How Clothing Displays Mental States | Black Swan - Nina Style Analysis

Black Swan tells the story of Nina, a ballerina whose passion for dance rules every facet of her life. When the company's artistic director decides to replace his prima ballerina for the opening production of Swan Lake, Nina is his first choice. She has competition and a newcomer by the name of Lily. And while Nina is perfect for the role of the White Swan, Lily personifies the Black Swan. As the rivalry between the two dancers transforms into a twisted friendship, Nina's dark side begins to emerge, internally and externally. The psychological thriller is fueled by the representation of the three main aspects of Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory, which is clearly depicted in the film. The film takes you through Nina's transformation, presenting all three parts. The id, ego, and superego psychoanalytic theory was explored not only in the storyline, but visually as well as it translates the exploration of personality structure within costume and styling. The range of styling is an indicator on the spectrum of where Nina falls within her unconscious mind that governs behavior to a greater degree between her superego, ego, and id. The film opens with Nina in a very traditional romantic tutu. The tutu was created by the fashion brand Rodarte, a brand that is very unique and artful, founded by sisters Kate and Laura Malevy, who co-designed with Amy Westcott on the film. This sets the starting point of Nina's transformation as costume is necessary for a basic fundamental understanding because it prompts a viewer's immediate recognition of a character. Here, Nina is presented as a pure being. The superego is prominent. This reflects the internalization of cultural constraints and is formed by socially acceptable morals put into place by parents and teachers at a young age. This mental state strives to be acceptable and embodies ideal social standards as well as ideologies. Nina's initial state is cautious and innocent, perfectly embodying the superego, but this means that she only has one layer of personality. Rather than being dimensional and adaptive, she is quiet and responsible, yet very fragile. The white swan in concept expresses love and beauty in a socially acceptable manner. Nina embodies the perfect white swan, strengthening her superego. Since the white swan is safe and graceful, it is clear that this role comes very easily to her because she is so contained and virtuous to the point that she's even described as frigid. However, the role of the black swan is definitely going to be the most challenging for her. Her perceived rigidness is depicted in the structure and styling of her clothing. She remains covered and wears a lot of soft lines with structured pieces containing it and adorning structured pieces with softer ones. In costume and character design, lines will often indicate the nature of individual characters. There are multiple variables to consider, but the general rule is that soft lines are non-threatening, good, and gentle while sharper lines are stronger, brutal, or bad. This comes from the human nature of perception for fight or flight responses. Nina's first looks are softer in nature and have hints of sharper lines that will evolve. The colors of the superego are whites, pinks, and pastels, all light and associated with being feminine. Dancewear consists of a lot of pink because the shade allows for dance instructors to notice the muscles in dancers' legs. It's also very traditional for ballerinas to wear this, so it's not surprising that Nina wears a lot of pink. But in terms of symbolism, more muted pinks represent youth and innocence, which is linked to her psychological identity. Along with the pinks, she sports a lot of pastels. Pastel colors represent neutrality. They are peaceful and soft because they're less saturated than primary colors, making them feel light and unthreatening. Nina's subdued color schemes mirror her mindset of remaining good. The superego is reflected in Nina's relationship with her mother, to the point that part of her personality is constructed by her mother. Her mother is protecting Nina as if she's a child, controlling her actions, lecturing her about what is right or wrong, to the point where Nina feels guilty for even thinking for herself. For example, Nina doesn't want to eat the cake that her mother made because she's conscious of her figure. Her mother is extremely upset by this. It's clear that Nina immediately feels guilty for misbehaving and sets aside her decision to please her mother. Nina embodies the superego and her desire to please her mom and not break the rules because she's trying to achieve perfection. The id begins to surface, which is the part of the mind in which innate, instinctive impulses and primary processes are manifested. The teacher states that he only wants one girl to embody both the white and black swan, but when he sees Nina's performance, he thinks that Nina is beautiful, fragile, and fearful, as the white swan should be. But the black swan is the evil sister who seduces the love of white swan, so she has to be passionate, seductive, and impressive. He encourages her to embrace those components of life, so that she can show the other side of her in her dance. But there is no other side. On the other hand, Lily the dancer introduced for the black swan role is not technically perfect, but Nina envies her unstrained but attractive personality. Lily is symbolic of who Nina would like to be because she is much more instinctive and re-spirited. The perceived way of how Nina sees Lily is corrupted. The ego is smart, responsible, and controlled, so they are able to become friends. But the id is passionate, instinctive, and desirous, making her want to be more like Lily in demeanor so that she can be the black swan. Lily's clothing is darker in contrast, but