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.

“Badly lit” seems to be fashionable on screen at the moment. The new Bergerac programme is, to me, unwatchable partly because it’s just so dingy. (Also, it’s just bland and dull.)

Havent started Ludwig 2 yet, looking forward to it even more now, shall be clothes watching.

We watch this sort of light cosy drama just before bedtime to get us in the mood (for sleep)

I don't think it's unbelieveable at all - I know a few people who dress something like this, maybe not all to this extreme but one of my parents' friends comes close - indeed, she is a STEM academic, married to another senior STEM academic. Lots of Lagenlook in natural fibres, Marimekko/Toast/Gudrun Sjoden, but then paired with an alice band or slidey barettes with bows, frilly ankle socks with jelly sandals, knee high socks with mary janes from Hotter, kind of thing.

Oh don't get me started on the badly lit TV at the moment. I have a theory that it's all being shot to look good on QLED and OLED displays, but for those of us that watch on anything normal it makes it all look incredibly dark.

I first really remember it bothering me with Wolf Hall on the BBC and it seems to have got worse since then.

Yes, I have posted about this a few times as I am bit geeky on this. Also the blurring at the edges.

Anyone with a newer SMART TV should be able to change their picture settings to cinema . It makes a huge difference. I got a new TV recently and its default was awful , especially for Netflix shows and sport. The sound was dreadful too. About an hour of tinkering with Chat GPT patiently supporting me and it was loads better.

Sound is generally awful. We’re not going deaf - you really notice it when you have to boost the level virtually to the max, then when the programme’s over the continuity/trails crash in and almost deafen you. Where we used to have subtitles on just for foreign dramas, we’re increasingly putting them on for normal English shows because they’re so mumbly.

(Used to work in TV and there was a thing called Master Control that maintained a consistent sound-level across a network - but I honestly can’t believe that concept exists any more)

It's a ploy to get us all to buy sound bars, I suspect.

My favourite - watch out for all the teals and mustards!

I'm another one who likes it, along with the architecture of the house (it's a really cool architect designed 70's house) and the overall aesthetic of the show. Like a PP I like Gwyneth Keyworth's wardrobe in Death Valley and dress like her in RL (you'd probably all hate me). I love the 'humanities lecturer' themed posts. I am an academic but not in humanities, so maybe not so much of a cliché.

I agree - her character has become slightly ridiculous and a liability. It would be interesting to see who did the costume design on both series to see if it’s a different person. I too am finding her unhinged appearance and behaviour quite irritating in this series.

She's just a quirky character with quirky dress sense. I don't think we need to put it into any category.

Possibly deliberate as a talking point.

maybe there isn’t a specific category but there is no ‘just’ about it: every item of clothing / haircut / make up / jewellery is there to say something about the character. Is she quirky? I don’t know I’d describe her as that, she’s quite a serious, intense person I think. We don’t know anything about her really, except that she married one brother and is adored by the other brother. I’m not sure that makes her quirky.

i enjoy exploring symbolism and set design / costume have huge elements of this in storytelling.

and I’d love it if the programme makers found this thread / lots of feedback direct from their core audience 😂

Sounds like a really good question for the "rest is entertainment" Q&A episode!

I know what you mean. We really wanted to get into Dept Q but we couldn't see sunlight and lost the will to go on!

As for Lucy's style, I think it shows that she is definitely not a love interest or has any agenda to be one. It also shows her obsessions lie elsewhere, as if she is so driven to solve crimes/ find her husband that she just wears what's clean.

I have a couple of relatives who dress like this. They are very nerdy, quirky, and highly academic. A lot younger than AMM though.
I think it fits in with her character.

Can a woman not be a love interest if she is not conventionally glamorous and 'sexy'?

I loved Department Q particularly the way the woman in that (can't remember her name ( dressed.

I think it’s just meant to be quirky. I preferred the season one vibes. Absolutely love the house though.

Of course she can, but it's unusual on mainstream TV where they shoehorn a love interest into most shows because they're afraid us "ladies" won't watch!

It's just quirky/indie twee, plenty of women in the indie/alternative scene dress similarly but it's a bit too twee for my tastes. I would kill to live in that sixties/seventies house though!

I like "nerdy" and "quirky"; I bet a lot of people would describe my DH like that.
But it has has to to backed up with intelligence for me to find it appealing and Lucy spends a lot of time barging around, thinking she's being clever, when she's just a nuisance.
Funnily enough, DH was brought up in house that looked very much like the outside of the house in the series. I suspect the inside is filmed in a different place.

Regarding the lighting in the house. I've just watched Episode 2 and wondered why, although it's so dark inside, the lights were all on when they arrived home.

Well, the TV answer is ‘To create mood’ and ‘For the same reason we don’t depict our TV detectives having to drive five times around the block to find a parking space before confronting the murderer — it would be boring, and we need to cut straight to the action’. If you were looking for a more real life answer, though, some people do have their lights on a timer for security purposes.

Did you see the link I posted upthread, @LaMarschallin? It’s the same house - Ham Yard in SW London (Richmond area - near Ham House).

It’s this kind of failiure of continuity that makes it all seem second rate on a production level. I often think we’ve got very newly qualified kids making decisions, imagining they are being new and fresh, when actually they are just spoiling things.

Ooh, no I missed it it. Doing one of my scanning catch-ups. Thank you!
Definitely not the same as DH's family's house then but very, very similar from the outside.
Going back to the link to have a better nosey...