I love that she was paying such close attention to the costumes on the background actors. So many talented costumers work on those characters, too. I'm sure the praise is appreciated by them.
She's so softspoken and lovely. I love her appreciation for the costumes and how happy she is watching these clips. A lot of people reacting to historical costumes always laugh or roll their eyes at the costuming in movies if it's inaccurate, and she didn't. I really appreciate that.
I agree 👍 The only way to refer to this presenter is 'lovely' ❤ She's really got a fantastic outlook on costuming 😊 It's great how she even appreciates the veering from authentic for what it says about the era of the filming. It is so true
Honestly, just the sheer joy on her face made it worth the watch. She seems to have the ability to make everyone interested in fashion or whatever she is into because she makes it look so cool and interesting (and explains the details well). I love people like that.
I love her observations about the period in which historical adaptations are produced. We can't help but insert our own culture in it, no matter how hard we try to perfectly recreate the past.
With all due respect, I disagree with your comments regarding the Titanic clip. Those dresses were in fact modelled directly out of period magazines and can be easily found. They are accurate right down to the fabric used. James Cameron even purchased original period clothing that was just altered to fit the actors. An example of this is Rose’s red evening dress in the scene of her hanging off the back of the ship when she first meets Jack. There were many others too. He hired the same carpet company that had supplied the carpet for the original ship to reproduce that same carpet for use on the movie ship. Anyone who goes to that level of detail, to purchase and hire original period pieces and manufacturers still in operation is not going to be Hollywood in his presentation. I would think he would be going in exactly the opposite direction.
With all the money he spent on this movie, I don't think he would go skimpy on the costumes. Enjoyed your post. I just found this channel and have loved all that I have watched so far. Sadly this is the only one I'm not gonna put a thumbs up on........but your post I did 😊
Yeah, I raised my eyebrow at the "They feel very Hollywood" comment, when the suit Rose is wearing is an almost exact reproduction of an actual 1912 suit. And that's pretty commonly known at this point - Glamour mentions it in their video about the Titanic costumes, for example.
Cameron was very accurate with the costumes, except when he didn't want to be. :) In the scene where Jack first sees Rose as she comes out onto the balcony the costume designer wanted her to be wearing a big hat, saying that a woman of that time would never have stepped outside without a hat on. Cameron hated the hat and said she's not going to look like an angel Jack falls instantly in love with if she's wearing it and she's just shocked the table by mentioning Freud, she can be a bit rebellious and go outside without her hat on. Finally, after a bit of arguing, Cameron grabbed the hat and threw it over the rail and that was the end of that. Hope it wasn't an original 1912 hat, eek.
That red evening dress, the 'jump dress', is actually a costume designed by Deborah L. Scott for Kate Winslet's Rose character. It was sold at action for $330,000 in 2012
I loved this one. It's far too easy for "history" to become a list of dates of battles and names of politicians, or even celebrities. But history lives and breathes in the spaces between "great events", and the tale it tells is woven like fabric onto the loom of time. It has a flow and a meaning that is carried not in the battle, but in the taper of the sword's edge, and how it differed from the one carried by a warrior's grandfather. It's in the color of the fabric, and the story of how purple came to be used. In the story of why saffron was worth more than gold. The ever-changing flows of fashion are the very lifeblood of our history, and it was so very nice to hear an expert's opinion of their depiction in modern entertainment.
I absolutely agree with you. When I was in school it was wars and battles. I wanted to know about the clothing, food, furniture, and what people did all day.
Does Pretty woman qualify for "Historic Costumes"? It was made in 1990 and is set in the same time. The designers did an amazing job, but probably no historical research was needed since it was a film set in the current time. Or was there references to other time periods that I am unaware of?
Very interesting to watch, particularly where the time in which the film is recorded influences the design of the period dress. It’s like the 1960s and 1970s when period dramas saw the women in the cast wearing pale lipstick and the hairstyles of the day.
That very distinctive "beehive" look of the late 60's and yet the show was set in Ancient Rome. Or silent pictures of the 1920's where the women had "flapper" hair and makeup, but it was a Western set in the 1800's.
Kiera in P&P looks more like Jo in Little Women, than Elizabeth Bennett. This adaptation also set the young ladies too much down in the dirt of the farmyard, but these gentry ladies didn’t even cook, much less deal with farm animals, Mrs. Bennett, as well as history, makes that clear. As for the prominent bust of Jennifer Ehle in the earlier adaptation, she is just naturally fuller-busted, I don’t think they did anything to emphasize that. I can emphasize, I get sick of people asking me if I have implants or am wearing a padded or push-up bra, the answers are no and no! I even got asked by a slimy guy at work my bra size is! He got an earful. We can’t help it!
I got especially tickled when she mentioned the differences between the bustlines of the DRESSES Keira and Jennifer wore and didn't say anything about the differences between the busts of the ACTRESSES.
Having rewatched P&P 2005 several times, I've come to sort of recognize the choices made (e.g. the whole farmyard etc) as a way to speak to the audience. I think the director _really_ wanted to convince the average viewer how much the Bennett family needed to marry off their daughters to ensure their financial security - and the average viewer may not have felt the importance of it as much if they were presented as typical gentry even though _obviously_ to anyone who knows, you can be gentry but still need money. One of the hallmarks of P&P 2005 was how broadly accessible and iconic it was to many moviegoers, and I think Joe Wright made distinct stylistic choices and changes in order to make that happen - Elizabeth being presented more "boyish" for example, the Bennet girls always tumbling over each other in contrast with slightly worn/dirtied dresses to the wealthier veneer of the Bingleys sitting primly in a large too-clean room eating breakfast. And as an Austen die-hard, I can kind of respect it! But historically accurate it definitely is not (Wright also rejected the pillar-like silhouette of regency dress - he openly did not like it - and opted for something a few decades older, but in doing so he still took notes from regency dress by ensuring a fashionable, wealthy lady like Caroline Bingley _did_ have regency dress, to visually translate to the audience how fashion-forward she is and make her out of place amongst the Bennets and their peers.) As a directorial style, there's a lot of things I respect in the movie - sometimes historical inaccuracies in movies/shows are so flagrant that it feels like the director/writer is deliberately trying to be disrespectful, thinking that they're being clever with their anachronisms or enforcing their modern perspectives on historical dress (like the never-ending saga of Hollywood vs corsets). But P&P 2005's direction felt like carefully curated choices; Wright still took notes with the historical fashion, where some other directors tend to pick and choose whatever they like instead of getting creative with what was actually worn at the time; _at least_ Elizabeth being a little bit "boyish" still translates to the average audience in the general narrative of P&P (and the movie also doesn't try to shove in a message about how Elizabeth is "not like other girls" bc it's never really commented upon except for her walking to the Bingleys, and even then it's just a comment from Caroline and more about the state of her dress), I can't say that for a lot of other period dramas. Honestly if it turns out Wright also thought he was being a Real Clever Guy I wouldn't be surprised, but at least it didn't show in the movie.
That's because clothes at that time were supposed to be done by fitting, so bust size shouldn't matter. Of course, it's likely the tv series couldn't afford do to the same for Jennifer Ehle, but it's looking incorrect for the time.
to be fair, an over the bust corset does squish the breasts in a little, so it would flatten it more where a bra lifts. I know someone who was a C cup but she said her breast size looked smaller when she wore an over the bust corset (I was being fit for a corset at the time and was trying to decide if I wanted under the bust or over the bust)
@@liv97497 i know i think there is a interview with the costume designer out there somewhere on the web I remember how detailed it was even Jacks clothing
This woman is the David Attenborough of costume historians. I love how she whispers as if she is about to startle exotic animals in their natural habitats. "And here we see the very rare ruffle, considered to be functionally extinct in this period by most experts..."
So fun to watch. At first I thought our expert was too diplomatic, but the critique paired with appreciation for context such as production year just showed how much she enjoyed the assignment and admires film costumers.
i could watch this woman talk about paint drying and i'd still watch. something about the way she gets excited about details but is still very soft in her manner is very soothing. my kind of person :)
The grade she gives "The Iron Lady" is kind of unfair considering they showed her the scene before she becomes the Margaret Thatcher we are acquainted with. The outfit she's wearing there is supposed to look kind of out of character in comparison to the "transformation" she goes through.
@@le13579 as a Living Historian who actually interprets that period, much of the costuming drives me up the wall (Claire especially). Oddly, the costuming is much better for the secondary characters (Marsali).
I would love her to review and Australian series called Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. It's set in the 1920's, but got of traction overseas. The highlight is the clothes - although the series is critically acclaimed and well received for the plot, acting, great writing etc .... its really the clothes that everyone comments on.
oh I love this show! Miss Fisher and all her merry friends are such interesting characters! the book series is pretty great as well, albeit the show deviated a bit from the source material.
