Vera Brittain: the fashion of Testament of Youth

Taron Egerton, Alicia Vikander, Kit Harington & Colin Morgan in Testament of Youth 2014.

Last year, to coincide with the 100-year anniversary of the beginning of the Great War, a film was released based on the autobiography of Vera Brittain, a girl whose whole life was altered by the war. Her fiance, her brother, and all their close friends were killed during the First World War. 

Last month I was able to see this film in the cinema, and I am so grateful to have seen it on the big screen. The costume designer was Consolata Boyle, who also did the costuming for such films as The Secret of Roan Inish (1994), The Winslow Boy (1999), The Queen (2006), and many others. She did such an amazing job bringing the mid to late 1910s to life. I was thrilled to read, in an article from Harper's Bazaar that she took great care in getting an accurate look, even scouring antique shops for extant clothing. I was also happy to read that she based a lot of the designs of descriptions that Vera herself left of her wardrobe. Boyle's attention for detail is evident in the beautiful costuming produced for this film. 

A glimpse of the lovely pink gown which matches this hat. 

Vera Brittain before the war - possibly the same event as the one pictured above from the film. 

Vera in her VAD uniform. 

A fashion picture from 1915

A suit from 1916 

This suit and hat from the film are very similar to the two above examples. 

Note the lovely embroidery on her blouse. Her beret is stunning too.

I wonder if, like the costuming in Downton Abbey, extant materials and fabrics were used for this hat and other of her costumes. 

Such a lovely blouse!

A look at the cut of her jacket, from the same outfit as the above photograph. 

I love the simple elegance of this time period. 

Such a beautiful scene, as well as a lovely outfit. 

It reminded me of this lovely photo of another famous author of that time - poetess Edna St Vincent Millay. 

Again, in this blouse and hat you can see the care to detail that was given in this costuming.

A fashion plate from the 1910s.

A lovely brown suit from the 1910s, similar to the suits worn in the film by Alicia Vikander.

It is always exciting to see how fashions of past decades and centuries are interpreted and recreated for film. Testament of Youth is such an inspiring story of the strength of the human spirit, and Consolata Boyle did an amazing job of reflecting the story through her costumes.