27 Dresses was released on 18 January 2008, marking its 15th anniversary today. The film is directed by Anne Fletcher, known for romantic comedies like The Proposal and the screenplay is written by The Devil Wears Prada’s writer, Aline Brosh McKenna. With such collaboration comes this film which mixes some fashion with the wedding theme.
The ensemble cast of the film includes Katherine Heigl as Jane Nichols, Peyton List as young Jane Nichols, James Marsden as Kevin ‘Malcolm’ Doyle, Malin Akerman as Tess Nichols, Charli Barcena as young Tess Nichols, Jane Pfitsch as Cousin Lisa, Edward Burns as George, Judy Greer as Casey, Melora Hardin as Maureen, Michael Ziegfeld as Khaleel, Brian Kerwin as Hal Nichols and many more.
The story follows perennial bridesmaid Jane (Katherine Heigl), who always puts the needs of others before her own, making her the go-to gal whenever someone needs help with wedding plans. So when Jane’s younger sister Tess is getting married to the man Jane secretly loves, she finds herself questioning her role as a wedding junkie for the first time in her life.
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Revisiting 27 Dresses
Jane’s Fascination with Weddings
Right at the beginning of the film, we get to see how 8-year-old Jane, who just lost her mother was attending her cousin Lisa’s wedding. At the wedding, the bride’s dress gets torn from the back and guess who decides to save the big day, with their smart brain? Jane ties the dress together with her little sister Tess’s purple ribbon and gets commended by everyone for helping.
This is the start of her fascination with weddings and helping anyone in need. In some ways, it is her way of getting over her mother’s death and also finding a way through which she can feel good/validated about herself, by being helpful to others.
Having 27 Dresses in Her Closet
Throughout the film, we see Jane running around, changing outfits in a taxi to go to various weddings. Until in the middle, when Kevin comes to her apartment and spots the whole closet full of bridesmaid dresses that she had kept all these years. That’s when she shows off some of them that we hadn’t seen yet, by wearing them and getting clicked.
We get a glimpse of the type of weddings she has been to and opens up about her own wedding as well. It was one of the intimate moments between the two, as they actually get to know each other better. While what happens later is heartbreaking for Jane since this exact moment is when Kevin decides to change the angle of his story. On a side note, if I had 27 friends who would call me to their wedding as a bridesmaid, that would be an achievement in itself.
Relationship between Jane and Tess
From a young age, Jane had to take on the role of a caregiver for her younger sister which continued through their adulthood. Therefore, when Tess and George start developing feelings for each other, she couldn’t bring herself to butt in or say that she wants George for herself. Despite being head over heels for her boss, Jane always prioritizes her sister.
But that changes when the article gets published in the newspaper and we see how Tess takes her sister for granted. Like any other sibling in the world, fights are bound to happen and in the process, Jane starts to stand up for herself and vocalise her own desires. Their confrontation in the shop shows how their relationship is much more complex. Tess thinks Jane didn’t like having to take care of her, while Jane thinks Tess’s life is easy.
In their own prejudices, they weren’t being honest with each other and this fight and confrontation bring them truly close. However, there’s one thing that was left unanswered – what happened between Tess and George at the end? Do they give their relationship another chance or go their separate ways?
A Perfect Ending
What could have been the perfect ending to the film than a wedding? Alternatively, it could have been Tess’s wedding where Jane gets proposed to by Kevin. But on a better note, we got Jane to express her true feelings and actually get married in the end. Also, all her dresses were worn by her friends as bridesmaids at the wedding, bringing it to a full circle.
27 Dresses is available to watch on Disney+.
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