Fashion Goes Through The Looking Glass

Who doesn’t have a special place in their heart for Alice in Wonderland? Anxious white rabbits, toothy felines, size-shifting mushrooms, monarchs calling for people’s heads and a tea party that’s mad as a hatter — what a topsy-turvy, memorable world Lewis Carroll created in his 1865 novel. I don’t know about you, but if someone says “hookah-smoking caterpillar” there’s really only one story I can name that features such a character, and it’s not Wuthering Heights.

Tim Burton’s Alice reboot hits theatres Friday and promises to bring Carroll’s world to vivid life again — with, of course, that distinctive Burton-esque touch. In advance of the film’s opening, the fashion world is jumping into the mix, with several companies releasing Alice-themed attire.

The Japan-based retail chain Uniqlo has teamed up with Disney for a collection featuring printed babydoll tees, vests, tunics, leggings, a tote bag and a stole. The tees (see photo gallery) are absolutely adorable and appear to take inspiration from both the 1951 animated Disney movie and Burton's film. The items, priced between US$10.50 and US$29.50, rolled out in Uniqlo stores around the world on March 1.

Also throwing its, ahem, hat into the ring is New Era. The Buffalo, N.Y.-based headwear giant has launched a line of 59FIFTY caps that pay homage to the Alice story and its various, wonderfully bizarre players.  These caps definitely draw more from Burton’s aesthetic vision than from Disney's animated classic or the original book’s illustrations by John Tenniel. The “Cheshire Cat” cap is stylishly bold, with a pair of piercing blue eyes and a wide grin splashed across the front of the cap.  Turn it around and stitched in a looping spiral on the back are the words “Most everyone’s mad here. You may have noticed that I’m not all there myself…”

Another cap, dubbed “Alice in Wonderland All Over,” features detailed black-and-white sketches that cover its entire surface. Look closely and you’ll see Alice decked out warrior-style, a Johnny Depp-ified Mad Hatter, the Red Queen (boo, hiss!), the Caterpillar, the ubiquitous Cat, and even the Tweedle-twins on the underside of the brim.

Other available designs are "Eat Me Drink Me" and “The Mad Hatter." The caps, which range in price from US$34.99 to US$35.99, hit stores on Feb. 15 and will be available on the New Era website on March 5, just in time for the film’s opening.

— Eva Lam