It's strange that the obviously anachronistic costume choices as well as hair & makeup in P&P 2005 received the same rating as the impressively accurate and meticulous costume designing on Titanic. Sure, Rose's makeup was the only thing that didn't match the period but the costuming was done beautifully.
No make-up matched the period, not only Rose's. And yes, her costumes were spot on, but one judges an entire movie, not only the ones of some characters.
@@potocatepetl Her point was that it was too Hollywood, as if that was a bad thing for the most expensive movie made at that time, hence the rating. Since we're judging the costumes there was an injustice made here. Nothing, absolutely nothing matched the P&P 2005.
There's 2 idea to gather from costuming : Historical accuracy, and Logic(geographic context, timing, and wealth) and Second is : Intent and Creative liberties to communicate emotions, or visual interest while still being honest to the period participants, and sometimes they're trying to appeal to modern audience(but not in the bad way), but in a Understanding way( if you use ye old english most people wont understand and wont be able to appreciate but if you use modern regular langugae it may reach a wider audience). SO all that to say that Titanic falls in the first category; they used Old patterns from the time period, and replicated some photo references almost exactly, so its almost taking a look at the pictures , and Pride and Prejudice (with Keira Knightley) used the second method communicating emotions, and feelings of the character through their outfits(pride and prejudice with keira) was not even accurate to the book. But the best is when Movies respect both these criteria a few example being: In the Mood for Love, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Marie-Antoinette (by Sofia Coppola), also notice how these movies are so rich in colours, and character expressions, and dramatic, they're almost Theatrical. Like old theater, and opera where everything was more extravagant.
@@mariashaki89 You must have missed where she gave Pride and Prejudice 2005 a 6 for historical accuracy since she gave that movie 2 scores one for creativity and style then she obliterated it and gave it a 6 cause it wasn't even close to being accurate.
This lady knows her stuff but she is short on criticism which i feel is actually much more important and more interesting than the praises..you learn more from criticism than from praise and i was looking to learn more.
Finally someone is reviewing/talking about BBC’s P&P! So many only look at the Hollywood version. As someone who prefers the BBC miniseries I am always bummed when it’s slighted. It has such beautiful scenes and costumes and the lines are right out the book! I’m sorry but the abridged version Hollywood made just doesn’t cut it for me. So thank you for this! 😃😄👏🏻
The BBC costume/prop department is a museum in and of itself. I wondered about their production of “Endeavor”, how much of the very authentic looking sets, props, and wardrobe had actually been leftover from 1960s production
There are many women who feel the 1998 P and P is closer to the book. However, Mr Darcy neither swims nor fences in the book. The 2005 version has been re examined. As a result, it's camera work as it's part in telling the story was brought to the fore,
(1:49-1:55) I love how, while the two main actors are doing acrobatics feats, this lady is hyper focused on the extra's scalloped pockets. 🤣 That's focus. Also, she made a really nice observation about how period costumes, in addition to the period they are set in, also reflect the fashion zeitgeist of when the modern adaptations were made.
One thing to keep in mind about period piece movies is that no matter how much the detail is given to the historical aspects, there’s always something overlooked. And in terms of contemporary movies “snapshot” of a time period like the “Pretty Woman “ movie, at the very beginning of a decade, it will be the zenith of the previous decade. So, even though 1990 signified a new generation emerging, it really has what had been the “hallmark” of the 1980s. I say this because by 1998-99 that style of dress and fashion was gone. The 1900s became the style of “the grunge” or “waif” look and business attire was dismissed for more casual clothes. Interesting historical assessments. Thanks for posting!
Thank you for this video, the narrator/expert was so much better than some that look at the historical fashions in films/TV shows and her expertise really did show. I am glad that the BBC Pride and Prejudice had better costuming (although I think part of the reason that Elizabeth Bennett had a more central bust was possibly because the actress herself has a larger bust). They may have used more modern fabrics - to be fair they don't have the huge budgets of Hollywood/Netflix for costumes - but comparing the dresses in the series to some fashion plates and extant dresses they seemed to be far more accurate than those in the later film. I couldn't quite come up with a good description for the clothing in the later film with Keira Knightly but boho is brilliant. I have heard other ''experts'' say how accurate her clothing was - especially that brown pinafore dress worn with a white blouse - but I haven't been able to find any examples in extant clothing or fashion plates to back up their claims. Strange because they often play up the accuracy of the costuming in the film and downplay the accuracy of the clothes in the TV series.
Respectfully, Darkest Hour does not take place during the Blitz, but earlier in the war -- the evacuation of Dunkirk takes place during the film, and the entire film only spans a couple of weeks at most. So the people on the Tube are still wearing their prewar clothes, not their mid-war clothes.
All the complaints about Pretty Woman seem to come from the ladies. I wonder why there seem to be none decrying another look at a young Julia Roberts in that little black dress from the gents?! 🤔🙃
@@hollyanne4856 I'll tell you why. In historical films, one can judge whether they got the period right. But a '90s film is right about '90s fashion? Duh, of course, it was enough to choose fashionable clothes from big names. How can one go wrong?
My comment was that Pretty Woman was cheating, of course they're going to have accurate 90's Rodeo Drive fashion - it was contemporary at the time. Might as well have given it a 10/10.
She keeps mentioning the "wonder bra" look. The fact is Jennifer Ehle has a large bust that cannot be flattened easily (I have the same problem.) And Keira Knightly has a much smaller bust so she can achieve that look. And didn't the costumers for Titanic buy up every extant Edwardian gown they could find? Those in the background were the real thing. Geez.
Which is weird, because the regency had a VERY high and present bust, the ideal bust would be with a gap in the middle, which is impossible to achieve if someone has large breasts, the volume has to go somewhere.
The director of the 2005= Pride and Prejudice disliked the dresses of the year the book was published. He preferred the look that was fashionable a few years later. He also wanted an alive and natural look. Hence the warm colors and the animals.
The corsets worn during the Regency period pushed the bust line higher than normal to accommodate the high waistline which in turn copied antique Roman and Greek statues. Pompeii was being discovered at that time and intact statues from that time were admired and inspired women's fashions.
I would love to see her get to see the whole movie, and talk about the other costumes through the Duchess. It's got such amazing outfits the whole way through, I love the outfits where she and Bess are out walking with the little girls and the blue outfit with the fox muff when her friend is running for office specifically
Many of the memoirs of French and English women writing about WWII give a rounded impression of the hunger and not just of the lack of new fashion but the problem of replacing garments too worn to wear.
You can really see in 1940’s fashion that there was a fabric shortage So many dresses were cleverly designed to use small cuts of fabric, probably scraps to begin with. If a woman could get ahold of white nylon parachute silk in that time she could sew her own wedding dress from it. For years my grandmother had the remains of a huge , white nylon parachute stored in a back room. I’ve always wondered if she thought the fabric was just too good to get rid of? It really was lovely
@@dorteweber3682Such gowns were often passed around and worn by as many as a dozen brides and altered for each one which would have taken a toll on the fabric.
The curator is clearly very knowledgeable but some of the comments and omissions are a little confusing. I don't understand why the scene from the Iron Lady got 5/10 when Margaret Thatcher wore lighter colours in the 70s and didn't uniformly wear darker blues until she was in power in the 80s. Meryl's costume in that scene was on point. I'm not sure why the curator didn't mention the lowered waistlines in the 2005 adaptation of P&P, which are very obvious. Apparently the director Joe Wright made a conscious decision to knock the setting of the film back to 1797 so they could use the "more flattering" lower waistlines of the Georgian era. I'm also pretty sure that, in either time, women of the Bennet's social sphere wouldn't have had such constantly untidy hair. The 90s Wonderbra didn't create the look Jennifer Ehle had in the 1995 P&P adaptation - not to get too specific but the Wondebra pushed them even more up, front and centre i.e. for more cleavage. To me, Jennifer's look doesn't look inconsistent with simply a busty lady wearing Regency stays. I'd still enjoy seeing more of these videos though 🙂
In the Iron Lady clip, she is wearing clothes from before her image change, so of course it's not the colour and look we are used to seeing on Maggie. They are literally discussing this in the clip!
I was a bit surprised that the lack of chemisettes in day wear, especially for young unmarried women whose dresses had low necklines, wasn't mentioned. This seemed like a pretty common accessory during the period. I think that the more exposed decollete was something left for evening.
The scene that they showed from the Iron Lady was of course not accurate to Thatcher's regular look, because that was the scene where they were talking about giving her a unique style.
Kinda hard to take that Kiera's wispy-banged, bonnet-less Pride & Prejudice got the same rating as Titanic, which other fashion historians have commended for reflecting actual fashion plates from that period. But I kind of got the sense that this lady is partial to Brit productions as a whole, so I guess it's to be expected. 😅
Yeah kind of ridiculous. The suit in that scene is literally recreated from a photo from Les Modes in 1912. The changes to the design are extremely minimal.
