🎬 Within Her Eyes — 6f.5
Costume
Stylised everyday clothes · Earth meets sky · Two characters, two worlds
📚 What you'll learn on this page
- The precise details of the female and male costumes
- How each costume contrast — earth vs sky — supports Cousins's intention
- The costume change during the film and what it tells us
- How to build a DLIE appreciation answer about costume
The images on this page are mock-ups
To see the real costumes in Within Her Eyes, watch the full film. The images here are illustrative mock-ups designed to help you learn the key costume features — they are not screenshots from the film itself.
6f.5.1 Description — Female
Lisa — cream, sheer, ethereal
Colours that belong to the sky.
Mock-up
Female dancer · Lisa
Cream chiffon blouse & pleated skirt
A long-sleeved chiffon (light, sheer) blouse with a camisole underneath, buttoned right up to the neck. A skirt with a central pleat and undershorts in cream/beige. In the prologue she also wears a thick oversized cardigan huddled round her shoulders, with unkempt hair. Later her hair is in a neat low ponytail. She is barefoot throughout.
🔘 Her one costume change — worth noticing
Start of film
The blouse is buttoned right up to the neck. She is guarded, closed, not ready.
→
Towards the end
The top two buttons come undone. She is opening up, relaxing, trusting more.
Mock-up
The prologue cardigan. Before the duet begins, she is alone in deserted streets wearing a thick oversized cardigan huddled around her shoulders — a detail that suggests self-protection, vulnerability and grief. This layer comes off before the dance begins.
6f.5.2 Appreciation DLIE — Female
📝 Build a DLIE answer about her costume
Example feature: Her cream, sheer blouse buttoned up to the neck. Tap through D → L → I → E.
6f.5.1 Description — Male
Aron — dark khaki, sturdy, grounded
Colours that belong to the earth.
Mock-up
Male dancer · Aron
Dark khaki sweatshirt, chinos & sturdy shoes
A dark khaki long-sleeved thick sweatshirt and casual long khaki/dark chino trousers. Sturdy dark khaki shoes — chosen both for the costume palette and for safe lifting on rough outdoor terrain.
Earth vs sky — the whole costume in one idea
Cousins has described the costume concept as "heaven and earth". The darkness of his costume connects him to the earth. The lightness of hers gives her a more ethereal, celestial feel. Even when they are pressed together in contact, the colours keep the divide visible.
6f.5.2 Appreciation DLIE — Male
📝 Build a DLIE answer about his costume
Example feature: His dark khaki sweatshirt, chinos and sturdy shoes. Tap through D → L → I → E.
Examiner's Eye — use this exact phrase
If an exam question asks about costume, write: "The costumes are stylised everyday clothes. The darkness of his costume links him to the earth, while the lightness of hers gives her a more ethereal and celestial feel." That's straight from the AQA Fact File — examiners want to see those exact phrases.
6f.5.3 💜 Your Response
💜 What does the costume make you think or feel?
Cousins wanted the work to be open for interpretation — that includes the costume. There's no single "right" reading. Take a minute to notice your own response, then explore how the costume could be interpreted in more than one way.
Prompt 1 — First response
What's your first instinct when you see the contrast between her cream blouse and his dark khaki? What words come to mind?
Prompt 2 — The cardigan
In the prologue she wears a thick oversized cardigan with unkempt hair. What does that one detail tell you about her state of mind before the duet begins?
Prompt 3 — The unbuttoning
Towards the end, the top two buttons of her blouse come undone. Why do you think Cousins chose this small detail rather than a bigger costume change?
🎭 Could the costume be interpreted in more than one way?
Yes — and that's a strength of the work. Here are three different interpretations of her cream, sheer costume. All of them can be argued from the evidence. Tap each to expand.
Reading 1
She is a ghost or a memory
▸
The sheer chiffon fabric and light cream colour give her an ethereal, otherworldly quality. Combined with the fact that she never touches the floor, you could argue she isn't fully alive — she is a memory the male dancer is replaying, or a ghost of the lost lover.
Reading 2
She is alive but emotionally fragile
▸
The sheer fabric could symbolise emotional fragility — she feels delicate and vulnerable, as if she might break. The buttoned collar shows she is guarded. The bare feet show her openness and naturalness. She is a real person in grief — not a ghost.
Reading 3
She is caught between earth and sky
▸
The costume palette places her firmly in the sky while he is in the earth. She is suspended between the two — not fully of either world. The story is about someone who can't stay in the sky forever, but also can't return to the ground. The costume makes that tension visible.
Prompt 4 — Your reading
Which of these readings feels most true to you — or do you see something different? Write a sentence starting with "For me…"
💡 Your responses stay on this page only — screenshot or copy them into your ePortfolio to keep them.
6f.5.5 Revision Check
🎯 Quick check — 10 questions
Test what you've just learned. Answer all 10 before submitting.
1. According to the AQA Fact File, the costumes are described as:
2. What colour palette does the female dancer wear?
3. What colour palette does the male dancer wear?
4. According to the AQA Fact File, the darkness of his costume:
5. And the lightness of her costume:
6. What specifically does the female dancer wear on top?
7. What extra layer does the female dancer wear in the prologue only?
8. What costume change happens towards the end of the film?
9. Why is he wearing sturdy khaki shoes?
10. What is the female dancer wearing on her feet?
0/10
Take a screenshot of your score now and paste it into your ePortfolio document so your teacher can see your progress.