Costuming
The costumer for this movie must have had a love/hate relationship with the lead actress, or poor taste, or both.
The proliferation of pattern on the Americans was extremely distracting, as was the non-attempt to match anything with said patterns. Really, a great lesson in how to draw focus from the story.
Okay, on to the various costumes/colors Ms. McGrath was forced to wear. Let's start with the colors. This is a beautiful woman with clear, high contrast coloring - a winter, if you will. I cringed every time she appeared in rust (dress for first dinner at castle), gold/brown (horrible cardigan) watching the archery lesson, AWFUL dirty gold shapeless turtleneck when she's packing to leave the castle. Contrast those with every time she appears in bright clear red or periwinkle blue, which makes her glow.
As for the snowflake dress, the only good thing about it was the bright red belt. The short sleeves combined with the high neckline transformed her into a linebacker.
The ball gown, while a lovely color story for her, was just a big serving of crass, topped off with that huge gaudy ring. Jules looked like she'd been attacked by a drunk bedazzler.
The wedding outfit was lovely from the waist up, and silly from the waist down, with all the ruffly tiers.
Best outfit was ironically on Lady Arabella: the cream coat with the deep green accessories.