The symbolism behind Margot Robbie’s Wuthering Heights wardrobe

As if there wasn’t already enough hype about Emerald Fennell’s reimagining of Wuthering Heights, which hits cinemas on Feb 13, Margot Robbie has been teasing us with a Cathy-esque wardrobe for the film’s publicity tour.

The most notable moment so far came on Wednesday night at the world premiere of the film in Los Angeles, for which Robbie wore Elizabeth Taylor’s heart-shaped Taj Mahal diamond set in a Cartier necklace.

As a symbol of a tempestuous romance, it’s a powerful one. Taylor was given the necklace by Richard Burton, whom she married twice, for her 40th birthday in 1972.

The stone was originally owned by the 17th-century Mughal emperor Shah Jahangir, who had it engraved with the name of his wife, Nur Jahan. It was then inherited by their son Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal in memory of his wife, Mumtaz, who died in childbirth.

When Burton purchased the necklace from Cartier, he famously said: “I would have liked to buy her the Taj Mahal, but it would cost too much to transport.”

This string of love stories echoes the intensity of the relationship between Cathy and Heathcliff, portrayed by Robbie and Jacob Elordi, in Wuthering Heights.

The symbolism and storytelling in Robbie’s premiere look didn’t end there. With the necklace, she wore a version of a Schiaparelli couture gown, which, just days ago, appeared on the catwalk at Paris Haute Couture Week. It featured a black lace bustier with a corset jersey top and a black chantilly lace overlay, which cascaded into voluminous tiers of velvet then satin, with a black-to-red fumato effect.

The use of colour reflects themes in the costumes. In an interview with British Vogue, Jacqueline Durran, costume designer, explained: “Red is a key colour for Cathy throughout the film.”

This process of “method dressing” – echoing a film’s themes in its stars’ publicity tour wardrobes – has developed into a modern tradition for major movies. With Wuthering Heights, Robbie’s wardrobe could easily have been a string of period costumes, but in the hands of Andrew Mukamal, her stylist, it is something far more interesting, blending high fashion with a cultural moment

Nor is it his first time at the rodeo. Mukamal’s styling for Robbie’s Barbie press tour is held up as the gold standard for method dressing, with the actress in custom looks in custom looks by Pucci, Hervé Léger and Versace.

He and Robbie are good collaborators, he told Hello magazine in December. “Margot is a dream and just lovely through and through,” he said. “When I was showing Margot ideas [for the Barbie tour], and I was showing her a couple of the more precise referential moments, she immediately lit up, and I saw her excitement in that. I live in a bubble. I do everything and there aren’t many people giving me feedback. So, when a client then has that spark, that informs me to say, ‘Okay, let’s move in that direction.’”

It’s important to note that the Wuthering Heights film itself is not a strictly period piece – a fact which has triggered disquiet in some corners of the internet. Durran, who also designed the costumes for Barbie, nodded to the period, but also included lots of other references, making for a much more stylised vision.

“Our references ranged from Elizabethan through to Georgian and Victorian, and from paintings and historical dress to contemporary fashion and representations of period costume in 20th-century films,” she told Vogue. “The challenge was to distil that into looks that told the story that Emerald wanted to tell.”

Evidently, Mukamal has picked up where Durran left off – and the Taj Mahal necklace is a master stroke.

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