I feel like Titanic is pretty overrated. To me, it's inconsistently done. Some of the clothes are pitch perfect. Others just have weird things that aren't quite right. (That suit for example, that people like to do a side by side with a period photo, the skirt isn't narrow enough. The fabric looks a bit cheap. They paired a newly constructed suit with what looks like a period hat, which makes the suit look a bit cartoon-y. And there are other scenes that mix historical pieces and recreations, and it just looks off.) The grooming in Titanic is also all kinds of wrong. Kate Winslet's bright red hair with the blue undertones is shrieking late 90s. Same for Leo's haircut. The makeup is way, way too heavy on all of the women. People like that it's easy to spot the source material, but it's really not the most accurate use of that source material.
@@Bunny-ch2ul I don't agree with your analysis, but that's ok. I think the fit on the suit (I have compared the photos again) is very close. I think mostly what you are noticing is that Kate Winslet is a bit curvier than the woman pictured in Les Modes, so the suit shape is slightly more exaggerated. Also, the photo usually used to pair with the original is not an accurate depiction of the fit of the garment. I can't post links, but if you keep looking through photos, you can find some that show the skirt is not as fitted as it appears in that popular photo (where she's leaving the car)
What a fun watch. Rosemary, the museum is lucky to have you as a curator, you seem to really know your stuff. The Darkest Hour was such a great movie, as an American, I have always admired Winston Churchill. Thanks for posting.....
I don't understand the inclusion of Pretty Woman. That is not a period film. They were using contemporary fashion. Can't really get it wrong when it's what everyone is currently wearing.
I think it’s because it wasn’t so much about the everyday fashion but the upper echelon fashion that the average person wouldn’t have access to? That’s what I can think of.
Even though it's a 10 year difference that can definitely be a huge jump in fashion and trends! I was also wondering if it might be useful to show a movie that is NOT a period piece but just one the historian is unfamiliar with just to show that of course the hostorian is very knowledgeable and educated but there's always a chance for variation that isn't seen in the historical record or avaialable. so it kind of leaves that space for 'yeah we're pretty sure they wore mostly this but hey there could have been other dress styles and outliers we don't know about.' 😅 eh but maybe I'm overthinking it a bit.
I was delighted with the mention of the 2004 exhibit of Jane Austen movie clothes as I was there at that time. Such a beautiful museum; bought the book for my friend in Sweden. My favorite exhibit, as I remember was of under garments, some very curious indeed.
Would have loved to see a review of the costumes from Emma (2020)! They're so vibrant compared to the muted colours we usually see in regency historicals.
P&P 2005 adaptation is set in the 1790s when First Impression (Jane Austen first draft of P&P) was written. That’s why Mrs Bennett’s dress is of an earlier fashion it’s during the transition of clothing.
Since the Bennett s were not rich I am sure Mrs Bennett would have considered it more important to make sure her daughters were outfitted properly to attract suitors rather than buying new clothes for herself.
Thank you. I loved all of her insights and attention to details that'd I'd never notice. I just wish why should would give demerits --like her process for coming up with the number.
Completely enjoyed this video! It was a quick glimpse into some of my all time favorite movies!! This was very entertaining, as I’m sure it was meant to be!! Thank you!
I don't get why a movie that's made in the 90s and takes place in the 90s should be rated for historical correctness? They just used the stuff that was in fashion at exactly at that time. I love Pretty Women but it's not a historical movie.
Confused as to why Pretty Woman was included since it was filmed in the same era as it was set. It hardly qualifies but if it does, should get 10/10, since it couldn't really fail. I think this was a nice video but maybe the eras were too far apart. The expert could have done with watching the full movies in advance to have a better idea of the costumes and the movies. But just my two cents, taking a pinch of salt with the assessments, this was a fun little watch ☺️
Oh please Dan…..more more of these please!! Please get Rosemary to review some of the historic dramas on TV! Downton Abbey is a MUST!! And, the recent The Gilded Age, about those 1880s/90s New York so snooty multi millionaire wives of Rockefeller, JP Morgan, and the main railway billionaire wife! Those dresses, the trains of them…..! But MOST of all, the programme “Outlander”. Most especially Season 2 set in Paris in 1744/5. Terry Dresbach and her team of dozens of costume makers absolutely excelled themselves. They are PERFECT. Just perfect copies of original designs and the designs of Terri. All made in Scotland studios or rather, huge buildings outside Glasgow (- Cumbernauld??). Do do please especially look at the wedding dress towards end of Season 1, 1743. Those pleats at the back of Keira’s dress in The Duchess, are done exactly the same for this wedding dress. And it is all beige!! with lovely bits of white embroidery and silver-metallic. The low cut bust is to die for, if you have a bust! And the bridegroom’s clothes……. Superb. And the other Seasons - the clothes of servants; and the poor crofters of pre and post Culloden. The work-a-day clothes as they settle in the mountains of North Carolina. I could go on and on! PLEASE DO LOOK! And review it here! If you don’t give 10 out of 10 for Outlander I will be very surprised.
Cumbernauld, now there's a town you don't hear of very often any more (pity). My father was one of the engineers (civil and structural) who were heavily involved in the design and building of the town. He brought me back a yellow dumper truck from Glasgow one time after being away in Scotland for a week or so. Thank you for a lovely memory.
Afghan coats - last seen worn by comatosed hippies ‘asleep’ under the coat rack in the Virgin record store in town. As kids, we used to sneak in to see the unusual sight of grown people out cold on the lino floor in broad daylight.
Find it strange that this 'Expert' mentions 1980's Margaret Thatcher from the Iron lady when the clip is obviously Margaret Thatcher in the 70's before she was Prime Minister. Everyone in the scene is clearly wearing 70's clothing. So much for this women's expertise
It's interesting that the curator calls the P&P 1995 dresses very "Wonderbra" --- but Ackermann's Repository shows a lot of fashion plates with exactly that very high, "in-your-face" bustline. She's really clearly explained how the a-historicity of the 2005 P&P works (though I think they insult the audience by manipulating the costumes so egregiously). Why was "Pretty Woman" included as an historic costume film? All it did was costume the cast in high fashion of the year it was filmed (1990) - nothing historic about it.
She seems to be referring to how a Wonderbra pushes the breasts together to emphasise cleavage, whereas Regency stays had a busk down the front to separate the breasts.
The Regency bust was very high and in your face, but unlike the 90s Wonderbra bust shape, which was very smooshed together and all at the front, the Regency bust was separated (usually by a thick wooden busk). And it's that separation that would push the bust slightly to the side, which gave the very distinctive lollipop shape that I think of when I think of Regency fashion. It's even more exaggerated in the fashion plates of the time, when you really see the bust far out to the sides, with that very high waistline immediately underneath.
I'd like her to review "Shakespeare in Love" from 2000. I think that movie looks very much like it was made in 2000 with the goaties, short hair for men, rather tight, opened jackets and wide pants
Interestingly, all of those fashion elements were also true to the Elizabethan period. Goatees/close cropped beards and hair were popular during the Tudor period as a whole, and the open doublet with tight sleeves and poufy breeches were most popular during Elizabeth's reign but continued into James I's era.
@@soccerchamp0511 Do you think, settings for some historical movies are being chosen by how similar the fashion looks compared to modern times, so that the audience will feel more familiar with the characters?
Love this! What people wore but also why they wore it. I realize some explanations from the WW II era make sense. I.e. from limited resources / utility of the garments but other than that so many people don't connect the why. They talk about the cuts and design and skill and craftsmanship to make these pieces (which is great and I'm by no means devaluing that) I just can't seem to link the why to certain clothing choices. One could just chalk it up to "trends" but I think that is a limited assumption. I hope History Hit does a longer video or two about fashion history (maybe even interview some people in the TH-cam community who are are trying to highlight its importance to our collective history).
With all due respect, the busts of 1995 P&P would be put there if the person had a bust as there is extant corsetry in museums (that work very much like the wonder bra you keep talking about). And the slubby silk was used as early as 1600s.
The Merry Widow hat of the 1910’s due to a popular play . Giant oversized hats would have been totally a la mode. Hats of this size would have required a long hat pin that woman used to protect themselves from unwanted advances or assaults. In fact, in Titanic , the original script called for Rose to use a hat pin to jab Cal after refuses to get in the lifeboat and going after jack . This was changed by Kate Winslet who suggested “ spitting “ in Cal’s face instead using The newly acquired technique taught to her by jack. Lol , we all become big momma bears when it comes to Titanic, don’t we? It’s just a masterpiece
I’ve collected hat pins for around 40 years (crumbs!) and the longest one I have is from around 1910. It is Art Nouveau in style and over a foot long. I just look at it and think, blimey, how much hair and how much hat made it necessary!
