A series of unfortunate events
Summers create a more masculine silhouette. In fashion this is characterized by: broad shoulders, boxy cuts and denser fabrics. Lucy Punch (Esme Squalor) spoke in an interview of the ‘ludicrously long fingernails’ and ‘crazy pointy shoes’ (Punch, 2018), rendering Esme’s character sharp and dangerous. Toward the end of Part One, the Squalors, Baudelaires and Günther make their way to a restaurant which is very ‘in’ and on her way Esme dons a ridiculously oversized black hat. The hat reaches a metre in length to push other characters away from her, creating a physical divide between her and other classes. The type of hat is not exactly a ‘pirate’ hat but a bicorn hat (Unknown, Bicorns - Hat History, 2019), associated with high-ranking officers in the navy. Thus Esme commands respect from those of lower status and rank. The production design is fantastically reflective of who Esme is but, moreover, what she expects from those around her. She pairs her hat with a huge dark navy feathered cape, hanging it over her shoulder pads to accentuate her sharp silhouette. Esme also claims that the feathers came from bats, underlining the heights people will go to for ‘fashion’, as well as foreshadowing her pathological dishonesty (as bats do not have feathers) later in the series. Her dramatic outfits and exquisite hats throughout the series are a nod to the famous fashionista Isabella Blow (Sowray, 2011). Blow once said: ‘Fashion is a vampiric thing . . . That's why I wear the hats, to keep everyone away from me.’ This sums up Esme’s style and character throughout the two episodes. Esme is hungry to be the most fashionable in the city and so are all the other residents in their pinstripe attire. Punch details that Blow was her primary influence for the role (Punch, The Incomplete History of Secret Orginizations, 2018), as Blow was able to find power and happiness from her fashion, just as Esme does. I find it highly interesting that ‘The Ersatz Elevator’ is centred around fashion, from the nods to Art Deco, to pinstripe, to Chanel, to Blow, to Lagerfeld. Although Welch’s world is heightened, it is a caricatured version of real life. In the character of Esme, costume, character and culture merge seamlessly. In ‘The Ersatz Elevator’, Welch proves a master at creating character and atmosphere with his artistic vision. He creates an exaggerated world which allows for themes of the real world to be accentuated. From vanity and obsession with fashion in modern society, to the power dynamics between classes and the feeling of discomfort in a house that isn’t yours. Welch tells a story through each fabric, light, texture, perspective and shot choice he makes. Production design is not decoration; it is narrative. Bibliography Alford, S. (2023). Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty and a History of Hate Speech . Retrieved from Inspire The Mind: https://www.inspirethemind.org/post/karl-lagerfeld-a-line-of-beauty-and-a-history-of-hate-speech Banks, L. (2019). The Life and Times of Karl Lagerfeld . Retrieved from Vogue Business: https://www.voguebusiness.com/fashion/the-life-and-times-of-karl-lagerfeld Britannica. (2025). Art Deco . Retrieved from Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/art/Art-Deco
Handler, D. (2001). A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Ersatz Elevator. Misc. (2025). A Series of Unfortunate Events . Retrieved from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Series_of_Unfortunate_Events
Punch, L. (2018). The Incomplete History of Secret Orginizations. (J. Tracz, Interviewer) Punch, L. (2018). The Incomplete History of Secret Orginizations. (J. Tracz, Interviewer) Sowray, P. (2011). Isabella Blow . Retrieved from British Vogue: https://www.talltoad.net/blogs/news/bicorns Tracz, J. (2018). The Incomplete History of Secret Organizations. Unknown. (2019). Bicorns - Hat History . Retrieved from Tall Toad: https://www.talltoad.net/blogs/news/bicorns Unknown. (2022). Origins of Style – A Brief History of the Pinstripe Suit . Retrieved from The Bespoke Tailor: https://www.thebespoketailor.co.uk/history-pinstripe-suit/
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