Ariel's Fashion Eras: The Little Mermaid's Many Dresses

When Disney markets their Disney Princess line, each of the princesses are shown with their signature gown that they wear either throughout the movie, during the climax of the movie or at the end of the movie. Snow White is shown in her blue, red, yellow and white gown which she wears throughout the entire film, Cinderella in her iconic light blue ball gown, Belle in her yellow dress, and Aurora is in the pink version of her final dress. Some of our princesses have two outfit changes in their film, but when it comes to Ariel, she is seen in six different outfits throughout the 1989 film (if you don’t count her pink nightgown). When historians and fashion experts have tried to pinpoint the era that Disney tried to draw influence from for these six outfits, many of them have said that it’s a bit of a historically inaccurate mess. Let’s take a look at each of Ariel’s outfits in the 1989 movie.

Ariel’s dresses. Image from: https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/351351208411040558/

the purple shells and green tail

Though this one doesn’t count as a dress, it is one of Ariel’s most iconic looks and one of the ones she’s most marketed in. In the 1989 film, each of Ariel’s mermaid sisters are shown with their own signature colour, with shell and tail to match: Attina in orange, Alana in purple, Aquata in blue, Arista in red, Adella in yellow, and Andrina in another shade of purple. Ariel is the only one out of her sisters who has a dual-coloured shell and tail combination, as well as a hair colour that is not a common “natural” colour. This could be a way to make Ariel stand out amongst her sisters. The red hair colour, bright green tail and purple shells could also be a representation of Ariel’s personality, vibrant, curious, and joyful. Red and green are complementary colours on the colour wheel and are satisfying to the eye. The purple could’ve been a choice by designers to make the palette less intense for viewers.

Ariel and Sebastian. Image from: https://www.geeksandgamers.com/a-decade-of-disney-the-little-mermaid-1989/

ariel’s sail and ropes

Though many viewers likely wouldn’t count Ariel’s sail and ropes outfit as she discovers her new legs on the sandy beach as an iconic outfit of hers, but it does hold significance. Not only is it a combination of her two new lives, standing on the shore with legs and the sails of a boat that was once on water, it is also a call to how Ariel and Eric first met. In the original tale by Hans Christian Andersen, the little mermaid just uses her long hair to cover herself, but of course, Disney had to find a family-friendly option.

YouTuber Morgan Donner did some research regarding the type of sail Ariel might have used, what kind of boat it could’ve come from, and tries to narrow down the century the boat style could’ve been influenced by. She decided the sail might’ve been a Bowsprit sail from a 17th century Galleon ship. The Bowsprit sail is the sail near the front of the boat and is at a shorter height than all of the others, and on the one on Eric’s boat, it’s a rectangle shape. It’s not clear whether the sail she wears is the one from Eric’s ship, but it’s a nice way to tie the two together for their first official (conscious) meeting.

Flounder, Skuttle, Sebastian and Ariel. Image from: https://www.geeksandgamers.com/a-decade-of-disney-the-little-mermaid-1989/

pink dinner dress

This dress has been the one that’s been the most widely reviewed of them all, likely because it’s the dress Ariel was marketed in when the movie was released, as to make her fit with the other princesses in gowns. When Ariel wasn’t shown to be around other princesses, like in singular doll form, she was mostly sold in her mermaid shells and tail.

This dress also marks the start of the historical inaccuracies and inconsistencies throughout the film, making it hard to place the location and time that it takes place. This could have been intentional, to keep the story whimsical and less focused on realism, but it could’ve also just been design choices that were made that seemed favourable at the time. YouTuber Mina Le produced a series of videos in 2020 that analyzed the Disney princess gowns and if they’re historically accurate or not. When speaking about Ariel’s pink gown, she says that it follows typical design patterns of the 1830s, specifically the neckline and the sleeves.

Ariel in her pink dinner dress. Image from: https://feelinganimatedblog.wordpress.com/2017/11/10/film-review-the-little-mermaid-1989/ariels-awful-pink-dress/

Though this was designated her official Disney princess gown for many years, around the early 2010s, Disney began to shift her look into a bright green gown complimented by purple jewelry. There was no statement by Disney as to why they made the change or where the design of this new dress came from, but it could’ve been a choice made to better represent her character, since the pink gown was just one that Eric’s family had around the palace. The green and her bright red hair also made a statement when standing next to the rest of the princess lineup. It is the dress now primarily worn by cast members in the Disney parks for meet and greets as well. This case is similar to when Aurora was first marketed in her blue dress from the film, to later switching to the pink version being her signature, since the blue was already an iconic colour of Cinderella’s.

The Disney princess lineup. Image from: https://stoneblackfiction.com/2016/01/08/disney-princess-battle-royale-an-opinion-piece/

blue town dress

With the mish-mash of centuries this film could’ve been placed in, this dress does not help with clarifying the setting at all. Her signature blue dress from the famous “Kiss the Girl” scene has influences from the late 1500s as well as the 1800s. The neckline however, is reminiscent of the 1920s. The colour of her outfit could have been an intentional choice by animators to replicate the blue of the ocean, which she had now been away from for two days.

Ariel and Eric in “Kiss the Girl”. Image from: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/princeton-university-capella-group-cuts-song-little-mermaid-over-toxic-n944531

sparkly ocean dress

Largely popular online now, Ariel’s sparkly purple dress that she wears when she steps out of the ocean into Eric’s arms near the end of the film is one of the most stunning and modern outfits she wears in the film. Her style shifts from 16th-19th century dresses to 20th century, around the time of when the film was released in 1989. She wears the dress for a total of 12 seconds in the film, but it is the perfect way to represent the magic of Triton, the magic of the ocean, and the happiness that radiates off of Ariel now that she’s human.

Ariel coming out of the water. Image from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ww9fvwzXFo

ariel’s wedding dress

The sparkly dress magically transitions into Ariel’s official wedding dress, which features leg of mutton sleeves, a tight bodice, a V-neck line, and an underskirt hoop bottom. It is a slightly elevated version of her pink gown, but it’s not off the shoulder and of course is wedding-white. People have compared Ariel’s wedding gown to the late Princess Diana’s wedding gown from 1981, as Diana also had a slightly lower neckline, puffy sleeves, with a floor-length hoop skirt. However, there are many details that differ, but it’s clear to see that the mermaid’s wedding dress is inspired by the 1980s.