{"id":598121,"date":"2026-04-21T19:14:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T19:14:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/598121\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T19:14:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T19:14:18","slug":"the-testament-of-ann-lee-2025-frock-flicks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/598121\/","title":{"rendered":"The Testament of Ann Lee (2025) \u2013 Frock Flicks"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Testament of Ann Lee (2025) has finally been released for streaming (on Hulu), and I\u2019ve been waiting for it ever since being intrigued by the trailer (and of course, it\u2019s set in the 18th century and I\u2019m a completionist about that). Starring Amanda Seyfried<\/a> and directed by Mona Fastvold (The World to Come<\/a>), the film is a biopic about Ann Lee (1736-84), founding leader of the Shaker religious movement. It starts with her poverty-stricken childhood in Manchester, England, through her religious conversions\/revelations and founding of the Shaker colony of upstate New York. And it\u2019s really beautiful!<\/p>\n

I feel like noting that I\u2019m not the least bit religious, and only a little bit maybe spiritual, but the film really moved me, particularly in how it used actual Shaker songs and dance to both show how the Shakers worshipped but also to really get you inside of the concept of an ecstatic religion. It was also fascinating to see a real historical woman moving outside of her prescribed gender norms in an actually historical way, not an anachronistic feminist<\/a> \u201cLady Preacher.\u201d<\/p>\n

The costumes were designed by Malgorzata Karpiuk (The Zone of Interest), made in only six weeks!! and on a very limited budget. She told the Motion Picture Association,<\/p>\n

\u201cMy first thought, of course, was to draw inspiration mostly from the paintings. I didn\u2019t want to watch other movies made by different costume designers and directors because I knew from the beginning that we would tell our own story. There\u2019s a great book about Shakers that helped me understand this community. We had access to the museum as well, and the movie ended with the real museum, with its furniture and everything. In my opinion, it helped me understand how brilliant and modern they were. It was really important for me to understand their philosophy\u201d (Shaker Style: Ma\u0142gorzata Karpiuk on Designing Amanda Seyfried\u2019s Dance-Ready Wardrobe for \u201cThe Testament of Ann Lee\u201d in 6 Weeks<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Ann herself starts as a small child in 1750s Manchester, then a young woman joining the Shaker movement while marrying and having babies. As a working-class woman, she\u2019s never shown wearing anything fancier than this white print dress:<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>I liked the stripes and how this looked like a real, lived-in dress.
\n\"2025<\/a>\u00a9 2025 Searchlight Pictures<\/p>\n

She also wears a LOT of bodices, sometimes with obvious buttons for the presumably-removed sleeves:<\/p>\n

\"2025<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2025<\/a>Yes, those are metal grommets<\/a> (insert side-eye).<\/p>\n

She\u2019s often in her stays in intimate moments with her husband, but also while in prison (where she has her big revelations) \u2014 annoyingly, without her shift<\/a> (or, in prison, with her shift OVER her corset??):<\/p>\n

\"2025<\/a>More metal grommets.<\/p>\n

After prison, when Ann becomes the main visionary and starts preaching for celibacy in particular, designer Karpiuk notes, \u201cshe wanted to be less attractive because she just started to figure out her future path. Slowly, her costumes were changing as she hid her chest. The bonnet got bigger, so we started covering her hair.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"2025<\/a>Arriving in New York. Yes, there\u2019s a LOT of caps<\/a>, but 1) there should be! and 2) they\u2019re not Unfortunate Bigginses<\/a> as they don\u2019t tie under the chin.<\/p>\n

The Shakers\u2019 dancing was a key costume challenge for Karpiuk:<\/p>\n

\u201cMy great cutter helped me design the dresses for the Shakers with this special sleeve cut that looks natural, but allows the actors to do everything. The dresses were made to be easy to put on the actors and very comfortable. We painted all the dresses to build this palette. For the men, most of the trousers were a bit longer and had a special elastic to hide the knee pads and make them feel comfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>They don\u2019t just dance, they DANCE. Like, major arm and leg movements.<\/p>\n

As the colony finds its feet in the soon-to-be United States, the characters find a more standardized religious dress. Karpiuk said,<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, the final Shaker look proved to be the most challenging costume. I know the Shakers, I know their history, I know the colors from the book, but somehow we wanted to do our own vision of them. So we took some creative license to build this final look. To be 100% sure, we spent a couple of meetings together to decide on the sky palette and colors \u2014 almost like heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"2025<\/a><\/p>\n

\"2025<\/a><\/p>\n

There were a couple more-upper-class-ish character. Jane Wardley is another female preacher in the movement. Most of her costumes were darkly lit, and I had my suspicions about some of them but I was never able to see them closely enough to officially confirm.<\/p>\n

\"2025<\/a>Her caps felt very mid-Victorian.
\n\"2025<\/a>As did her hairstyle. This is a behind-the-scenes shot featuring a great green loose jacket, but nothing is this well-lit on screen.
\n\"2025<\/a>Okay, it\u2019s 18th century! I think!<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also the American landlady of the New York City boardinghouse:<\/p>\n

\"2025<\/a>Decent, except for the Margaret Thatcher hair.<\/p>\n

Some randos on the street in New York:<\/p>\n

\"2025<\/a>Passes the squint check!<\/p>\n

And a few guys, whose wigs<\/a> I quite liked!<\/p>\n

\"2025<\/a>Obvious wig line! Yay!<\/p>\n

So, if you\u2019re at all interested in a strong film about a real historical woman, I highly recommend\u00a0The Testament of Ann Lee. It may surprise you how good it is!<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Have you seen The Testament of Ann Lee? What did you think?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Find this frock flick at:<\/p>\n


\"JustWatch\"
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\n\tMore Frock Flicks\n<\/p>\n

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