The Young Victoria

Well, as you know by now, I have two main fashion loves: the 1830s & the 1920s. So when I saw 'Young Victoria' for the first time, I was overwhelmed by the lush and glorious costume design. I will, as usual, show examples from the film, and real examples of clothes from the period to give you an idea of how well done they are, and I know I used this word before, but it describes them perfectly - lush. They are truly beautiful costumes, designed by the talented Sandy Powell, who designed the costumes for such films as: Hugo, The Other Boleyn Girl, The Aviator & Orlando. 

I love the close-up of this green dress. You get to see the wonderful sleeves & the wonderful blue pattern. Stunning!

The men's costuming is done well too. I especially love Mark Strong's clothes (see the 1st picture). 

I love this red & dove grey stripey dress. It might be my favourite in the film. 

Another great example of fabulous costuming for men & women. The following images of authentic clothing from the 1830s & 1840s all come from the Victoria & Albert collection, which is rather appropriate, don't you think?

A close-up of the bodice & skirt from the 1840s. Compare with the above picture of Emily Blunt sitting down in the wedding dress. This waistline is *very* 1840s. 

A red stripey dress from the 1840s. 

A fellows garb, just to give you an idea. 

I'll end with this. It's a beautiful example of a dress from this period, and illustrates perfectly how wild & interesting some of their fabrics were, which is one of the many things which makes the costuming in 'Young Victoria' so lovely - they capture that element perfectly. 

A Film With a View

"A Room With a View" was originally a novel written by E. M. Forster in 1908. The movie, by the same name, was done in 1985, and is an excellent adaptation of the novel. But, more importantly, the costumes are stunning and remarkable! They were done by the amazingly talented Jenny Beaven* and John Bright. I can honestly say that the early 1900's is not remotely my favorite period in historical costume, but this was one of the first beautifully costumed movies I remember seeing, and it had a deep and profound effect on me.

Whether you like lace or not, there's no denying that this is stunning!

First of all, Helena Bonham Carter quickly became my favorite actress. I didn't just love her, I wanted to be her! I thought, and still do, that her performance was completely relatable, even though she was a bit of a snob! She made me want to be an actress. Not so much because I wanted to act, but because I wanted to dress up in beautiful, period clothing. (Obviously that dream never really panned out.) She broadened my dreams and aspirations, and she couldn't have done that dressed in jeans and a t-shirt.

I get chills just looking at this!

Second of all, I thought (and still do) that the kiss on the hillside was the most romantic movie kiss ever filmed. (Aah Julian Sands! Why didn't your career go in the same direction as Helena's?) I dare you to find a better one! And since this is not a movie review, I won't expound on the remaining cast and how sublime and perfect they all were.

But, the truth is, even though this period is not my favorite, the costumes are so flawless and sing such a lovely harmony with the rest of the movie's perfection, that it still remains to this day, one of my favorite costume drama's. If you are one of the unfortunate few who have not seen it, do everything you can to watch it as soon as possible! I promise, you won't regret it!

Maggie Smith has always been beautiful in period costumes! I love the detail on this one!

For some reason, I love Lucy's traveling coat!

Daniel Day Lewis proves, once again, that he can play any role brilliantly! This picture accompanies one of my favorite lines, "By all means, tea, rather than Eleanor Lavish!"

Beautiful detail of my favorite dress (also pictured at the top).

I was just as much in love with Freddy (Rupert Graves) as I was George (Julian Sands). Is that terrible?

Awkward moment, beautiful hat!

*Jenny Beaven (who often, but not always, worked with John Bright) went on to design costumes for some of my favorite movies: Swing Kids, Sense and Sensibility, Anna and the King, Gosford Park, Amazing Grace, Cranford, Sherlock Holmes and The King's Speech (to name a few)! What a resume! 

Pink Wigs and Handsome Men? Yes Please!

This is a small, gem of a movie that most of you probably haven't seen or even heard of. It is silly and wonderful and has an amazing cast. (Headlined by a lovely, young Shirley MacLaine. It also has an impressive male cast of Paul Newman, Robert Mitchum, Dean Martin, Gene Kelly, Robert Cummings, and Dick Van Dyke!) It also happens to have some fantastic costumes, so I thought it might be fun to highlight some of the best. And if you get a chance, please watch this movie. It's worth every giddy minute! (I know they have it on IMDB, or you can rent it on Netflix.)

Close-up of this amazing ensemble. I have got to get a wig like that!

I want to apologize for the quality of pictures. Some are not so good, but hopefully you'll still be able to admire the clothes!

One of my favorites from the whole movie!

Awesome wrap around bikini!

I wish you could see this whole gown! It is stunning, especially in that emerald color!

Before seeing this, I had no idea Shirley MacLaine could dance. She does a pretty good job!

What? You can't really see her outfit? Oh well!

Wish you could see this whole thing. It's supposed to be like a work of art & it's really cool!

More pink? Yes please!

Yup, this one is a little crazy, but I still like it!

