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.

I think it’s similar to Toast but is quite cleverly done as it’s what most people actually look like in Toast rather than what they look like in their heads.

(I love Toast and have a lot of their stuff but I think it’s quite hard to wear and you need to be young, slim or impeccably groomed - ideally all three- to carry it off as stylishly anti-fashion, and most of us just look like we’re in our gardening things- which is fine, but it’s quite a lot of money to pay for gardening things. Doesn’t stop me though.)

No idea, but my kids have all decided she's really annoying

We watched the first episode the other day and my partner commented on her awful outfit (and he is used to my odd choices!) The socks and loafers were a step too far but would have been fine with slightly cropped trousers. In the first series I felt that she was just a supporting character but in this series it is much more of an Anna/David double act (and it's funnier!) They seem to have given her the odd outfits to match. I wonder if AMM had a say in what she wears. Maybe it is her style in real life too. I love her and listened to her Desert Island Discs and she is so lovely and funny and a bit bonkers.

The style is British Eclectic not Dark Academia
Essentially quirky, deliberately mismatched

I’ve never heard of dark academia style fashion before so I googled it and the description sort of matched Claudia/traitor clothes and I LOVE that style but not so much AMM in Ludwig’s wardrobe!

Hipster librarian/Hampstead Toast woman

Frazzled Englishwoman

I think she looks ridiculous and awful. Socks do not go with skirts or dresses unless you are a schoolgirl. I am finding her very annoying in the second series and her clothes are distracting me from the storyline.

I also hate her house. The inside is so drab and dark it's depressing

'frazzled English woman'

Yep. Leaning more into geek (not so chic) as she comes to the slow realisation that she married the wrong twin😶.

I also hate her house. The inside is so drab and dark it's depressing yes, intentionally, it's about mood.

This series isn't Midsomer Murders or similar.

I love the house. I would like to open the curtains and let the light in but as a pp said, its about the mood. The AMM character's style is quirky but I don't find it annoying, perhaps I'm less judgemental about what people wear than some. I'm not super conventional myself (although more than I used to be) and neither are most of my friends.

She’s on Instagram buying clothes from a vintage shop in Aldeburgh for it. (Though it’s on the shop’s Instagram rather than hers.)

I love the look on her. I couldn’t get away with it. I agree it ties in with her becoming more out of control as a character.

I agree that her clothes are awful but I certainly wouldn’t mind living in her house. It looks a whole lot nicer in RL than in the programme (and will be worth ££££££)

https://www.freshlocations.com/property/ham-yard/

I can't stand the character so I now hate anything associated with her.
Although I think something very traumatic must have happened to me at an early age perpertrated by some woman with a too-short fringe as they give me the rage! And I'd have probably hated the ankle socks and loafers on anyone (although the Times today tells me they're fashionable).
I get the same feeling about her as I do about Ellie Pascoe in the Dalziel and Pascoe books: that women are supposed to like them.
And I can't bloody stand either of them

I love the styling in Death Valley. You can follow the stylist on Instagram and she talks about all the thought behind it - really interesting. https://www.instagram.com/hayleynebauer

i agree with PPs that the short skirt was a step too far in Ludwig!

I’d call it hippy academic, I quite like it but wouldn’t wear it. Reminds me of my English Lit professors in uni. But I have to admit I didn’t even notice what she was wearing while I was watching it so I’d go with anti-fashion too and that must be what I am unknowingly!

Socks go with dresses and skirts if you want to wear comfortable shoes. I’ll put comfort above fashion almost always nowadays.

I agree. I couldn't work.out what they were trying to say about her with these clothes. She looked like she was dressed as a child at one point. Its really odd, as she's meant to be quite a feisty, impulsive person and the silly outfits don't reflect that at all

She ruins everything she’s in. Shes the worst overacter on the telly.

I really noticed how awful her clothes are in this series. I would feel quite awkward if I were her.

I think she looks great - frazzled English, or academic, is perfect. I see lots of people in real life who look like her (I may even have a slightly similar slant myself). Frankly, who wants to look like everyone else, especially as they get older?

Agree. I do like David Mitchell and the storyline in Ludwig is interesting enough to keep me watching, despite this.

Interesting. I work in a school and several of our English Lit colleagues dress in a not dissimilar style.

Also interesting to suggest that the increasingly mixed up style is an expression of her character getting more confused, extreme, conflicted.

i just can’t stand little girl clothes on grown women - even gamine ones. My sister wears Toast style clothes (and tbf she often is gardening) but she dresses like an adult at least. Oh and my sister is an English Lit post-doc! There’s definitely a theme there. Frazzled academic rather than Dark maybe?