There’s a reason Disney princesses always wear blue

Here’s what Belle, Elsa and Jasmine have in common

disney princesses wear blue

Here’s what Belle, Elsa and Jasmine have in common

While we were busy watching Princess Jasmine, Belle, Cinderella and Ariel nab their Prince Charming, Frozen’s Elsa rule an icy kingdom and Alice climb out of that rabbit hole, we missed one important fact.

All our favourite heroines predominantly wear blue: Alice’s powder blue day dress, Elsa’s embellished cape, Jasmine’s turquoise harem pants and crop top… and it turns out there’s a very specific reason behind it.

Speaking to Allure, Leatrice Eiseman of the Pantone Colour Institute says it’s all about empowering females, ‘You’re adding a bit of power to the character by giving her the blue.’

‘It's a very subtle way of saying, ‘“Yeah, but young women, young girls, can be empowered, too”,’ she adds.

disney princesses wear blue

And now she mentions it, we totally see it. Belle’s work dress leads her to new adventures beyond her small village, Jasmine’s outfit helps her escape her gilded cage, and Cinderella’s gown transforms her life for the better.

That should put paid to the whole ‘blue is for boys and pink is for girls’ debate!

But there’s another reason Disney princesses - and other film characters - wear blue: it’s a positive colour, because it reminds us of the sky.

Beatrice says, ’It’s dependable. It's reliable. It might cloud up, but we know it’s there.’

Penny Goldstone

Penny Goldstone is the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire, covering everything from catwalk trends to royal fashion and the latest high street and Instagram must-haves.

Penny grew up in France and studied languages and law at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris before moving to the UK for her MA in multimedia journalism at Bournemouth University. She moved to the UK permanently and has never looked back (though she does go back regularly to stock up on cheese and wine).

Although she's always loved fashion - she used to create scrapbooks of her favourite trends and looks, including Sienna Miller and Kate Moss' boho phase - her first job was at MoneySavingExpert.com, sourcing the best deals for everything from restaurants to designer sales.

However she quit after two years to follow her true passion, fashion journalism, and after many years of internships and freelance stints at magazines including Red, Cosmopolitan, Stylist and Good Housekeeping, landed her dream job as the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire UK.

Her favourite part of the job is discovering new brands and meeting designers, and travelling the world to attend events and fashion shows. Seeing her first Chanel runway IRL at Paris Fashion Week was a true pinch-me moment.