As I mentioned in my review of Dangerous Liaisons (2022) episodes 4-6, Starz first announced that they were renewing the show for a second season, then changed their mind and announced its cancellation. The show is a reboot/prequel to the late 18th-century novel that has been adapted several times before. I was all set to slog through the last two episodes since the costumes were good, even if the plot annoyed me. But, hilariously, Starz pulled the show from streaming! Everywhere! You cannot find the show anymore! It’s super bizarre [Ed. Note: This is a new thing that streaming services are doing to save money, the cheap bastards! Read about it here]. Luckily the excellent people at Cap-that.com managed to screencap the last two episodes, so we can at least take a look at the final costumes, even if we don’t know the details of what happened (which, I will survive).
So, this is basically going to be a screenshot-heavy run-down of the looks that stood out to me from episodes 5 and 6.
Jacqueline in a tone-on-tone stripe white, as per usual, and overdoing it with the religious jewelry, as usual.
She’s got a “pinner” apron with a bodice portion, so called because it gets pinned in place.
Some nice seaming in the back!
Camille in a pale blue robe à la polonaise.
It’s the lack of waist seam, and the drawn up skirts in back, that make it a polonaise.
It reminds me a bit of this | Robe à la Polonaise, 1778, Gallerie des Modes
She’s wearing it over side hoops, which was done in the period, although generally there’s some kind of butt lift too.
This is a nice hairstyle! Good height and it’s got the looped-up back hair that’s so typical of the period.
The makeup is nice too, especially the dark eyebrows and lack of eyeshadow.
At first I thought this was the same dress, but nope, it’s yet another super pale blue/grey outfit. With a cute hat.
This one is a jacket. I’m ho hum on these colors.
Love all the pleating in back!
Jacqueline EXTRA hikes her skirt. Yes, you need to lift your skirts to go up stairs. But she looks like she’s about to sit on the toilet.
Wait, is this a COLOR?
Yes it is! They fought with that bodice, didn’t they. Should have used bias!
Nice seaming in back, although where’s the V waistline?
Very pretty skirt sweep.
Lumpy boning is lumpy, though.
Ondine in a yellow stripey française.
Pretty and fresh, but why the tassels?
They make a bit more sense in front?
Pale lavender française for what I think is Camille’s wedding.
Cutaway front and nice fringing on the trim.
The lace placement seems more anglaise-y than française-y though.
There were several dressing gowns and cloaks. This was the only one I liked enough to screencap.
Now we get the second Dramatic Red Gown!
It’s similar but different to one in a previous episode.
Kudos to this show for knowing how to work with satin!
I think that’s Marie Antoinette in the foreground, looking better than in the previous episode. Her ladies on the right are totally wearing dresses from Marie Antoinette (2006).
Opera singer. She’s got a nice wig, even if she’s fashion forward of the other characters.
Jacqueline once again in a (very pale) COLOR.
Nice cut on the back, with the bodice and skirts cut in one in the center back.
I love all the goldwork embroidery! They needed a looser fit around the waistline, or they should have just taken a tuck.
They like to put decorative bits on the top of the française pleats on this show, don’t they? Not something you see in the period. I guess this is the 18th-century version of a butt bow?
A lounging wrapper for Ondine, and a quilted petticoat.
All the netting for a funeral.
You really can’t see much of the dress, but the veiling is dramatic!
Valmont serving LEWKS.
Did you manage to actually watch these last two episodes? Either way, what do you think of the costumes?
A cheeky little tricorne hat is simply not solemn enough to a funeral, even if it’s black and you throw a big black veil over it. That style of hat for ladies started as a deliberate ‘Look at me, daringly wearing jaunty male headgear! Aren’t I dashing!’ look, and even when it became a regular thing it was still reserved for informal occasions. It would either be a real gaffe to attend a funeral wearing that, or an advertisement to the world that you planned to be a very merry widow!
Oh yeah, I noted proper historical use of women’s tricorns in the 18th c. in my big ol’ hats research post ;)
Tricornes are so much 18th century. They must be in so many films even if they are out of fashion (to 1780s dresses)… Thank you for bringing that up!
It makes no sense to spend millions of dollars on making a show, then yank it from your streaming platform and not even allow anyone to rent it anywhere. I tried to find episodes “elsewhere” but they’re all badly dubbed into French, so… I guess we’ll never know what happened. :P
The tl;dr is that they don’t want to continue to pay the show creators/actors (read the link I added in the Ed. Note). It’s stupid & it’s all about money grr
I’m cross this happened with The Nevers.
The Nevers (along with a number of other series that were cancelled and quickly yoinked from streaming) are apparently coming to Roku and Tubi either this month or next.
They pulled it? Now I can’t watch it.
That second gown that Jacqueline is wearing…ouch. My boobs are hurting in sympathy. :)
Having been addicted to it, silly as it might have been… I did see the last two episodes. They set up the prep for next season with a not too terrible cliffhanger and, of course, Shakespearean timing as characters made choices and irrevocably f***ked themselves over. Basically, we’re back at the beginning where nobody is with anybody and everyone has grand secret plans for the future. Camille did befriend the Queen though, for a moment, which was a really fun scene to watch.
As somebody who has been reading up on Her Late Majesty, one suspects that Marie Antoinette would not only drop La Merteuil like a hot stone if she ever got wind of the latter’s notion of entertainment, she’d quite probably whistle up half the Maison Roi to drop-kick the Marquise out of Versailles (AND her horrible little friend Valmont to boot).
… the fact that Her Majesty could actually have read DANGEROUS LIASONS in the original French AND the original edition always shocks me when I think about it: for some reason so had the impression this novel was written as Historical Fiction, rather than a modern … thriller? … of the 18th century.
When you said they fight the bodice, I heard it to the tune of ‘I fought the Sheriff’. LOL So… 🎵🎶’I fought the bodice…and the bodice won.’🎶🎵
Also, BLACK to a French funeral? Hmmmmmm…. no all white???? Despite white being a French (and many other places) colour for mourning? Hmmmm…
White was supposedly for French queen’s mourning only, & even that is highly debated. The white veil for royal mourning is the part that’s documentable.
LOLOLOL!!! Me too!
Starz pulling the end of Dangerous Liaisons is super Lame!!! There is a Chinese movie version set in the 1930s on Amazon. Maybe you guys could review it?
Ooooh someone on Tumblr who has someknowledge on chinese fashion history did a review on those costumes
Here is the link to the review (It is one of 3 movies reviewed in the post and it is was one in the middle) :
https://audreydoeskaren.tumblr.com/post/658691170003714048/thank-you-for-your-response-to-my-last-request
The costumes look pretty, well made and historically accurate. Too bad this has been banished into the void, along with The Nevers.
But there’s something odd about the bodices. Carice Van Houten is a beautiful, statuesque woman, but she looks squeezed into her frocks like a sausage. Many of the other bodices look short-waisted, not proportionate and do not flatter the actresses. I don’t recall ever seeing this issue before in 18th century set shows or movies (like in The Aristocrats, where everyone looks amazing). Why is this? Would you guys know?
Apart from the white gowns and her red masked ball gown the others for this character were hires.