Did I mention that she looks like a million bucks in this movie?

Our Mutual Friend & the late 1860s

I feel like I monopolise this blog a little - apologies to my other sisters! - but this time I have a good excuse. I'm going away for three weeks on an excavation, and while I'll still be in Scotland, I doubt I'll have the chance to write posts about fashion. But we'll see...So, without further ado I'll begin.

As a young teenager I went through a period of time when I was obsessed with the American Civil War. I desperately wanted a hoopskirt. I never did get a hoopskirt (though I have worn one, which was quite jolly). I have moved on to love and appreciate other eras of fashion history, but the fabulous BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens's "Our Mutual Friend" has me admiring the 1860s once again. I first saw it when it was shown on TV in 1998 and at every subsequent viewing I continue to admire the wonderful costuming - focussing on the mid to late 1860s (the novel was published in 1865). I'm not an expert in fashions of the 1860s (for that see the following blog of my friend Sarah: http://history-preserved.blogspot.co.uk/p/historical-threads.html), but it seems to me that the costuming (done by Mike O' Neill who also did the delicious BBC "North & South") in this film is pretty accurate.

Mr & Mrs Boffin & Bella Wilfer "going in for fashion!" 

A dress reminiscent of Mrs Boffin's dress.

The real stealer of the show, costumes-wise, is the character Bella Wilfer. Pretty much every dress she wears is stunning!

Lovely detail of one of her amazing gold dresses (she has two) and her hair.

A wee glimpse of Bella's lovely clothes!

Even the simpler cotton frocks are beautiful.

The gold dress!

This blue dress has lovely sleeves!

Even her mourning clothes are becoming.

An original 1860s dress much like one of  Bella's gold dresses.

Another original piece.

And another lovely blue dress.

Of course, lower-class dress is dealt with as well as the fancy stuff. Bella in her ball dress, and Lizzie in her mill workers dress. Even this is an improvement to what she wore while living in the slums of London (see below):

Lizzie's very poor clothes. And just feast your eyes on that gorgeous suit Eugene is wearing. If men lounged about town garbed like that, it would be quite irresistible!

As a working girl, Lizzie wouldn't have worn a crinoline/ hoop skirt. But she'd have had petticoats to fit the fashion of the time as much as possible. 

A jolly view of some of the cast, with a fabulous glimpse of the way the crinoline works (Bella's ankles! Shocking!).

Annie Hall, or *gasp* Women in Pants!

We grew up in a very traditional household with steadfast rules and regulations about how we could and could not dress. The result was, all five of us girls were required to look like "ladies" when we went to school and we, therefore, had to wear dresses every single day. We also had to stay in our Sunday Best all day long on Sunday's. For me, being the fifth child (and somewhat of a favorite), I took this as a personal challenge to break my Mother of these stringent rules. And by fifth or sixth grade, I was pretty much wearing whatever I wanted to school. (Though the Sunday rule still held fast.)

It is possible I owned this exact same dress. This is exactly how my Mother liked to dress us.

I am pretty sure that as a result of this, I have always been a great lover of pants. And, being a child of the late 70's, I was exposed to some really great fashion trends: corduroy bell-bottoms, stirrup pants, tight Guess jeans with the side zippers on the legs, parachute pants. By the time I really started to make my own fashion choices, I was stuck in a private school with a uniform. And my only recourse was to experiment with accessories. So, I became the girl who wore ties and hats. And since pants with pleats were in style, and so were vests, I comfortably adopted the Annie Hall look as my own.

Now, I know that women wearing mens clothing started much earlier than 1977. I have some really wonderful examples here:

Lauren Bacall, Katherine Hepburn and Marlene Dietrich.

More Lauren Bacall. So lovely! This style suits her perfectly!

I love this earlier version on Ginger Rogers, another one of my favorites!

But for some reason, the Annie Hall look remains my favorite. There was something so timeless about Dianne Keaton in that movie! She was quirky, she was her own person, you loved her and hated her at the same time, she was human. And I believe that her wardrobe helped her character express itself better than almost any other costuming choice ever has. Her clothes were perfect and people, designers and starlets have continually tried to copy her ever since. 

Of course, I think it also helped that the movie in and of itself was brilliant. It was Woody Allen's first attempt at trying something with a more serious tone and he himself called it a "major turning point" for him and his career. It went on to win four Academy Awards: Best Picture, Director, Actress and Screenplay. In short, it has become a "classic," and may very well be Woody Allen's best film and most remembered as time goes on. And for that reason, Dianne Keaton's classic androgynous ensemble will always be remembered and imitated.

Ummmmmm, where do I sign up for these?

It doesn't get any better than being copied by the muppets!

The truth is, I haven't donned the baggy pants, vest, tie and floppy hat for quite some time. But after bringing this movie back to mind, I feel the need to rethink my wardrobe. Wearing men's inspired clothes is the most fun a girl could have with two legs and a button up shirt. I really believe that!

While these ladies are all lovely, they are still pale imitations.