FrockFlicks: Interview With the Creator of Black Girl in a Big Dress
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We’re always on the lookout for historical costume movies and TV shows with a more inclusive view of history. The past wasn’t all lily-white caucasian, even in the U.S. or Europe, but looking at some frock flick fare, you’d think black people didn’t exist until the 1960s. While we wait for the next season of Harlots and wonder if there even will be another season of Timeless, in our search for interesting shows featuring people of color in historical settings, why not check out a clever web series about a fan of historical costume dramas who is black herself? Yeah, that’s totally a thing! It’s called Black Girl in a Big Dress (2018), created by Aydrea Walden, and the massively successful first season was nominated for a Webby Award.
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BlackGirlNerds: Aydrea Walden on Victorian Cosplay Fashion in ‘Black Girl In a Big Dress’
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Walden is a journalist, writer, producer, and actress who has worked behind the scenes of popular flicks such as How To Train Your Dragon: Hidden World and Trolls. In her free time, she is busy spearheading a hilarious web series about Lady Kate, a Black millennial with the soul of a 19th-century Victorian.
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*Ehem* @netflix , take note. - From PaperMag
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The story of economic struggle and of living in supposedly "bad neighborhoods," while a reality in some places, is not the singular definitive story that represents all African-Americans. With web series Black Girl in a Big Dress, actress, producer, and screenwriter Aydrea Walden wants to show that being black in America can also mean sipping on tea and dressing up in Victorian cosplay.
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I Just Binge Watched Black Girl In A Big Dress And You Should Too! - From Emily Cottontop
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I do not know about you but I am a sucker for a great web series and this one is pretty impeccable...The series was pretty thought provoking but at the same time so much fun!
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Why You Should Check Out “Black Girl in a Big Dress” - tvovermind
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So here is why you should check out Black Girl in a Big Dress…..it’s absolutely hilarious...give this woman credit for knowing what she wants to do and going with it. This series should be fun to watch simply because the challenge she’ll face, getting in and out of the car in that dress mostly, will be a little rough since the real world of today doesn’t really conform to the world that was considered polite and proper. But she’s into it so give props to the costume and the fact that she’s so dedicated to the part.
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Web Series You’re Almost Cool Enough to Watch Ironically: Black Girl in a Big Dress - From 34st
The fact is, Aydrea’s portrayal adds something to the nuanced mosaic of black existence, and her addition to black people’s multifaceted reality represented on–screen comes on the hinges of the critical success of Issa Rae’s Awkward Black Girl and Fatimah Asghar’s Brown Girls notable acclaim. Now, will Adrienne ever find her Darcy? Probably, but here’s hoping by then she doesn’t need him
Black Girl in a Big Dress - From Neatorama
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Aydrea Walden created a video series "about an African American Anglophile cosplayer in love with the Victorian Era who's trying to bring a fantasy courtship from her re-enactment events into the real world." It's a historical comedy of manners, so to speak, except that it doesn't hide its 21st-century setting. So "Lady Kate" must deal with anachronisms like a ringing cell phone during tea and maneuvering a hoop skirt into a sedan.
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Indie Spotlight: The ‘Black Girl In A Big Dress’ Battles Social Conventions - From Tubefilter
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As much as Black Girl In A Big Dress comments on society, its main strength is its ability to generate laughs. If the phrase “trollop-shaming” makes you giggle with its absurdity, you’ll probably enjoy this one.
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A Black Woman Seeks Joy Through Victorian Cosplay in 'Black Girl in a Big Dress' - From Lipstick Alley
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“I’ve always had weird hobbies, especially for a Black person—or so I’ve been told,” she said in an emailed press release. “In high school, I loved Shakespeare and classical music. I mimed a few times. In college, I studied opera and ballet. And now, I attend swing dancing events, Renaissance Fairs and this one Victorian dance society class.”
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