Inspired Style: Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland

By The Inside Source, Marni Elyse Katz
February 25, 2010

Unless your head’s been in a rabbit hole, you’re well aware of the craze that is Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland. The film, opening on March 5^th, has inspired fashion's finest, from cosmetics and jewelry brands to our favorite glossies. A few of our favorites: Urban Decay launched "Book of Shadows," an eyeshadow palette that opens to reveal a pop-up scene of Alice in the forest; OPI created a set of nail colors that includes shades like “Off with Her Red!” and "Mad as a Hatter;" Swarovski, Tom Binns and Stella McCartney have all made Alice-inspired jewelry; and And L.A. fashion designer Sue Wong has created romantic, feminine frocks fit for Alice.

In its March issue, Marie Claire featured Alice actress Mia Wasikowska in a Wonderland fashion shoot of edgy outfits that’s biker babe meets Goth princess, with a touch of spun sugar. (Though, admittedly, for absolute Alice perfection, we’ve been sneaking peeks at Anne Leibovitz’s 2003 shoot for Vogue.)

Disney has not seen fit to commission a home collection. We’re guessing there’s way more money in the rag trade among coveted 18- to 34-year-old audiences. But with so persistent design motifs—some adorable (mushrooms, hearts), others more sophisticated (roses, Gothic ironwork)—not to mention the film’s sparkling palette of rich, saturated colors, we think they’re missing an opportunity. Imagine jewel-toned velvet, embroidered pillows, gold-edged teacups, and abstract rose print fabrics. Imagine what Tricia Guild or Kelly Wearstler could do.

In the absence of such marketing and design genius, we’ve scoured eBay for our own Alice in Wonderland inspired items for the home, some more literal than others. We've sprinkled in some fashion finds too.

1. 1897 Antique Pocket Watch (current bid, $31) The White Rabbit, who is always late for a date, is always portrayed with a pocket watch, even by Tim Burton.

2. Cudan Mexican Vintage Enamel & Silver Mushroom Sugar Shaker (buy it now price, $200) Mushrooms are a major motif often associated with the story. Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland is filled with mushrooms, in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors.

3. William Rogers Child's Silverplate Humpty Dumpty Cup (buy it now price, $14.99) Humpty Dumpty appears in Through the Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll’s follow-up to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, which takes place six months later. Alice actually recites the well-known nursery rhyme in the story. Humpty does not seem to appear in Tim Burton’s movie.

4. Vintage Alice In Wonderland China Doll (starting bid, $65) An old-fashioned child’s toy.

5. Herend White Rabbit Figurine (current bid, $70.99) A White Rabbit like this one would fit right at home in Wonderland, or on a shelf at our house. (Tip: Don’t confuse the White Rabbit with the March Hare, an altogether different character in the tale.)

6. 1970 Royal Doulton Jug (Mad Hatter) (buy it now price, $70) A kitschy piece of kitchenware.

7. Emilio Pucci Print Bow Tie (buy it now price, $49) An updated accessory for Johnny Depp, who plays the Mad Hatter wearing quite the colorful and oversize, flounce-y bowtie. Although the character is widely known as the Mad Hatter, Lewis Carroll simply called him the Hatter. Tim Burton has said that Depp’s goal was to try and bring out a human side to the strangeness of the character.

8. English Sterling Silver Queen of Hearts Tray (current bid, $51) Lewis Carroll’s Queen of Hearts is the villain in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

9. Vincent Long Creme Red Lipstick (buy it now price, $8.95) The film’s makeup artist, Valli O’Reilly, gave both Anne Hathaway as the White Queen and Helena Bonham Carter as her older sister, the Red Queen, bold, red lips. (For a bit of background, these queens actually appear in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass, not in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.)

10. Disney Couture Tom Binns Gold "Drink Me" Bottle Necklace (buy it now price, $38.74) This totally adorable necklace by jewelry designer Tom Binns for Disney Couture has an antique goldtone chain and a resin bottle, complete with an engraved “Drink Me” tag. Lewis Carroll introduces the magic potion in Chapter One of Alice’s Adventure’s in Wonderland: “It was all very well to say "Drink me," but the wise little Alice was not going to do that in a hurry. "No, I'll look first," she said, "and see whether it's marked 'poison' or not.”

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