@@sarahmillard6401 wow ! Holy hell! Almost a foot ! I didn’t know they could get that long ! I’m sure it’s beautiful. I was watching a documentary on why no one wears hats anymore. One of the reasons that makes sense is that more people own individual cars than in the past and the head room got lower throughout the years with people using less public transportation. I wish we still wore hats . I love how the Brits still do for formal occasions
Half way in I'm frustrated with her expressing nothing not praise, then giving 9, even 8/10! Then comes the tv version of Pride and Prejudice and she has quite interesting faults to find... and gives it an 8, too! I do love her, what a brilliant person!
I expected her to break down Forrest uniform too. Army uniforms have changed over the decades as well. I don’t know if the Brits had a hippie era ( I know they did the 60s mod fashion really well) but yeah as someone whose parents wore everything from the 60s and 70s with lots of hand-me downs it was pretty accurate
Forest Gump was in theaters in 1994. Not 2007 and I was born in '72 Massachusetts..I still remember adults of the 70's in crochet vests and macrame bags; and macrame plant holders everywhere
Very enjoyable. Love fashion history. However, "The Darkest Hour" occurs at the beginning of the war, during the runup to Dunkirk and Churchill's deciding how to respond.
I agree with the commentator that one can frequently see the period in which a film or series was made by the costume/make up and hair styles. I often watch something unknown to me and have fun guessing when it was made. The Pallisers is an excellent example.
I think for the darkest hour segment the actuary of the film might be higher because the rationing of clothing did not go into affect unity June of 1941 where the darkest hour move is set in May of 1940. But the depiction of all movie fashion is normally very stylized.
She really got the spot, when she mentioned that it also matters that in what time the movie was shot. I would like to add it also matters what the movie visually tells. Like she said Keira Knightly is wearing very historical incorrect clothes. You even notice as the usual viewer. I think they did that on purpose to give Keira the look of an outstanding woman. Playing into the „Not like the others girls“
This may sound elementary as a viewer but the characters speak so fast and so softly whispering that I can't follow along at times. The visual use of fashion keeps me hooked 😁
Wow. As a complete clothing fetishist and costume maker, I loved this! I always focus on the clothes, (and the fit of the clothes) in anything I see, be it current global cultures or historical costumes. I was hand sewing a fur hat while watching this but had to stop and focus. This was very interesting! Thank you.
I remember seeing a 1970's made for tv adaptation of one of Jane Austen's novels. And good lord! The clothing and hair were SO 70's it was pretty painful to watch! I don't think I ever saw an adaptation that was filmed in the 80's, but I'm pretty sure there would have been big shoulder pads and even bigger hair! 🤣
Check out the original Poldark series for this problem, too. It’s all hippie head scarves and polyester dresses. The newer series has costumes that are 100 tines better, except the gentlemen don’t shave, very anachronistic. Ross didn’t even for his wedding!
Eh no the 1980's version was stylistically fine, perhaps even as far as clothing and hairstyling better than the later BBC version if not so elaborately done (clearly a much smaller budget in the 80's). There are in some ways I find I prefer the old 80's version for getting right.
The producers for this bit let down this woman by not providing names of the actors whose costumes she reviews. Referring to acclaimed Charlotte Rampling as “the older figure” is especially shabby and ill-informed (and doesn’t bode well for Keira K, not bigger a star now that Ms Rampling has been). Her professional staying power is remarkable, last year among the cast of Dune. The examples continue … Brenda Blethyn-twice an Oscar nominee and lead character of an ongoing British series-and more. Overall, there are interesting observations here, and it’s certainly entertaining, but some basic homework is sorely missing.
Okay, but Pretty Woman is not a period film, anymore than any film made in 2019 about people in 2016 is period. Loved the costumes, but seems a no brainer that the costumes would be accurate to that time.
I know she had a light blue suit. I remember her wearing it on an interview when I was a kid. Just checked they were selling a light blue suit in an auction. So yeah the suit was fairly accurate.
In the reviewer's defense, it doesn't seem like she's given much context; it seems like she's mostly recalling details from memory, if not being fed incomplete information by the producers. And some of the scenes selected were just strangely picked, in my opinion lol. But I loved hearing her enthusiasm and expertise otherwise.
Hope you enjoyed guys! In terms of fashion, which historic period would you most liked to have lived through? 🤔
I’d love to wear fancy as possible clothes so 17th century or anywhere with big poofy dresses are fine with me.
The tudors
Not the revolution, but the finery of Marie Antoinette days. Gorgeous
@@susanappleby2414 hihi that would be fun
I lived through the seventies, the clothes were horrible now I look back. If course at the time I thought they were cool!
I love that she was paying such close attention to the costumes on the background actors. So many talented costumers work on those characters, too. I'm sure the praise is appreciated by them.
She's so softspoken and lovely. I love her appreciation for the costumes and how happy she is watching these clips. A lot of people reacting to historical costumes always laugh or roll their eyes at the costuming in movies if it's inaccurate, and she didn't. I really appreciate that.
So do I!
I agree 👍 The only way to refer to this presenter is 'lovely' ❤ She's really got a fantastic outlook on costuming 😊 It's great how she even appreciates the veering from authentic for what it says about the era of the filming. It is so true
I love how much she clearly loves fashion and fashion history, and gets all excited about the different clothes and costumes.
Honestly, just the sheer joy on her face made it worth the watch. She seems to have the ability to make everyone interested in fashion or whatever she is into because she makes it look so cool and interesting (and explains the details well). I love people like that.
I love her observations about the period in which historical adaptations are produced. We can't help but insert our own culture in it, no matter how hard we try to perfectly recreate the past.
With all due respect, I disagree with your comments regarding the Titanic clip. Those dresses were in fact modelled directly out of period magazines and can be easily found. They are accurate right down to the fabric used. James Cameron even purchased original period clothing that was just altered to fit the actors. An example of this is Rose’s red evening dress in the scene of her hanging off the back of the ship when she first meets Jack. There were many others too. He hired the same carpet company that had supplied the carpet for the original ship to reproduce that same carpet for use on the movie ship. Anyone who goes to that level of detail, to purchase and hire original period pieces and manufacturers still in operation is not going to be Hollywood in his presentation. I would think he would be going in exactly the opposite direction.
With all the money he spent on this movie, I don't think he would go skimpy on the costumes. Enjoyed your post. I just found this channel and have loved all that I have watched so far. Sadly this is the only one I'm not gonna put a thumbs up on........but your post I did 😊
Yeah, I raised my eyebrow at the "They feel very Hollywood" comment, when the suit Rose is wearing is an almost exact reproduction of an actual 1912 suit. And that's pretty commonly known at this point - Glamour mentions it in their video about the Titanic costumes, for example.
Yeah this was an immediate red flag to me. The suit is literally from Les Modes from 1912. Including the styling with the oversized hat.
Cameron was very accurate with the costumes, except when he didn't want to be. :) In the scene where Jack first sees Rose as she comes out onto the balcony the costume designer wanted her to be wearing a big hat, saying that a woman of that time would never have stepped outside without a hat on. Cameron hated the hat and said she's not going to look like an angel Jack falls instantly in love with if she's wearing it and she's just shocked the table by mentioning Freud, she can be a bit rebellious and go outside without her hat on. Finally, after a bit of arguing, Cameron grabbed the hat and threw it over the rail and that was the end of that. Hope it wasn't an original 1912 hat, eek.
That red evening dress, the 'jump dress', is actually a costume designed by Deborah L. Scott for Kate Winslet's Rose character. It was sold at action for $330,000 in 2012
I loved this one. It's far too easy for "history" to become a list of dates of battles and names of politicians, or even celebrities. But history lives and breathes in the spaces between "great events", and the tale it tells is woven like fabric onto the loom of time. It has a flow and a meaning that is carried not in the battle, but in the taper of the sword's edge, and how it differed from the one carried by a warrior's grandfather. It's in the color of the fabric, and the story of how purple came to be used. In the story of why saffron was worth more than gold. The ever-changing flows of fashion are the very lifeblood of our history, and it was so very nice to hear an expert's opinion of their depiction in modern entertainment.
You have a wonderful way with words, such a beautifully descriptive piece. Thank you for sharing your thoughts 😊
I absolutely agree with you.
When I was in school it was wars and battles. I wanted to know about the clothing, food, furniture, and what people did all day.
So much word salad to mean basically "it is good enough for me"
I'm a Museum Educator/Living Historian. Actually doing the crafts and daily life gives a real appreciation for the "little guys".
Does Pretty woman qualify for "Historic Costumes"? It was made in 1990 and is set in the same time. The designers did an amazing job, but probably no historical research was needed since it was a film set in the current time. Or was there references to other time periods that I am unaware of?
