She is not the cruel stepmother of the disney classics, but is trying to bring her daughter up as the respectable and gentry woman she herself is trying to be, therefore she has to have a certain standoffish nature and strict like a teacher. This is hopefully reflected in the angular and more calculating upper body and head shape language.
I also wanted her to have the buttress look so that I could give her a wide billowing dress but much less outward so it didn't have the ridiculousness of the research I found. I could give her that volume behind her instead of outwards and this would give her character much more grace and sleekness. I didn't want her to have comedic value as such. I also wanted to make sure that I had nice reflections of the little girl design incorporated into her design to tie them together and give across the mother daughter relationship without having to state it. I wan ted to bring in the cowl element and refine it into a much more sophisticated fabricated tie as cowls were worn primarily by children and not adults. I also wanted to have the same hemmed dress at the bottom as well as a bow element that would mirror the girls nicely. I wanted to again refine this element however and turn it into much more than just a bow.
My favourite design here is the one on the far right and I would be taking this further into design and elaborate on as I felt it was getting close to what I wanted.
