12 thoughts on “Wolf Hall BBC TV – Tudor Costumes Done Reasonably Well!

  1. I said it on FB, but I’m amused enough at myself to say it again: I think that last Anne Boleyn costume must be from the fantasy musical sequence! I’m suddenly picturing the Camelot song from Holy Grail…

  2. Beautiful work – would like to hear more about you! Thanks for adding me to your list.

    Mary Eveland-Goehringer

  3. Found this blog today, and have to say have had a great chortle. As a history and art lecturer who likes to get a bit interdisciplinary, I use film quite a bit as supplementary material- but I can never stop myself from commenting on the level of costuming.

    Since the Henrician period is my special field I’m very much looking forward to Wolf Hall, and found the comments very interesting. One thing I would add though, is that I’d cavil at describing art of the Henrician court as ‘stylised’ except perhaps in social function. Portraiture was far from stylised, in particular portraiture by Holbein, who captured textiles with masterful precision: wrinkles in sleeves, folds in garments, textures and symbolically significant patterns. But so far as I can recall, the wrinkles across the front are not seen, even as wrinkles and folds elsewhere are, albeit minimised by wearing heavy fabrics.

    It’s interesting to compare these clothes to the BBC’s very recent ‘Tudor Treasure: a night at Hampton Court’ documentary, recreating the christening of Edward VIII. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjoLrOH6xDQ#t=188

    One of the costumers at Hampton Court does an all too brief walk-though on a Tudor gown ostensibly for Lady Mary. The most startling thing was how solid the layers were, and how thick the clothing layers were- I would think 3 layers of heavy brocaded or velvet fabrics would eliminate any wrinkles, especially with the weight of the skirt dragging it down.

    But only a minor thing among an otherwise fascinating and very funny blog!

    1. I was one of the re-enactors in the Tudor Treasure documentary wearing my own Tudor gown. The costumer responsible for sourcing all those costumes was Ninya Mikhaila of The Tudor Tailor. She made the Lady Mary gown for the lady who wore it. Its actually a replica of the Catherine Parr gown except she has simpler undersleeves and an English Hood made to make it more 1530s than 1540s.

      I think you have it right, the sheer weight of the correct fabrics would help to minimize the kind of wrinkling we are seeing on some of the Wolf Hall clothing – they all do seem rather thin and unlined which may not be the case and simply be the choice of fabrics. My own gree 1530s gown is made of a modern upholstery wool satin…lined with itself at the front and velvet (cotton) on the sides and back of the skirt and the turn back sleeves. The stomacher has never properly sat flat and smooth over my original kirtle – I always had a but of a wrinkle in it but the latest kirtle I didn’t have the same problem so I wonder if it was partly because it wasn’t lined (the stomacher) and the original kirtle shape.

  4. I can’t help but laugh that now thanks to Wolf Hall, Joanne Whalley has now played Catherine of Aragon and her daughter Mary (The Virgin Queen), neither of whom were brunettes. Of course once you see how well she plays her character and how gorgeously the costumes fit her you kind of forget that she isn’t exactly picture perfect for the role.

  5. I can’t see the line of the shifts at the neckline, am I just needing glasses? And Anne Boleyn’s sleeves – wasn’t she noted for wearing her sleeves just a little bit longer than most, covering the first part of the hand completely, resulting in the rumour she had a residual extra little finger?

    1. Oops – I was in a rush last night. The shifts I’m not catching are in (or rather not in) the Court gowns, the other ladies (ie Cromwell’s household) all seem to have them and their gowns appear authentic. More haste less speed, sorry.

  6. We’re getting this directly after Grantchester ends — now I have a reason to look forward to it, other than Damian Lewis. :)

  7. Tha oddness of the Anne’s last outfit above was because it was a costume. She was dressed as if in the time of Robin Hood for that archery amusement.

  8. I’m actually going to defend Joanne Whaley as Katherine.of Aragon. It isn’t unusual for hair to get darker as a result of pregnancy, and the actresses’s hair isn’t jet black, its more of a very dark auburn, which along with the light skin and eyes makes sense for an older, mature Katherine.

    1. Same here — I rejoiced at Whalley’s hair color. It’s light enough to very plausibly have dulled from red to a muted brown with age.

Comments are closed.