My thoughts exactly, how does that movie qualify for historical accuracy?
yes. it was confusing. she is talking about how they got the look right... but it was not a historical movie 🤷♀️
Good Lord I am old if Pretty Woman is a period piece.
@@intorainbowzOG same. I’m 41 this year, guess I better check out retirement home brochures!🤣
Yeah, I was confused by that one. Also how didn’t it get a ten. It’s as historically accurate as you can get
Very interesting to watch, particularly where the time in which the film is recorded influences the design of the period dress. It’s like the 1960s and 1970s when period dramas saw the women in the cast wearing pale lipstick and the hairstyles of the day.
That very distinctive "beehive" look of the late 60's and yet the show was set in Ancient Rome. Or silent pictures of the 1920's where the women had "flapper" hair and makeup, but it was a Western set in the 1800's.
Oh, give me MORE of this! Could watch this type of content ALL. DAY.
Do you know about Bernadette Banner? She's got several videos like this!
Bernadette is well worth watching if you have not seen her before, I'm a big fan!
Kiera in P&P looks more like Jo in Little Women, than Elizabeth Bennett. This adaptation also set the young ladies too much down in the dirt of the farmyard, but these gentry ladies didn’t even cook, much less deal with farm animals, Mrs. Bennett, as well as history, makes that clear. As for the prominent bust of Jennifer Ehle in the earlier adaptation, she is just naturally fuller-busted, I don’t think they did anything to emphasize that. I can emphasize, I get sick of people asking me if I have implants or am wearing a padded or push-up bra, the answers are no and no! I even got asked by a slimy guy at work my bra size is! He got an earful. We can’t help it!
I got especially tickled when she mentioned the differences between the bustlines of the DRESSES Keira and Jennifer wore and didn't say anything about the differences between the busts of the ACTRESSES.
Having rewatched P&P 2005 several times, I've come to sort of recognize the choices made (e.g. the whole farmyard etc) as a way to speak to the audience. I think the director _really_ wanted to convince the average viewer how much the Bennett family needed to marry off their daughters to ensure their financial security - and the average viewer may not have felt the importance of it as much if they were presented as typical gentry even though _obviously_ to anyone who knows, you can be gentry but still need money. One of the hallmarks of P&P 2005 was how broadly accessible and iconic it was to many moviegoers, and I think Joe Wright made distinct stylistic choices and changes in order to make that happen - Elizabeth being presented more "boyish" for example, the Bennet girls always tumbling over each other in contrast with slightly worn/dirtied dresses to the wealthier veneer of the Bingleys sitting primly in a large too-clean room eating breakfast. And as an Austen die-hard, I can kind of respect it! But historically accurate it definitely is not (Wright also rejected the pillar-like silhouette of regency dress - he openly did not like it - and opted for something a few decades older, but in doing so he still took notes from regency dress by ensuring a fashionable, wealthy lady like Caroline Bingley _did_ have regency dress, to visually translate to the audience how fashion-forward she is and make her out of place amongst the Bennets and their peers.)
As a directorial style, there's a lot of things I respect in the movie - sometimes historical inaccuracies in movies/shows are so flagrant that it feels like the director/writer is deliberately trying to be disrespectful, thinking that they're being clever with their anachronisms or enforcing their modern perspectives on historical dress (like the never-ending saga of Hollywood vs corsets). But P&P 2005's direction felt like carefully curated choices; Wright still took notes with the historical fashion, where some other directors tend to pick and choose whatever they like instead of getting creative with what was actually worn at the time; _at least_ Elizabeth being a little bit "boyish" still translates to the average audience in the general narrative of P&P (and the movie also doesn't try to shove in a message about how Elizabeth is "not like other girls" bc it's never really commented upon except for her walking to the Bingleys, and even then it's just a comment from Caroline and more about the state of her dress), I can't say that for a lot of other period dramas.
Honestly if it turns out Wright also thought he was being a Real Clever Guy I wouldn't be surprised, but at least it didn't show in the movie.
That's because clothes at that time were supposed to be done by fitting, so bust size shouldn't matter. Of course, it's likely the tv series couldn't afford do to the same for Jennifer Ehle, but it's looking incorrect for the time.
to be fair, an over the bust corset does squish the breasts in a little, so it would flatten it more where a bra lifts. I know someone who was a C cup but she said her breast size looked smaller when she wore an over the bust corset (I was being fit for a corset at the time and was trying to decide if I wanted under the bust or over the bust)
@Cheri Huntsman she is jealous but take it as a compliment, they must look great
Kate Winslet's costume from Titanic is an exact replicate from the Edwardian period. I found the original source some years ago.
I wish they would've shown a couple more examples from titanic! So many of the outfits are spot on!
@@liv97497 i know i think there is a interview with the costume designer out there somewhere on the web I remember how detailed it was even Jacks clothing
for a young girl, or for a women? getting aboard a ship, or eating in first class dining?
Another historian said yes, it's accurate, but people wouldn't wear that on a boat so it wouldn't be covered in soot from the ship's coal
I went online and I found a 1912 Sears Roebuck catalog. That hat was spot on and in fact there were many much more extravagant.
I saw the dress exhibit of the P&P95 dresses at Bath. One of the highlights of my trip to Bath. Great museum overall.
This woman is the David Attenborough of costume historians. I love how she whispers as if she is about to startle exotic animals in their natural habitats. "And here we see the very rare ruffle, considered to be functionally extinct in this period by most experts..."
So fun to watch. At first I thought our expert was too diplomatic, but the critique paired with appreciation for context such as production year just showed how much she enjoyed the assignment and admires film costumers.
i could watch this woman talk about paint drying and i'd still watch. something about the way she gets excited about details but is still very soft in her manner is very soothing. my kind of person :)
Yes, now I really want to see Queen Victoria's dresses up close...
So lovely, all the positive comments! Like a breath of fresh air to hear someone be so friendly
The grade she gives "The Iron Lady" is kind of unfair considering they showed her the scene before she becomes the Margaret Thatcher we are acquainted with. The outfit she's wearing there is supposed to look kind of out of character in comparison to the "transformation" she goes through.
Completely agree. Her wardrobe is a character in itself. An incredibly important one. And the costumers knew that and showed it.
I'd love to hear her thoughts on series like Outlander, modern Poldark, and Bridgerton! As well as Call the Midwife.
I'm having a wild guess: 8 points.
I'm putting in a veto for Outlander...
Bridgerton is essentially a fantasy piece and not meant to be historically accurate.
@@le13579 as a Living Historian who actually interprets that period, much of the costuming drives me up the wall (Claire especially). Oddly, the costuming is much better for the secondary characters (Marsali).
Call the Midwife went into the 1960s and that's when I stopped watching it. The cast remained the same without being aged with makeup.
A period piece Id love for her to review is "Ever After A Cinderella Story". The costumes are gorgeous.
I would love her to review and Australian series called Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. It's set in the 1920's, but got of traction overseas. The highlight is the clothes - although the series is critically acclaimed and well received for the plot, acting, great writing etc .... its really the clothes that everyone comments on.
oh I love this show! Miss Fisher and all her merry friends are such interesting characters! the book series is pretty great as well, albeit the show deviated a bit from the source material.
Great outfits but the actress was dreadful and cringy. Seemed like it was done on a tiny budget. I imagine the books were good though
I truly enjoyed this video, but just a quick correction. Forrest Gump came out in 1994, not 2007.
Came here to see if anyone else noticed that lol
...it won an Oscar I think for 1994 best movie of the year.
True, I used it in school and I left school in 2006.
It also was set in the US, so her wondering if American hippy style ever made it over to Europe is kind of moot
🤣🤣🤣 #facts
It's strange that the obviously anachronistic costume choices as well as hair & makeup in P&P 2005 received the same rating as the impressively accurate and meticulous costume designing on Titanic. Sure, Rose's makeup was the only thing that didn't match the period but the costuming was done beautifully.
No make-up matched the period, not only Rose's. And yes, her costumes were spot on, but one judges an entire movie, not only the ones of some characters.
@@potocatepetl Her point was that it was too Hollywood, as if that was a bad thing for the most expensive movie made at that time, hence the rating. Since we're judging the costumes there was an injustice made here. Nothing, absolutely nothing matched the P&P 2005.
There's 2 idea to gather from costuming : Historical accuracy, and Logic(geographic context, timing, and wealth)
and Second is : Intent and Creative liberties to communicate emotions, or visual interest while still being honest to the period participants, and sometimes they're trying to appeal to modern audience(but not in the bad way), but in a Understanding way( if you use ye old english most people wont understand and wont be able to appreciate but if you use modern regular langugae it may reach a wider audience). SO all that to say that Titanic falls in the first category; they used Old patterns from the time period, and replicated some photo references almost exactly, so its almost taking a look at the pictures , and Pride and Prejudice (with Keira Knightley) used the second method communicating emotions, and feelings of the character through their outfits(pride and prejudice with keira) was not even accurate to the book. But the best is when Movies respect both these criteria a few example being: In the Mood for Love, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Marie-Antoinette (by Sofia Coppola), also notice how these movies are so rich in colours, and character expressions, and dramatic, they're almost Theatrical. Like old theater, and opera where everything was more extravagant.
