The film, MY LETTER TO THE WORLD takes place on August 16, 1870. In 1870, reconstruction after the civil war was in process, and many of the materials needed to make clothing were scarce. The South was devastated by the war; this included their cotton crops, which was a popular material for clothing. Finding books, or any form of reference material for clothing during this period in history was no easy task.

Emily Dickinson often wore a white housedress. In Higginson's Atlantic essay about his meeting with Emily, he wrote that her "prescribed garb was white pique, with a blue net worsted shawl." The decision was made by the director, Alex Lugones, to have the actor wear a more elaborate light colored, patterned dress minus the shawl. He believed this would visually communicate the importance of the meeting and would eliminate the difficulty of maneuvering a shawl in many of the scenes. Some purists may not agree with this decision but this is an example of the creative liberty that films exercise.

Higginson was a man of many intellectual disciplines and a liberal thinker, but still conformed to the conservative Victorian ideal. In the film, his wardrobe consisted of a deep dark-green frock coat, black trousers, a green satin ascot and cream-colored vest. Although a pinstriped pattern in his coat would have been more exact for the period solid colors are more visually appealing on video.

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