The Importance of Being Accurate: A Look at Costume Design in Period Dramas
The period or historical drama is unlike other fiction genres on screen. Each element of the story can be comparable to the historical records of said story, depending on how much information is available. Even if there are some historical plot holes to fill, other details are challenged by the onslaughts of specialists, professionals, and history buffs in the audience. So how do creatives on these shows make sure they do it right, if at all? The genre is an outcome of taking creative liberties with pieces of history.
Taking a look at some of streaming platforms’ biggest period dramas will show the wide range of interpretations of history. We see there are many ways to make a successful period drama show through elements of design.
The Crown, the ongoing Netflix show that covers the life of Queen Elizabeth II, is one show to look at in terms of how well a period in can be replicated for streaming television. Take for example the Princess Margret’s wedding dress showcased in season 2 of The Crown, which was a replica of the same dress that the real princess wore on her wedding in 1960.
“It’s iconic,” explains the show’s costume designer Jane Petrie in an interview with Vanity Fair, “so there was no point in changing it, we just needed to try and capture the details accurately.”
In terms of historical accuracies, The Crown must get it right considering the main character is a living monarch. But even for period dramas that are complete fiction, and not a recount of history, the same attention to detail and accuracy must be upheld.
The dark early 19th century based horror series, Penny Dreadful, even with characters like Frankenstein and Dorian Gray in the mix, still has a grip on the historical aesthetics of the plot’s setting. The costume designer for the show, Gabriella Pescucci, looked towards French impressionists of the time — artists like Claude Monet and Berthe Morisot — and the fashion represented in their works to design her costumes. She also referred to Gustave Doré sketches of 19th century London, where Penny Dreadful is set.
Pescucci’s inspirations have no limits, as she explains on the Indiewire, “‘I took elements and details from all, so there is not something that is totally inspired by a certain picture.”’
This past decade has seen a revolution in this genre. What once used to be dominated the same old English story of a royal court life, or a sad war series, we are seeing history’s underdogs. Apple TV’s Dickinson, which centers around the life of the young poet Emily Dickinson.
Another would be Prime Video’s Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, a story about an aspiring female comedian in the 1920s who begins her career onstage after her divorce.
Entertainment’s departure from cable TV and embrace of streaming services has allowed for the period drama and historical fiction genres to showcase new and refreshing stories.
So it wasn’t so strange to see offbeat, experimental attempts that fell short of what a successful period drama looks like. One show often scrutinized for its inaccurate costume designs is Reign, the 2013 period drama about the romantic life of Queen of Scotland Mary Stuart. Many of the style choices for this 16th-century queen are questionable. For the most part, the queen’s strict modesty during that time is certainly not held up.
Often she is seen wearing sleeveless, off-the-shoulder and even sweetheart necklines. Her hair, as well, is worn down in court. Only some of the intricate fashion details of the 16th-century are accounted. There are some recognizable silhouettes and colors are presented, but it is overshadowed by the odd modern additives.
These modern elements become distractions to the audience in terms of historical world building. Reign’s Mary does not look like the true Queen of Scots in her modern gowns when she is surrounded by characters dressed in convincingly accurate costumes.
The same goes for any other aesthetic details in a period drama, it must be accurate to the time to create the idea that one is looking into a window at a different time. From food to music to the kind of flowers on a table in the back of the room, the impressiveness of a period drama lies in the details.
Art history professor Christian Carr of the Savanah College of Art and Design explains that with her eye for historic architecture she would be, “very concerned to find a Tudor drama taking place in an Edwardian house, for instance; though some of the architectural elements are similar, it would be jarring.”
But because the clothing worn in a period drama will always have the front and center stage of the shows for they hang on the bodies of the actors. They would be unconvincing characters when seen in show’s intended setting if their clothing was wildly incorrect from the time they are meant to come from.
