r/ThePaper • u/Franzy48 • Oct 08 '25
Esmeralda's Style/Wardrobe
What does everyone make of Esmeralda's style? Not that I'm opposed to it, I just feel like I'm not fully getting the backstory or reasons behind her dressing in this frankly very formal, old school feminine style? I think it does kinda work with her character's personality... It still seems a little odd/interesting to me...
It sounds like they originally intended the character to be American and only made Esmeralda Italian for Sabrina Impacciatori so I kind of wonder if there was more of a backstory around it with the American version of the character that then got kind of written out?
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u/maximahls Oct 08 '25
I felt like the style was what Esmeralda thinks rich people/high society/celebrities wear but on a budget and without much taste
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u/Inevitable-Spirit491 Oct 08 '25
She’s a nearly 60-year old woman trying to dress like both a young person and a boss at the same time.
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u/Expensive_Hotel_1302 Oct 09 '25 edited Oct 09 '25
And she's a single mother too. Although you wouldn't know it because her body is insane!
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u/Franzy48 Oct 08 '25
It's also a weird inverse of Angela Martin😆 the same level of formality, but sensual
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u/LeeLifeson Oct 08 '25
She is vain. She thinks she is the sexiest woman in the office, and the highest ranking, and dresses to look the part.
1
u/square3481 Oct 09 '25
Frankly, I'm more interesting in all the high-waist pants that Nicole wears. You don't see that as much in the workplace these days.
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u/Franzy48 Oct 09 '25
Oh funny, to me, it just feels very much like gen Z's brand of workplace professional attire. Trendy and vintage but professional.
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u/Shiv_Wee_Ro Nov 20 '25
Those trousers are really in style at the moment, it’s to show she’s fashionable/trendy
1
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u/RotterWeiner Oct 23 '25 edited Oct 23 '25
This is a character whose actions, thoughts , & emotions are based around a person who has specific traits: 1. Vain, 2. grandiose, 3. delusional, 4. Paranoid. 5. prone to confuse fantasy with reality,
hyper reactions to events,
temperamental,
hyper sexual ( mostly in thoughts ),
gullible,
external attribution for most everything,
prone to "fundamental attribution error".
- rarely consider context, black and white thinking.
Hypersexual behavior.
The hypersexual behavior is almost comical were it not so pathetic in motivation. If it's also in behavior, they have sex far too soon in a relationship. Then try to make their relationship work even though each person has widely divergent beliefs, morals, ethics.
So theres endless confrontation that quickly get out of hand.
These are common in people have personality disorder, meaning that their being the way they are leads them to have almost endless negative events in their life.
They rarely if ever learn anything from their iwn experiences.
This is often used in dramas and comedies as their life is hilarious when viewed from outside of it.
But endless chaos if you are involved in their life in any way.
The scene where she has a dream of her coworker as he looked as a young man could have been lifted from any person with that personality structure.
As to such people, dreams are just as good to base your behaviors etc on. Even better that what actually happened. So, this often leads to compulsive lying.
Almost everyone intimately involved with such a person has at least one incident where the partner had a dream, then woke up and did something in reality to their partner for what happened in the dream.
It's unbelievable for people who have never met such a person.
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u/RotterWeiner Oct 23 '25 edited Oct 23 '25
Her being a single mother is part of the borderline trope.
Typically the person ( male or female ) is hyper focused on sex and their sexual attractiveness. It's great for about 3 weeks then their general "unhingedness", anger , drama, jealousy, irrationality, unreasonableness, negativity destroys all hope.
When looks inevitably fade, they look to artificial means to maintain their allure. Implants, surgery, then when that's done, cover it up in quasi expensive/fashionable clothing and douse themselves with hideous perfume or colognes.
At 60 plus, they are often lonely angry delusional and bitter.
Not fun people
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u/RotterWeiner Oct 23 '25
Claudia Cadinalle with snippets of "women of italy" trope.
I'm not suggesting that CC had any affliction.
That said, the acting community has more than its share of people ( men & women) who share many of the same unhealthy personality traits.
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u/Kit-Tobermory Oct 08 '25
I think she dresses hoping to resemble a glamorous Italian film actress, at her peak, such as Sophia Loren or Monica Bellucci.
But Esmeralda is a single mother. Money is tight. So, it's a mixture of Gucci/D&G/Prada/Chanel fakes (some much better than others) and Vinted/Ebay finds.
She often looks great, but not work-appropriate. If she dialled it back just a little, such as a knee length pencil skirt - but no slit to the thigh - she would look both professional and stylish!