We’ve officially reentered Gilead, specifically Aunt Lydia’s School for Future Wives, where students’ wardrobe colors define their status at the institution in Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” sequel series “The Testaments.”
The girls at the school are either a pink, a plum or a pearl girl, and while they are in different groups — separated by age and experience — they all must follow the same rules of the institution.
Here’s a little breakdown from Hulu of their school and curriculum: “Everything these girls are doing at the Aunt Lydia Premarital Preparatory Academy is part of a curriculum designed to turn them into obedient, supportive Wives. The goal is for them to be fully broken before they’re married off so that their husbands never have to deal with taming them. They come fully-trained, offering the men a wife who ALWAYS exhibits obedience with exactness. Part of their schooling is teaching them collective, crafty social activities that they’ll do with other Wives. The Aunts are teaching them survival skills — how to fit in and understand the power dynamics.”
We’re explaining the girls’ uniforms, but while we’re at it, we’ll tell you about the wives, aunts, marthas and the handmaids.
Check it out below.
Plums and Green Pins
Plums are girls who have reached menarche age, which is between 10 and 15. However, while most girls at the academy wear gray, girls in purple are being groomed to be the wives of commanders and other Gilead elite.
Plums wear pink until they have their first menstrual cycle, which is when they will receive a green pin signifying their fertility and eligibility for marriage. They are often seen wearing other green articles of clothing, like green cloaks and dresses.
Pearl Girls
The pearl girls are young girls who come to Gilead from other countries. They been converted by the missionaries Aunt Lydia sends out. They are often thought of as untrustworthy snitches and obsequious believers who are yearning for a chance to prove themselves as devout followers of Gilead.
They wear white as a symbol of their “rebirth,” and are often coupled with a plum or green-pinned plum for guidance.
Pinks
These are the youngest girls of the academy. They wear pink from early childhood to around 10 to 12 years old or until the age of possible menarche.
While they are toddlers and younger adolescents, they are still subjected to harsh punishments. Agnes shared that when she was a pink, she got caught staring at a boy and her punishment was having her mouth taped and being forced to stand in the dining hall for two days while holding a sign that read “slut.”
Wives
Once a pinned plum is married off to a commander, they become wives, during which point they transition into a teal blue dress. As they are taught, wives are to be subservient, quiet and docile companions to their husbands — never to become too opinionated or concerned with matters beyond their homes. Despite their wealth and high status, they are still women in Gilead, which means they too can be subjected to cruel and harsh treatment if they step out of line.
Aunts
Aunts, who wear long brown dresses, are the only women with some level of authority in Gilead. They oversee both handmaids, and young girls in the process of becoming wives. Aunts are the only women in Gilead that are allowed to read and write. If any other girl or woman is seen writing, it could cost them a finger.
Marthas
Marthas, who wear dull green dresses, are the caretakers and servants. They are usually older, infertile women who tend to the needs of the homes they are assigned to.
Handmaids
We haven’t seen a handmaid yet in “The Testaments,” but they are crucial to Gilead’s population. They wear a blood-colored red dress with a white bonnet cap, and they are not to be heard or seen unless called upon. Their red garments signify their fertility, and they are placed in the homes of high-ranking commanders where sexual intercourse is forced upon them in order for reproduction. Handmaid’s have become a “religious” practice Gilead implemented as a way to curve the dwindling birthrate in the country.
