What would you call the female lead’s style in Ludwig? (Anna Maxwell Martin)

[Mixymaxymoxy]

Has anyone watched Ludwig on the BBC? I’ve watched the first series and started on the second. Anne Maxwell Martin plays the female lead, and I am just fascinated by her character’s style. Her hair is a very odd bob with a too short fringe and looks like she has cut it herself with kitchen scissors. Her dress style in the second season is an odd mix of old fashioned school girl (knock knees, short pleated skirts, white ankle socks and big Clarks shoes), and 70s/80s woman - striped polonecks, maroon anorak. It’s like she’s dressed from a school jumble sale.

What style is this? Why have they chosen it and who dresses like this in real life?

I think I’m fascinated because its so far from anything i could ever wear (big boobs, big hips). And I love the house her character lives in - I guess a lot of the clothing choices reflect that 70s / 80s vibe.

Appalling.

It’s kind of twee. I prefer it to her motherland wardrobe but it’s not how I dress at all!

Frumpy geek

Ill-advised. I thought the socks were a bit of a lapse but I've watched all three episodes currently available and they persist. I'd love to have been at the stylists' meeting. I'm finding the 'style' as you so kindly call it very distracting. My main thought is why? I was around in the 70s and 80s and we'd have been equally baffled then.

It's middle aged dark academia

Try Toast

Awful. I don’t know what the heck they were thinking. The house is very ‘70s/‘80s looking. I guess it’s meant to contrast with the very slick and modern looking police station, same with the car.

Non existent!

I just love Ludwig - steamed through the first series and have now started the second.
Her style is weird but I love it! It makes the show interesting and slightly odd.

It’s very odd styling.
I’m finding it very distracting to the story line and I’ve already had to watch the first episode again as I just wasn’t concentrating!
The house is also a very dark dreary place left back in the 1970s just can’t take to it at all.

I was going to say dark academia too! Yay, I vaguely understand fashion.

Did she were the white socks in S1, I can't remember? (I actually like that look .. shes got the legs for it) if she didn't, it seems an odd sudden middle aged fashion choice.

I like it! I think the ankle socks are a new addition They obviously put a lot of thought into the look of the whole programme - lots of mid/dark blue and orangey amber in the house and police station, dim lights and a 70s vibe.

I would also say dark academia.

Not that dark though. I like it, just not the white socks. A different colour would work.

It’s awful. And distracting fr what is a really enjoyable series

I don’t recall the socks in series 1. I have watched all series 2 currently available and also find them distracting but think she nails her character. Love Ludwig, so not like the house - I find it eerie when they show the outside.

‘Gamine’ ?

’Kooky’?

It is a bit OTT. That short skirt was not really credible .

But it doesn’t bother me.

I LOVE the house

Toast 😆

Love all the styling

I wondered about dark academia but thought a lot of the fabrics were too nylon-y, and that’s maroon blouson monstrosity didn’t really fit.

@BeaLola I don’t think the socks featured in series one, they’ve definitely gone a bit further with her look in the second series. Season one she was more mohair cardis, Aline skirts, thick coloured tights and clumpy shoes. Now it’s just weird jumble sale style.

I find it mismatched and frumpy. AMM is gamine and gets away with it but I think the clothes are meant to express her slight awkwardness rather than making a fashion or style choice.

Is it 'dark' as in 'got dressed in the'?

I’ve loved this programme since the first
episode. I just think the whole quirky, bonkers, mismatched styling of the house, her clothes, his clothes, the son, the car, the police officers etc works for some bizarre reason. I love Death Valley for the same reason!

I think it’s a deliberate decision to ‘escalate’ her character’s chaotic energy. Her husband has disappeared, and her own behaviour is becoming more erratic as she gets nearer the truth of the situation. (I did say, ‘dark academia’ when DH queried her fashion choices, though!).

There were a couple of moments in Series 1 where her son picked her up on some quite mad behaviour, like driving in the wrong direction away from Leeds. I wonder if they’re leaning more heavily into this in the new series.

I assumed the point is the character isn't that bothered about clothes, firstly the family is not focused on that side of life generally and secondly her husband is missing.

I was shouting at the tv at how ridiculous she looked, but on another thread someone wrote that she looked like an outgrown Enid Blyton’s Famous Five member out in a mystery…and maybe that’s what they were going for?

I quite like her style. It's quirky and I knew someone who dressed a bit like that in the 80s including ankle socks. It's 'anti-fashion' and I like that.

I felt like they ‘kooked’ her up for season 2 - in s1 she looked quite slick at times (there was one outfit with a big jumper and short A line skirt which looked amazing) but now they’ve made her much less put together and like her bob has grown out. I’m not into it…