48 thoughts on “50 of Trystan’s Favorite Frock Flicks

  1. Happy Birthday.

    But where’s Zeffirelli Romeo and Juliet?

    And Genevieve Bujold was a terrific Anne. Just the right bit of French accent and costumes. But I did like Natalie Dormer’s, too. She was the bright spot in the Tudors.

    And Wives and Daughters….

    1. I guess romance wasn’t on my mind, lol, & there’s only 50 ;)

      I actually haven’t seen Wives & Daughters (it was Kendra who did the whole week about the series).

  2. Happy birthday!

    My list if I had one would overlap with yours with these, some not especially for costume reasons because I wasn’t so aware until I started reading your blog:

    I Claudius
    Elizabeth R (barely remember but was impressed at the time)
    Dangerous Liaisons
    Sense and Sensibility
    Middlemarch
    Impromptu
    Tess
    Buccaneers
    Age of Innocence
    Room with a View
    Howard’s End
    Jeeves and Wooster
    Some Like It Hot
    Cold Comfort Farm
    Brideshead Revisited

    Not saying some of the others weren’t worth watching or interesting, but they don’t own my heart in the same way.

    Ones I now have to watch or rewatch because of your post today and reviews in the past:
    History of the World
    Six Wives (saw most of this at the time, but it’s been so long, also black & white)
    Anne of the Thousand Days
    Blackadder II
    the two MQoS
    Orlando
    Much Ado about Nothing
    Jefferson in Paris (that screenshot!)
    Wuthering Heights
    Return of the Native

  3. My gateway was what I lovingly refer to as “Hank and his six pack” and then Elizabeth R. Our lists would mirror each other’s list. There’s a couple on here that I’ve need to find as I’ve never seen them.

  4. I’ve seen and loved most of these. Good choices! What are your thoughts on Immortal Beloved? Also, one of my favorites.

  5. Dang! You have awesome taste! By the way: I hope the day of your birth is beautiful, peaceful & also awesome x

  6. Somewhat O.T., but I just saw “Never Look Away” (WWII and post-war Germany; based on the early life and paintings of Gerhard Richter: art as a means of understanding history, one’s life, etc.). Very well-made and acted, with some good mid-century costuming.

  7. Hey, Trystan, are you going to do anything special for today?
    And any word on the release of Happy Prince? I haven’t seen anything yet.

    BTW, have you seen Bohemian Rhapsody?

    1. I just found Happy Prince available on digital rental! Adding into our Frock Flicks budget for next month :) I missed Bohemian Rhapsody in the theaters so I’ll have to catch it on streaming soon.

  8. Happy birthday, ElderGoth! What a marvelous idea to list your favorites! It would be interesting to do this regularly, say, every five years, to see how one’s taste changes over time.

    But I must correct the name of one of your choices. It is “I, Clavdivs”, pronounced with the “v”s! That’s the way that my friends and I have referred to it by since the original showing on PBS.

  9. Happy birthday! I really like some of the selections on your list. I would need a day or two to select my top 50 favorites.

  10. No love for the Gothy WTF?! that is Salem? Bad goth! No cloves for you! Seriously, happy birthday. May you live long enough to turn into Maggie Smith.

    1. Lady Hermina, that is the most perfect birthday wish ever. I have alerted my friends that they must deploy it when I turn 50 later this year. Trystan, I echo Hermina’s wish for you! And I was glad to see many of my faves on your list. I would add the Ioan Gruffudd Forsyte Saga and the glorious Mystery series Partners in Crime, which ignited my passion for 1920s fashions. Ooh, and the Jane Seymour Scarlet Pimpernel… and Somewhere in Time… I guess I really should make my own list.

  11. Happy Birthday! This is a terrific list, and I would get you that definitive MAry, Queen of Scots movie you so deserve.,

  12. Happy Birthday, Trystan! Thanks for all the fun and snark. May your day have chemises and no stretch velvet!

  13. Happy Belated Birthday!! I hope your day was fabulous! I turned 50 last month and it’s been surprisingly freeing. :) Love your list, please give Wives and Daughters a watch – good story with great costuming and hair!

  14. Belated Happy 50th!
    I feel like this is an appropriate time to let you know that I used to keep up with your alt.gothic.fashion stuff WAYYY back in the late 90’s. I remember following your website as you gathered your wedding attire. Then decades later I followed some unrelated link or google search here, and after reading a post, I scrolled down to the “About the Author” section and I was like “Oh, it’s Trystan!”

    So thank you for 20+ years of keeping me entertained on the internet!

  15. Wow, Trystan. Happy belated birthday!! It looks like I discovered this website about a month after your b-day and this post over a year later. So, here’s a belated happy 51st!!!!! What would I give for your birthday? Easy! I would give you tickets to an awesome, kick-ass costume exhibit!

    I tallied up my overlaps with yours and found 14 films that we both love. I won’t list them all here but I will say this: 1. Bram Stoker’s Dracula is the most BEAUTIFUL movie ever made. 2. The Juliette Binoche/Ralph Fiennes version of Wuthering Heights is WONDERFUL and does not get the attention that it deserves. 3. Much Ado About Nothing, Dangerous Liaisons, and Interview with a Vampire are EVERYTHING. 4. You are so right: Stephen Fry was BORN to play Oscar Wilde! 5. Daniel Day Lewis looked his absolute BEST as Newland Archer in The Age of Innocence, and this movie hits all the right notes.

    Your post caused me to think back on the costume dramas that imprinted my young, impressionable heart–not only for their costumes (of which I’m not an expert) but for their story, and more probably my teenage hormones and love of melodrama. I LOVED The Three Musketeers (1993); First Knight (I know it’s not a beloved film here); Othello (1995); Emma (1996); The Untouchables TV series (1993); Last of the Mohicans (for DDL!); and House of Eliott (does anyone else remember this British TV show?)

    Once again, thanks Trystan for taking down memory lane and for letting us peak into your costume-loving heart! Happy belated birthday!!!!

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