I wanted to adapt the iconic 1970s TV show Little House on the Prairie as a horror film. The original books are sweet and child-friendly, however they are still based on a true story and Laura Ingalls Wilder's accounts of living on the American Frontier are often quite frightening. I tried to evoke the isolation and fear that existed in that setting through a dark set of costumes. 

For the horror element of the story, I mainly researched the craze for alchemy and spiritism in 19th century America. I made Laura into a violent child with an obsession with witchcraft, hellbent on revenge against the town bully Nelly Olsen.  

The costumes emulate the original 1970s adaptation, keeping the small ditsy prints and classic Victorian silhouettes, however on closer inspection the prints are hands, animal heads and other more grotesque imagery. I also wanted to focus on breaking down this costume and creating a feeling of clothes that were hand-made with little resources or technology (knitting featuring heavily as a simple way of creating fabric) and have been worn for years. 

Laura's knitted pinafore features bloody handprints and symbols from the Alchemical table of elements. Her dress is a classic, simple prairie dress with a ditsy handprint design, and her bonnet features tiny handprints in a seance arrangement that appear as flowers from far away.