Disney princesses are not her fashion inspiration, perhaps she follows the wardrobe of a different kind of character altogether…
“I have an older sister, so my mum used to dress us the same. We looked like Donald Duck when we were in matching sailor outfits,” she said. “They were navy blue with white collars and gold buttons.”
Possibly the tint of pink came from her love of Disney classic characters: Mickey and friends. There’s Donald, Pluto, Goofy, and the girls, Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck – those girlfriends both have a draw full of bows with a pop of pink in every shade possible.
Yet, when Priyanca reflected on her younger wardrobe, she said: “I wore a lot of pink, which is weird today because I don’t like pink.” She looked at her cardigan and we laughed.
Perhaps I got this wrong then. Perhaps it is just me that dips into Disney style as part of a quirky approach to fashion. Just stick me in a green leotard and call me Peter Pan: I will never grow up. Priyanca seems to have grown out of the style though.
“I think I liked Disney character’s style more when I was younger,” she said.
“I’ve been brought up with a lot of Disney films. That’s where my passion has come from. Now I like to adapt my whole mentality with the morals Disney films present instead, because each has a unique and distinct storyline. It can be quite important and educational, and inspiring and magical at the same time. It’s just beautiful and relaxing. It’s escapism.”
It seems that whether through fashion or morals, Disney is a little spark of inspiration in everybody’s life.
- Sophie AJ Brooks
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