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!).