13 thoughts on “TBT: Sense & Sensibility (1995): Fanny & Lucy

  1. Nearly everything Fanny wears is gorgeous (not a fan of the apple green/red sari gown myself), and of the highest level of decoration. I do find it amusing, as a character device, that her entire wardrobe is essentially full mourning for her father-in-law while the actual widow makes do with a couple black gowns, some of which appear as if they could have been overdyed for the occasion, and black accessories.

    All of Lucy’s outfits are a snore–except that burgundy spencer and the squared hat (I think the style is a chopka). But they certainly fit her financial situation.

    1. The square-top bonnet could be referencing the Polish czapka, or the academic trencher cap (= “mortar board”). I’ve certainly seen at least one Regency fashion plate which captions square-top headgear as ‘trencher cap’.

    2. A better character device would have been to have Fanny come OUT of mourning sooner than everyone else. White dresses (with more colorful accessories) were the standard for stylish 1790s-1800s womenswear, so if Mrs. Dashwood and her daughters remained in plain mourning clothes while Fanny switched too quickly to fashionable white, the point would be made far more effectively. I think most audiences already understand what mourning meant for people in the 19th century. What S&S 1995 did with Elinor and Marianne seems similar to what P&P 1995 did with the Bennet sisters: put them in white and pastels to show their “innocence.” But in S&S, they should be mourning their father, so it doesn’t work as well as it does in P&P.

  2. With the black-and-white striped shawl, Fanny’s silver spencer outfit has something of the vibe of Cecil Beaton’s Ascot Opening Day outfits in My Fair Lady.

  3. We rewatched this last week. Most of Lucy’s wardrobe, as you say, is ho-hum, but that tasseled spencer and that hat are wonderful!

    I appreciate all the screen caps, especially of the hair – I hadn’t noticed Lucy’s herringbone braids when we watched.

  4. I’d like to steal Fanny’s clothes after Trystan takes as she wishes. She’s a blog mistress, I think that entitles her to first dibs.

  5. I may be wrong, but I think that making dresses out of saris was a actual thing that was done in this era.

    1. It was – but only in India,. There are Regency dresses in the V&A and the Kyoto costume Institute made of lovely Indian fabrics and Indian ornaments, but they were all made in India by or for ladies living in India! I don’t know any example of a surviving dress or a fashion plate showing imported sari fabric being used in Britain. There is a well-known 1790s over-robe in the V&A made out of two Indian-style shawls stitched together (https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O13819/gown-unknown/) , but in fact the shawls are English-made imitations of Indian ones.

  6. My favorite is the puppy…and I’m a cat person! Seriously, the only costume that appeals to me out of this set is Fanny’s black and silver evening dress.

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