11 thoughts on “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

  1. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I’ve been waiting for this! Love the series and worship the costumes and sets.

    BTW, BBC America cut quite a bit to make room for commercials, so if you’re able to get streams of the original video, do so!

    One of the things I really loved is that Strange and Norrell’s costumes no only reflect their level of sophistication, but they also reflect their philosophies about magic. Norrell is still a mid-18th century Neoclassicist who lives by rules and structure, while Strange is a late-century Romantic who is ruled by free, uncontrolled emotion.

  2. It’s all been shown here, and you have a lot to look forward to. As far as I can tell, the military uniforms and gear seem right. I will say only that I didn’t like the way it ended. But I thought it was well done all around.

    1. Agree that the ending could be better, but the author is finally working on a sequel novel, and if we live long enough, we may see better things in an upcoming series.

  3. Dork moment: I love Arabella’s Lost Hope sleeves, because one of the dresses I patterned for my book has sleeves exactly like that!

    I can’t tell anymore whether the costuming in this is Really Good or whether Regency is just easy (either because the women’s garments are less complicated, or because it’s been done so often that there’s more to draw on)

    It’s tough to say. What it seems like to me is that there have been so many Regency movies that focus on female characters that a reasonably accurate “language” has been established for the period that makes it easier for costumers to design without going off the rails. At the same time, it’s a period that tends toward a less-strict approach to accuracy and specifics (in costuming outside of movies, I mean, as compared to the American Revolution or American Civil War), so there are quite a few things in that accepted language that aren’t really right.

  4. I am a big fan of the show, and I really appreciate this post about the costumes! I particularly enjoy Mr. Norrell’s red cap with the gold tassel. I am desperate to find a similar cap (to give as a gift). Do you know the proper name for that type of cap or how I might go about finding one?

  5. I’m familiar with the term ‘smoking jacket,’ but never seen the other usage. Might be more Victorian. Dunno for sure. I have a picture of a man in a “nightcap” which I will post on the FB page.

  6. I hated the book, it took me over a year to read (I’ll usually devour a book like that in about two weeks) and was about 1000 pages of abject boredom and 200 pages right at the end of really good story telling. I absolutely loved the series though. Story wise, knew exactly what to leave out and what to put in. The costumes left me spellbound. I am not a regency fan (and personally find regency to be very difficult) so I am prone to dislike regency shows just because, however these were beautiful and perfect and just worked so gorgeously with the characters. This was the first series since Carnivale that has truly grabbed me. I binged watched the entire series over two days and didn’t fall asleep during a single episode!

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