@@mariashaki89 You must have missed where she gave Pride and Prejudice 2005 a 6 for historical accuracy since she gave that movie 2 scores one for creativity and style then she obliterated it and gave it a 6 cause it wasn't even close to being accurate.
This lady knows her stuff but she is short on criticism which i feel is actually much more important and more interesting than the praises..you learn more from criticism than from praise and i was looking to learn more.
Finally someone is reviewing/talking about BBC’s P&P! So many only look at the Hollywood version. As someone who prefers the BBC miniseries I am always bummed when it’s slighted. It has such beautiful scenes and costumes and the lines are right out the book! I’m sorry but the abridged version Hollywood made just doesn’t cut it for me. So thank you for this! 😃😄👏🏻
Agreed 👍💯 I was so happy she gave it a better score than the Keira Knightley version.
Same, that's the one I grew up with since I was little. I love it so much.
The BBC costume/prop department is a museum in and of itself.
I wondered about their production of “Endeavor”, how much of the very authentic looking sets, props, and wardrobe had actually been leftover from 1960s production
There are many women who feel the 1998 P and P is closer to the book. However, Mr Darcy neither swims nor fences in the book. The 2005 version has been re examined. As a result, it's camera work as it's part in telling the story was brought to the fore,
Why on Earth is "Pretty Woman" on this list? It was set in the year it was released, not hard to get the "period fashion" right when you do that!
And, to add insult to injury, they didn't even show the best part of that sequence! Big mistake! Huge!
@@jcarey568 Definitely HUGE! Who can forget HUGE!!
@@jcarey568 I have to go shopping now.... 😂
I guess the 90s was long enough ago that’s it’s historic!!
Big mistake by HH, huge!
So great to watch and hear a true professional, objective and secure in her knowledge which was delivered perfectly.
It is always a great joy to watch someone who is passionate about what they do talk about their field. Thank you. ❤
(1:49-1:55) I love how, while the two main actors are doing acrobatics feats, this lady is hyper focused on the extra's scalloped pockets. 🤣 That's focus.
Also, she made a really nice observation about how period costumes, in addition to the period they are set in, also reflect the fashion zeitgeist of when the modern adaptations were made.
One thing to keep in mind about period piece movies is that no matter how much the detail is given to the historical aspects, there’s always something overlooked. And in terms of contemporary movies “snapshot” of a time period like the
“Pretty Woman “ movie, at the very beginning of a decade, it will be the zenith of the previous decade. So, even though 1990 signified a new generation emerging, it really has what had been the “hallmark” of the 1980s. I say this because by 1998-99 that style of dress and fashion was gone. The 1900s became the style of “the grunge” or “waif” look and business attire was dismissed for more casual clothes. Interesting historical assessments. Thanks for posting!
Thank you for this video, the narrator/expert was so much better than some that look at the historical fashions in films/TV shows and her expertise really did show. I am glad that the BBC Pride and Prejudice had better costuming (although I think part of the reason that Elizabeth Bennett had a more central bust was possibly because the actress herself has a larger bust). They may have used more modern fabrics - to be fair they don't have the huge budgets of Hollywood/Netflix for costumes - but comparing the dresses in the series to some fashion plates and extant dresses they seemed to be far more accurate than those in the later film. I couldn't quite come up with a good description for the clothing in the later film with Keira Knightly but boho is brilliant. I have heard other ''experts'' say how accurate her clothing was - especially that brown pinafore dress worn with a white blouse - but I haven't been able to find any examples in extant clothing or fashion plates to back up their claims. Strange because they often play up the accuracy of the costuming in the film and downplay the accuracy of the clothes in the TV series.
Respectfully, Darkest Hour does not take place during the Blitz, but earlier in the war -- the evacuation of Dunkirk takes place during the film, and the entire film only spans a couple of weeks at most. So the people on the Tube are still wearing their prewar clothes, not their mid-war clothes.
Thank you for pointing this out.
Yes, I was going to say this. One of my favorite films.
May and June 1940. Britain's civilians were not yet directly affected by the war.
But Pretty Woman wasn't a period film. It was a contemporary 90s film
All the complaints about Pretty Woman seem to come from the ladies. I wonder why there seem to be none decrying another look at a young Julia Roberts in that little black dress from the gents?! 🤔🙃
I thought this exact thing
baffles me
@@theoztreecrasher2647 because men are only capable of thinking with one head at a time
@@hollyanne4856 I'll tell you why. In historical films, one can judge whether they got the period right. But a '90s film is right about '90s fashion? Duh, of course, it was enough to choose fashionable clothes from big names. How can one go wrong?
My comment was that Pretty Woman was cheating, of course they're going to have accurate 90's Rodeo Drive fashion - it was contemporary at the time. Might as well have given it a 10/10.
She keeps mentioning the "wonder bra" look. The fact is Jennifer Ehle has a large bust that cannot be flattened easily (I have the same problem.) And Keira Knightly has a much smaller bust so she can achieve that look. And didn't the costumers for Titanic buy up every extant Edwardian gown they could find? Those in the background were the real thing. Geez.
Which is weird, because the regency had a VERY high and present bust, the ideal bust would be with a gap in the middle, which is impossible to achieve if someone has large breasts, the volume has to go somewhere.
@@AnnekeOosterink Which is why she said the bust should be to the side rather than gathered in front.
The director of the 2005=
Pride and Prejudice disliked the dresses of the year the book was published. He preferred the look that was fashionable a few years later. He also wanted an alive and natural look. Hence the warm colors and the animals.
@@SlightlySusan the hair, though! 🤢
The corsets worn during the Regency period pushed the bust line higher than normal to accommodate the high waistline which in turn copied antique Roman and Greek statues. Pompeii was being discovered at that time and intact statues from that time were admired and inspired women's fashions.
Delightful video, and on a topic that isn't talked about very often. I'd love to see more.
I would love to see her get to see the whole movie, and talk about the other costumes through the Duchess. It's got such amazing outfits the whole way through, I love the outfits where she and Bess are out walking with the little girls and the blue outfit with the fox muff when her friend is running for office specifically
Many of the memoirs of French and English women writing about WWII give a rounded impression of the hunger and not just of the lack of new fashion but the problem of replacing garments too worn to wear.
I would love to see a 1940s dress made of parachute silk.
@@dorteweber3682 According to mum it was mainly used for underwear or nighties, if you were lucky enough to get hold of any.
@@MayYourGodGoWithYou then i doubt there are many such pieces left. Too bad.
You can really see in 1940’s fashion that there was a fabric shortage
So many dresses were cleverly designed to use small cuts of fabric, probably scraps to begin with. If a woman could get ahold of white nylon parachute silk in that time she could sew her own wedding dress from it. For years my grandmother had the remains of a huge , white nylon parachute stored in a back room. I’ve always wondered if she thought the fabric was just too good to get rid of? It really was lovely
@@dorteweber3682Such gowns were often passed around and worn by as many as a dozen brides and altered for each one which would have taken a toll on the fabric.
The curator is clearly very knowledgeable but some of the comments and omissions are a little confusing. I don't understand why the scene from the Iron Lady got 5/10 when Margaret Thatcher wore lighter colours in the 70s and didn't uniformly wear darker blues until she was in power in the 80s. Meryl's costume in that scene was on point.
I'm not sure why the curator didn't mention the lowered waistlines in the 2005 adaptation of P&P, which are very obvious. Apparently the director Joe Wright made a conscious decision to knock the setting of the film back to 1797 so they could use the "more flattering" lower waistlines of the Georgian era. I'm also pretty sure that, in either time, women of the Bennet's social sphere wouldn't have had such constantly untidy hair.
The 90s Wonderbra didn't create the look Jennifer Ehle had in the 1995 P&P adaptation - not to get too specific but the Wondebra pushed them even more up, front and centre i.e. for more cleavage. To me, Jennifer's look doesn't look inconsistent with simply a busty lady wearing Regency stays.
I'd still enjoy seeing more of these videos though 🙂
I have great respect for older Queen Victoria “I’m going to wear black and eat cake. Don’t like it? Well I’m the queen so deal with it.”
In the Iron Lady clip, she is wearing clothes from before her image change, so of course it's not the colour and look we are used to seeing on Maggie. They are literally discussing this in the clip!
Yeah her look in the clip is a bit sexy and tight under the bust, definitely don't remember that!
