‘Sense and Sensibility’ Costume Designer on Blending Historical Accuracy and Modern Styling for the Dashwood Sisters: ‘We Want to Do Jane Austen Justice’

Costume designer Grace Snell has combined historical research with modern influences for Georgia Oakley’s new adaptation of Jane Austen’s *Sense and Sensibility*. She aims to honour the novel while making the period drama feel more accessible, using clothing to show the Dashwood sisters’ closeness and changing social world.

The story moves from the family’s intimate life in the Devon countryside to their presentation in London, with costumes shaped by setting, weather and season. Snell researched historical dress and used period-appropriate fabrics and hand-sewing, while drawing on family photographs and fashion from the 1980s and 1990s. The sisters, aged 19, 16 and 13, share and rework clothes; the palette also reflects the plot, from mourning shades of black to blue for Elinor and Edward’s disappointment.