Celebrating women
Christabel Smith lifts the hem on costume dramas to find they’re booming with more frills and flounces than ever
From bonnets, breeches, big houses and even bigger skirts, to suits – and cheekbones as sharp as blades – viewing figures prove we love to lose ourselves in a costume romp. When the world feels unpredictable, we turn to the past to find comfort for what Pride and Prejudice’s Mrs Bennet describes as her ‘poor nerves’. Little wonder the popularity of period dramas has boomed in times of pandemic and political uncertainty, with increasingly lush and lavish costumes making the humble mopcap seem so… well, last century.
In Netflix’s hit show Bridgerton, the wigs, rhinestones and ruffles would fit easily in the pre-French Revolution court of Marie Antoinette. Veteran New York costume designer Ellen Mirojnick headed up a wardrobe team of 238 and said, ‘It was like a Bridgerton city of elves. There were about 7,500 pieces, from hats and shawls to overcoats, that made up around 5,000 costumes.’
British costume maker Bryony Satchell was one of those elves. ‘We embellished the Regency style with beading, and fabrics such as organza and silk, making it easier for modern audiences to relate to,’ she told us. ‘The frilly, puffy, Empire-line look soon started appearing on runways, then in the high street. It’s fun, frivolous and flamboyant, taking us back to a more feminine and romantic time.’
DAPHNE’S DECORATION
Bonnets were banned in Bridgerton in favour of eye-catching headpieces. And as Daphne, played by Phoebe Dynevor, blossoms from her china-doll image into a fully-fledged female, her pink, blue and silver colour palette deepens. An astonishing 104 costumes were created for her role as the eldest Bridgerton daughter, including ball dresses, riding clothes and nightwear, which frequently ended up on the floor in the show’s famously saucy scenes.
COUNTRY CHIC
In the 2005 film of Pride & Prejudice, Brenda Blethyn played the wittering, twittering Mrs Bennet (left), and Keira Knightley (second from right) was Elizabeth. The costumes said much about the characters’ station in life, and the countrydwelling Bennets wore light-coloured, cotton dresses with less bling than their rich, London-based counterparts did.
WAISTED GENERATION
Costume designer Anna Robbins explains the look of Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham (played by Dame Maggie Smith) in the film Downton: A New Era: ‘She wears high necks, layered sleeves, the Edwardian silhouette in terms of waist… a character of that generation would still be corseted compared to the younger generations who lost them. Her hemlines have never come above the floor.’
The depiction of the