I was a bit surprised that the lack of chemisettes in day wear, especially for young unmarried women whose dresses had low necklines, wasn't mentioned. This seemed like a pretty common accessory during the period. I think that the more exposed decollete was something left for evening.
Chemissets were worn right through until the early 1840s and were a very popular accessory as it showed off the fine embroidery skills of its wearer.
The scene that they showed from the Iron Lady was of course not accurate to Thatcher's regular look, because that was the scene where they were talking about giving her a unique style.
They cheated a bit by chosing that particular scene to show her, tbh.
I liked how the 90's Pride & Prejudice men's pant had the baggie butts. Not fashionable now, but true to period 😆
Gentlemen like to be comfortable ❤
Kinda hard to take that Kiera's wispy-banged, bonnet-less Pride & Prejudice got the same rating as Titanic, which other fashion historians have commended for reflecting actual fashion plates from that period. But I kind of got the sense that this lady is partial to Brit productions as a whole, so I guess it's to be expected. 😅
Yeah kind of ridiculous. The suit in that scene is literally recreated from a photo from Les Modes in 1912. The changes to the design are extremely minimal.
@@Theater00jock The costumes were very "Hollywood," she said haha.
I feel like Titanic is pretty overrated. To me, it's inconsistently done. Some of the clothes are pitch perfect. Others just have weird things that aren't quite right. (That suit for example, that people like to do a side by side with a period photo, the skirt isn't narrow enough. The fabric looks a bit cheap. They paired a newly constructed suit with what looks like a period hat, which makes the suit look a bit cartoon-y. And there are other scenes that mix historical pieces and recreations, and it just looks off.) The grooming in Titanic is also all kinds of wrong. Kate Winslet's bright red hair with the blue undertones is shrieking late 90s. Same for Leo's haircut. The makeup is way, way too heavy on all of the women.
People like that it's easy to spot the source material, but it's really not the most accurate use of that source material.
@@Bunny-ch2ul I completely agree. I guess some are just partial to American productions.....
@@Bunny-ch2ul I don't agree with your analysis, but that's ok. I think the fit on the suit (I have compared the photos again) is very close. I think mostly what you are noticing is that Kate Winslet is a bit curvier than the woman pictured in Les Modes, so the suit shape is slightly more exaggerated. Also, the photo usually used to pair with the original is not an accurate depiction of the fit of the garment. I can't post links, but if you keep looking through photos, you can find some that show the skirt is not as fitted as it appears in that popular photo (where she's leaving the car)
Love the observation that period dress in films is as much a reflection of the time the film was made as it is the time in which it is set. So true.
What a fun watch. Rosemary, the museum is lucky to have you as a curator, you seem to really know your stuff. The Darkest Hour was such a great movie, as an American, I have always admired Winston Churchill. Thanks for posting.....
I don't understand the inclusion of Pretty Woman. That is not a period film. They were using contemporary fashion. Can't really get it wrong when it's what everyone is currently wearing.
I think it’s because it wasn’t so much about the everyday fashion but the upper echelon fashion that the average person wouldn’t have access to? That’s what I can think of.
Pretty Woman is set in the 80s but made in the 90s
Even though it's a 10 year difference that can definitely be a huge jump in fashion and trends! I was also wondering if it might be useful to show a movie that is NOT a period piece but just one the historian is unfamiliar with just to show that of course the hostorian is very knowledgeable and educated but there's always a chance for variation that isn't seen in the historical record or avaialable. so it kind of leaves that space for 'yeah we're pretty sure they wore mostly this but hey there could have been other dress styles and outliers we don't know about.' 😅 eh but maybe I'm overthinking it a bit.
I was delighted with the mention of the 2004 exhibit of Jane Austen
movie clothes as I was there at that time. Such a beautiful museum; bought the book for my friend in Sweden. My favorite exhibit, as I remember was of under garments, some very curious indeed.
"That was amazing. Spot on. 8"
"Missed a few things. Not sure they got most of that right. 8"
😂
Fashion reflects our lives in so many ways. People often forget about world events being shown in trends and what naturally stays.
Would have loved to see a review of the costumes from Emma (2020)! They're so vibrant compared to the muted colours we usually see in regency historicals.
Yes please!!!
P&P 2005 adaptation is set in the 1790s when First Impression (Jane Austen first draft of P&P) was written. That’s why Mrs Bennett’s dress is of an earlier fashion it’s during the transition of clothing.
Older people, especially, would have a tendency to keep to older styles of dress.
Since the Bennett s were not rich I am sure Mrs Bennett would have considered it more important to make sure her daughters were outfitted properly to attract suitors rather than buying new clothes for herself.
I seriously love this series. More please!
Thank you. I loved all of her insights and attention to details that'd I'd never notice. I just wish why should would give demerits --like her process for coming up with the number.
Love this video! 🤩 These are my favorite two things in life, FASHION and HISTORY!!! I hope I can visit that fashion museum one day!!!
Completely enjoyed this video! It was a quick glimpse into some of my all time favorite movies!! This was very entertaining, as I’m sure it was meant to be!! Thank you!
I've been to the costume museum in Bath. It's really good to see the clothes in real life from years ago.
'Their Darkest Hour' wasn't the Blitz. It was about Dunkirk so the wholesale bombing hadn't started. People would still have had their clothes.
OMG!! This was fantastic! Thank you!! 🙏🇨🇦
Glad you enjoyed it!
I don't get why a movie that's made in the 90s and takes place in the 90s should be rated for historical correctness? They just used the stuff that was in fashion at exactly at that time. I love Pretty Women but it's not a historical movie.
Confused as to why Pretty Woman was included since it was filmed in the same era as it was set. It hardly qualifies but if it does, should get 10/10, since it couldn't really fail. I think this was a nice video but maybe the eras were too far apart. The expert could have done with watching the full movies in advance to have a better idea of the costumes and the movies. But just my two cents, taking a pinch of salt with the assessments, this was a fun little watch ☺️
Why did they label Forest Gump as 2007???
Don’t they have editor’s to catch stuff like that. The film came out in 1994 folks.
Oh please Dan…..more more of these please!! Please get Rosemary to review some of the historic dramas on TV! Downton Abbey is a MUST!! And, the recent The Gilded Age, about those 1880s/90s New York so snooty multi millionaire wives of Rockefeller, JP Morgan, and the main railway billionaire wife! Those dresses, the trains of them…..!
But MOST of all, the programme “Outlander”. Most especially Season 2 set in Paris in 1744/5. Terry Dresbach and her team of dozens of costume makers absolutely excelled themselves. They are PERFECT. Just perfect copies of original designs and the designs of Terri. All made in Scotland studios or rather, huge buildings outside Glasgow (- Cumbernauld??). Do do please especially look at the wedding dress towards end of Season 1, 1743. Those pleats at the back of Keira’s dress in The Duchess, are done exactly the same for this wedding dress. And it is all beige!! with lovely bits of white embroidery and silver-metallic. The low cut bust is to die for, if you have a bust! And the bridegroom’s clothes……. Superb. And the other Seasons - the clothes of servants; and the poor crofters of pre and post Culloden. The work-a-day clothes as they settle in the mountains of North Carolina. I could go on and on! PLEASE DO LOOK! And review it here! If you don’t give 10 out of 10 for Outlander I will be very surprised.
Cumbernauld, now there's a town you don't hear of very often any more (pity). My father was one of the engineers (civil and structural) who were heavily involved in the design and building of the town. He brought me back a yellow dumper truck from Glasgow one time after being away in Scotland for a week or so. Thank you for a lovely memory.
Afghan coats - last seen worn by comatosed hippies ‘asleep’ under the coat rack in the Virgin record store in town. As kids, we used to sneak in to see the unusual sight of grown people out cold on the lino floor in broad daylight.
Find it strange that this 'Expert' mentions 1980's Margaret Thatcher from the Iron lady when the clip is obviously Margaret Thatcher in the 70's before she was Prime Minister. Everyone in the scene is clearly wearing 70's clothing. So much for this women's expertise
I love cultural history! I would love these kinds of videos more than great men, great events history
You were too nice about the 2005 Pride and Prejudice:)
It's interesting that the curator calls the P&P 1995 dresses very "Wonderbra" --- but Ackermann's Repository shows a lot of fashion plates with exactly that very high, "in-your-face" bustline. She's really clearly explained how the a-historicity of the 2005 P&P works (though I think they insult the audience by manipulating the costumes so egregiously). Why was "Pretty Woman" included as an historic costume film? All it did was costume the cast in high fashion of the year it was filmed (1990) - nothing historic about it.
She seems to be referring to how a Wonderbra pushes the breasts together to emphasise cleavage, whereas Regency stays had a busk down the front to separate the breasts.
1990 was 32 years ago. It WAS a different era of fashion history.