in a more mysterious, laid-back way, while Nina's is lighter in comparison. Nina's outfits become more deconstructed, slowly forming sharper lines. The use of color-blocking is utilized as well. Color-blocking is thought of as the exploration of taking colors that are indirect or direct opposites on the color wheel and pairing them together to make interesting, complementary color combinations. Shades of darker grays begin to be fused into her stereotypically feminine wardrobe. Gray, in nature, is morally ambiguous and impartial. Because of its range, the color is connected to intellect and compromise. It's very diplomatic in nature, negotiating all the distance between black and white. It's not a color of extremes, but rather of middle ground. She is beginning to think for herself outside of societal standards. There is not any sort of extreme yet, but she is under distress, making her mindset more vulnerable. The ego is symbolized as the reason in common sense, which is evident in highly gray outfits. The constant pressure and restraint Nina puts on herself tenses her expression. So, when she chooses to be more independent, she crushes not only what is right to her mother, but also breaks her own rules and morals. Hence, the ego that was so briefly shown is overpowered, because now the id is running her personality. The fleeting superego and ego, or relative sanity, is sometimes seen in her reflection. The director stated, dancers are always looking at themselves, so their relationship with their reflection is a huge part of who they are. Filmmakers are also fascinated by mirrors, and it's been played with before, but I wanted to take it to a new level. Visually, we push the idea of what it means to look in a mirror. Mirrors become a big part of looking into Nina's character, which is all about doubles and reflection. As the movie continues, Nina's real life begins to mimic the Swan Lake story through the fight between the White and Black Swan. This is visually conveyed in reflections, as Black Swan is heavenly reliant on duality. It makes sense that there's duality in hallucinations. On one hand, there are plenty of signs that Nina is mentally ill. On the other hand, there is a desire for perfection and what it means in becoming the White and Black Swan. These two come together and are blurred through Nina's internal conflict and obsession with becoming the perfect ballerina. This comes to life through hallucinations that begin to consume her, but she still has glimpses of reality, and Nina is revealed to the public as the White Swan. She's in a billowing white gown, also designed by Rodarte, that clearly hides her secret habit. With the crosshatching of the white chiffon, there is a degree of self-awareness and protection within this piece as she debuts. The White Swan influence even carries into Nina's everyday life, which is evident by this feather-like scarf by Rodarte. While walking to the subway, Nina sees herself pass by. There is a stark contrast between the sleek-backed hair and proper pink coat Nina versus the disabled hair, darker clothed Nina. The styling contributes to the narrative, as we see the integration of darker clothing when the darker side comes out. Outside of hallucinations, she begins to consistently be portrayed wearing black. This is apparent in the scene where she goes out to the bars with Lily. Initially entering the bar wearing a light-colored shirt that she chose herself. However, by the end of the night, she wears a dark black tank top. Showing skin and wearing a dark color shows that she is giving into the id. Nina wears dark colors as a rejection of her superego. She rejects the soft, girlish lines of pieces and turns to more jagged, dangerous ones as she is unraveling. For the costumes in the film, it was stressed that traditional ballet lines were utilized with still adding flair to the pieces through non-traditional fabrics to accent the traditional tool. Nina is picturesque as the swan. Her innocence and vulnerability are evident in the romantic nature of her costume. The feathers are soft, the detailing is delicate, the makeup is very light and sweet, but as Nina's transcendence into madness is complete when she performs as Odell. The black swan is in a similar tutu that mirrors the other, this time decorated with jagged, harsh feathers, large rhinestones, and addition a crown. In the finale of the film, when Nina finally gets to dance, we see her swing between her two emotional states. The first is someone completely frayed and overwhelmed. The second is angry, confident, and dangerous. At one point, the two sides of Nina actually fight each other. We can see that she's trying to stop the black swan, but fails. The id has taken over. Nina realizes that she destroyed herself. This is the ego resurfacing realizing the id and superego have collapsed. This realization brings her back to reality and she once again inhabits the sorrow and vulnerability of the white swan. The ending is open to interpretation. We just see her injured and rather than the traditional fade to black, which creates a sense of closure. The fade to white is very ambiguous. Her last outfit is completely white and pure. Aside from her wound, the fade to white can signify that she is free from the black swan, in my opinion, as she is surrounded by softer elements such as silk, delicate feathers, and warm tones that she had lost within her transformation, but now has regained. I feel that the fade to white is a relief from the darkness that had developed within her turbulence of the superego, ego, and id, all coming forward in her journey to become the perfect ballerina. Much like the overall look and tone Nina initially sported when she was full of hope and dreams for herself. I hope you enjoyed this video. If you did, please subscribe, like, turn on notifications, and comment. Thank you so much for watching.