21 thoughts on “Timeless Goes 18th Century, with Mixed Results

  1. I agree 100% about the objective shittiness of Lucy’s hair, but based on other episodes, I’ve decided that it works as a thing for that character. In a lot of episodes she starts out with perfectly coiffed period hair, and gradually as she looses pins or sleeps on it or whatever her hair deteriorates into lose, sloppy looking shit. The same thing can be said of Wyatt, where there are attempts to style his hair into something era appropriate, at least as far has his dorky haircut allows.
    The hair issues is actually pretty typical of the costuming in general-whenever there is some kind of glaring, WTF-level mistake, its always on the leads, who are people from 2016, not on the historical people. From a theatrical standpoint it works, because it serves as a handy visual reminder that These Three Are the Time Travellers.

    In my headcanon, there is a very vexed and salty group of costumers who are in charge of dressing our heroes and who go to a bar and drink heavily every time the principals return from the past, asking each other “Why the hell can’t Lucy keep track of her damn hairpins, why can’t Wyatt grow his hair into something more generic and most of all, how hard would it be for them to go into a dry goods store and hook us up with some of the shit that just isn’t being made anymore.”

      1. I lack the time, equipment or acting ability to make this happen as a video, but I’m going to be posting the first few fan fics on archive of our own on the 9th.

    1. And one of them replies, ‘I wish they would remember to bring back a couple of cases of Chateaux Lafitte & Mouton, Tully, Chateau Petrus and a couple of Monets along with a discarded Worth gown, or several…’

      1. And one of the others replies”I don’t even care about the freaking booze. Or even a whole dress. I just want 10 yards of disposition printed silk.” *Clink of glasses* “Amen, sister. Hell, I’d be happy with five yards of freaking calico”

        1. And *motions to the waitress for another round* states, “Or if not calico, an effing bolt of polished cotton’ *clinks glass.

          1. And later, when they are even more deeply into their cups:
            “Ok, we can all agree that those guys owe us, right?”
            “Yeah, big time.”
            “Especially after Lucy “lost” her bonnet. Seriously. If she knows that she isn’t going to wear it, she could at least take it off *in the lifeboat*. Those were all vintage trims. From my own stash.”
            (pause for sympathetic pats and refilling of glasses)
            “So yeah those bastards owe us. Big Time. So, what is the one thing that we’d most want them to bring back”
            “A French Hood” “An English Hood”
            (exchange of looks)
            “Ok, lets be real. Yeah, I want to know how an English hood was put together too, but how many people are really gonna wear that ugly ass shit?”
            “She does have a point.”
            “Just think….we could get rid of the headband French hood. Forever.”
            *glasses clink*

            1. *clinks glass* mumbling ‘Unfortunate Biggins do away with them, derpy bonnets…’ She left YOUR Stash trim behind? Lucy owes you…what about silver braid?’ Yes, silver braid. *Let’s toast to silver braid’ *raising glass for toast*

          2. Proper linsey-woolsey! Whatever the woven tape is that was used to cover the seams of 18th century stays! OMG the shopping list is endless…

            1. Aww, no fair! I was going to say the trim that covers stays seams!
              Real camlet!
              proper silk velvet!
              Yes, endless shopping list!

  2. I wish my stays were front-opening. I have to slide them over my head. I have been assured there IS a way to self-lace in backlacing 1770s stays, too, but I have yet to figure it out.

    It’s hard to say without seeing it up close, but her cape for the woods looks an awful lot like the generic Townsend cloaks we have at work minus the borderline-useless clasp they come with….

  3. The costumes are on the whole pretty good, but the men hairstyles bother me. Too modern. Also I really like Rufus, but, he’s too modern day in appearance, posture and bearing.
    Wyatt is the one I really have problems with: his hair, his lack of restraint, his actions without thought, etc.
    Lucy iand Rufus are really the brains of the team. But Flynn seems to have okay hair and Dress.

    1. And Flynn also seems to be markedly more successful in infiltrating the various groups in the past. One thing that I really hope is that they’ll show Our Heroes getting more comfortable in non-2016 clothing, and maybe trying to blend in more, and more successfully. If for no other reason than it would cement my theory that the costume choices for Our Heroes are deliberate :D

      1. I liked what Lucy wore in the Houdini episode. Apparently, she kept her Bobby puns.

        BTW is my last comment to Katie posted? All I see is a symbol & date.

        Would like to see more women in professions, say Elizabeth Barton or Marion Anderson.

        Timeless astronaut episode beat release of Hidden Figures.

  4. Oh no, Kendra! I may have to disagree with you on a point of costume detail! Pleated cuffs/wing cuffs were out by the end of the 1740s. From then until the 1770s were the heyday of falling, ruffled cuffs. They started going out again in the later 1770s and were virtually gone by mid-1780s, when pleated/fitted cuffs came back in again. Or did you mean something else?

    What I find kind of funny is that the Lucy character’s gown in the 1754 episode is a perfect fit for the 1780s episode while Arnold’s wife’s dress would have been better in the 1754 episode. But yes, fantastic hair!!

    Also, I have encountered a stomacher-fronted round gown in the Museum of London’s collection that dates to probably late 1760s to mid-1770s and is mostly intact/unaltered. Oh, and the DAR museum in DC has a printed cotton one that dates to closer to mid-century but may or may not have been meddled with.

  5. The show is fun to see, and the historical errors for cloths for the trio are “acceptables” because they are 2016’s fellows (with re-enactments 2016’s cloths borrowed form the local re-enactment cloths)

  6. The dress Lucy wears in the the 1754 episode looks really familiar. I’m almost positive I’ve seen it in another production but I just can’t remember which and it’s not on recycled costumes.

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