@@terrib627 But it was a movie set in 1990, made in 1990, so of course its going to be accurate.
The Regency bust was very high and in your face, but unlike the 90s Wonderbra bust shape, which was very smooshed together and all at the front, the Regency bust was separated (usually by a thick wooden busk). And it's that separation that would push the bust slightly to the side, which gave the very distinctive lollipop shape that I think of when I think of Regency fashion. It's even more exaggerated in the fashion plates of the time, when you really see the bust far out to the sides, with that very high waistline immediately underneath.
I was wondering the same thing about Pretty Woman being on this list.
I'd like her to review "Shakespeare in Love" from 2000. I think that movie looks very much like it was made in 2000 with the goaties, short hair for men, rather tight, opened jackets and wide pants
Interestingly, all of those fashion elements were also true to the Elizabethan period. Goatees/close cropped beards and hair were popular during the Tudor period as a whole, and the open doublet with tight sleeves and poufy breeches were most popular during Elizabeth's reign but continued into James I's era.
@@soccerchamp0511 Do you think, settings for some historical movies are being chosen by how similar the fashion looks compared to modern times, so that the audience will feel more familiar with the characters?
The wide pants were stuffed with saw dust to get the proper silhouette.
I love that she is also explaining as she reviews.
Love this! What people wore but also why they wore it. I realize some explanations from the WW II era make sense. I.e. from limited resources / utility of the garments but other than that so many people don't connect the why. They talk about the cuts and design and skill and craftsmanship to make these pieces (which is great and I'm by no means devaluing that) I just can't seem to link the why to certain clothing choices. One could just chalk it up to "trends" but I think that is a limited assumption.
I hope History Hit does a longer video or two about fashion history (maybe even interview some people in the TH-cam community who are are trying to highlight its importance to our collective history).
With all due respect, the busts of 1995 P&P would be put there if the person had a bust as there is extant corsetry in museums (that work very much like the wonder bra you keep talking about). And the slubby silk was used as early as 1600s.
Is it just me or does the dance scene in “The Favorite” reminiscent of a 70’s Soul Train dance line!?!? Thats UH-mazing!!
The Merry Widow hat of the 1910’s due to a popular play . Giant oversized hats would have been totally a la mode. Hats of this size would have required a long hat pin that woman used to protect themselves from unwanted advances or assaults. In fact, in Titanic , the original script called for Rose to use a hat pin to jab Cal after refuses to get in the lifeboat and going after jack . This was changed by Kate Winslet who suggested “ spitting “ in Cal’s face instead using The newly acquired technique taught to her by jack. Lol , we all become big momma bears when it comes to Titanic, don’t we? It’s just a masterpiece
I’ve collected hat pins for around 40 years (crumbs!) and the longest one I have is from around 1910. It is Art Nouveau in style and over a foot long. I just look at it and think, blimey, how much hair and how much hat made it necessary!
@@sarahmillard6401 wow ! Holy hell! Almost a foot ! I didn’t know they could get that long ! I’m sure it’s beautiful. I was watching a documentary on why no one wears hats anymore. One of the reasons that makes sense is that more people own individual cars than in the past and the head room got lower throughout the years with people using less public transportation. I wish we still wore hats . I love how the Brits still do for formal occasions
I have my grandmother's hat pin from that period and it could indeed be used as a deadly weapon.
Forest Gump was not released in 2007. It came out in 1994.
Half way in I'm frustrated with her expressing nothing not praise, then giving 9, even 8/10!
Then comes the tv version of Pride and Prejudice and she has quite interesting faults to find... and gives it an 8, too!
I do love her, what a brilliant person!
I expected her to break down Forrest uniform too. Army uniforms have changed over the decades as well. I don’t know if the Brits had a hippie era ( I know they did the 60s mod fashion really well) but yeah as someone whose parents wore everything from the 60s and 70s with lots of hand-me downs it was pretty accurate
Not sure if a British person would be qualified to break down US army uniforms but it would be cool to get an expert to review army film costuming
Forest Gump was in theaters in 1994. Not 2007 and I was born in '72 Massachusetts..I still remember adults of the 70's in crochet vests and macrame bags; and macrame plant holders everywhere
This woman is an expert. But I really wish they had chosen better films about historic time periods for her. Everything after Titanic was just random.
While I agree that I'd like to see her review more films, I think they were going for an "Across Time" sort of video.
Random? What about the movie choices made them ramdom? It seems like they were chosen very specifically to talk on different period settings
@@bigred8432 What different periods? They were all late 20th century. Pretty dull if you consider what centuries they left out.
Yes, it didn't make sense to do Pretty Woman. That was not historic costume, it was contemporary at the time the film was made.
@@zetizahara agreed; it made no sense. Of course it was consistent with the time period. It was made in it!
She knows “Kiera”, but poor Charlotte Rampling is just the “older figure”.
lol I had this same thought. Justice for Charlotte Rampling!
Very enjoyable. Love fashion history. However, "The Darkest Hour" occurs at the beginning of the war, during the runup to Dunkirk and Churchill's deciding how to respond.
I agree with the commentator that one can frequently see the period in which a film or series was made by the costume/make up and hair styles. I often watch something unknown to me and have fun guessing when it was made. The Pallisers is an excellent example.
There is a photograph of Queen Victoria in the black headdress, so that's definitely accurate.
rosemary is a pleasure to listen to
I think for the darkest hour segment the actuary of the film might be higher because the rationing of clothing did not go into affect unity June of 1941 where the darkest hour move is set in May of 1940. But the depiction of all movie fashion is normally very stylized.
She really got the spot, when she mentioned that it also matters that in what time the movie was shot.
I would like to add it also matters what the movie visually tells. Like she said Keira Knightly is wearing very historical incorrect clothes. You even notice as the usual viewer. I think they did that on purpose to give Keira the look of an outstanding woman. Playing into the „Not like the others girls“
I'd love to see her react to Downton Abbey and Call The Midwife xxx
i cannot express enough how HERE i am for this content
This may sound elementary as a viewer but the characters speak so fast and so softly whispering that I can't follow along at times. The visual use of fashion keeps me hooked 😁
Wow. As a complete clothing fetishist and costume maker, I loved this! I always focus on the clothes, (and the fit of the clothes) in anything I see, be it current global cultures or historical costumes. I was hand sewing a fur hat while watching this but had to stop and focus. This was very interesting! Thank you.
I remember seeing a 1970's made for tv adaptation of one of Jane Austen's novels. And good lord! The clothing and hair were SO 70's it was pretty painful to watch! I don't think I ever saw an adaptation that was filmed in the 80's, but I'm pretty sure there would have been big shoulder pads and even bigger hair! 🤣
Check out the original Poldark series for this problem, too. It’s all hippie head scarves and polyester dresses. The newer series has costumes that are 100 tines better, except the gentlemen don’t shave, very anachronistic. Ross didn’t even for his wedding!
Period movies from the 50s are a hoot.
Eh no the 1980's version was stylistically fine, perhaps even as far as clothing and hairstyling better than the later BBC version if not so elaborately done (clearly a much smaller budget in the 80's). There are in some ways I find I prefer the old 80's version for getting right.
What is terrible beyond belief are the costumes from the 1940ish P and P with Greer Garson as Lizzie,
I felt she was being too diplomatic to be completely honest.
Late 1970's for sure Afghan Coats & there was the Afghan dress too. Bell skirt and sleeves, & stiff embroidered bodice.
The producers for this bit let down this woman by not providing names of the actors whose costumes she reviews. Referring to acclaimed Charlotte Rampling as “the older figure” is especially shabby and ill-informed (and doesn’t bode well for Keira K, not bigger a star now that Ms Rampling has been). Her professional staying power is remarkable, last year among the cast of Dune. The examples continue … Brenda Blethyn-twice an Oscar nominee and lead character of an ongoing British series-and more. Overall, there are interesting observations here, and it’s certainly entertaining, but some basic homework is sorely missing.
What a fun video! Thank you!
Interesting! Lovely to see a different aspect of history.
Okay, but Pretty Woman is not a period film, anymore than any film made in 2019 about people in 2016 is period. Loved the costumes, but seems a no brainer that the costumes would be accurate to that time.
Quite a lot of fun to watch!
That was very interesting - I wish she could come back for part 2 and include scenes from the series "Turn: Washingtons' Spies"
I know she had a light blue suit. I remember her wearing it on an interview when I was a kid. Just checked they were selling a light blue suit in an auction. So yeah the suit was fairly accurate.
In the reviewer's defense, it doesn't seem like she's given much context; it seems like she's mostly recalling details from memory, if not being fed incomplete information by the producers. And some of the scenes selected were just strangely picked, in my opinion lol. But I loved hearing her enthusiasm and expertise otherwise.
6:58 yeah well they won an Oscar for best costumes that year (08), so they must have done something right.