TBT: The Age of Innocence (1993)

We’ve mentioned some of the best bustles in this movie, but it’s time for a proper deep-dive. Because The Age of Innocence (1993) is a classic frock flick, absolutely gorgeous and filled with historical detail. The story is pretty depressing but then, it’s based on an 1920 Edith Wharton novel where she was looking back at her childhood in the rigid 1870s upper-class New York society.

For director Martin Scorsese, this period piece was a departure, since he’d made his name with more modern movies about often violent men like Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), and Goodfellas (1990). While audiences didn’t appreciate it at first (the movie wasn’t a hit at the box office), critics have called The Age of Innocence one of Scorsese’s most violent films, where the stifling societal conventions crush and punish any chance of unapproved love for Newland Archer (Daniel Day-Lewis) and Countess Ellen Olenska (Michelle Pfeiffer). The film, like the novel, is a study in frustration and thwarted passion, and Scorsese delves deep into the world that makes this possible and shows how that society is able to rule with an iron fist.

But let’s focus on the costumes because, wow, they’re stunning! Designed by Gabriella Pescucci, who previous to this was best known in the U.S. for her work on Once Upon a Time in America (1984) and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), and after this film, she did historical faves like Dangerous Beauty (1998), The Borgias (2011-13), and Penny Dreadful (2014-16). She trained with the legendary designer Piero Tosi and often works with the equally legendary house of Tirelli Costumes, which built the costumes for Newland Archer, Ellen Olenska, and May Welland (Winona Ryder) in this film.

There are definitely some costume notes taken from the novel, which mentions the color and style of certain dresses worn by Ellen or May. So are things like Ellen’s cigarette case, each person’s calling card, and the elaborate dinners that the camera lingers on. Scorsese was careful to direct such details of the production and told BFI’s Sight and Sound magazine:

“It’s all in the book. What seems to be description is in fact a clear picture of that culture, built up block by block — through every plate and glass and piece of silverware, all the sofas and what’s on them. All this wealth of detail creates a wall around Newland Archer, and the longer he stays there, with these things becoming commonplace, the harder it will be for him to move out of that society. …

I felt the film had to show a modern audience the blocks they put around Newland and people like him. But there’s also an irony and a sarcasm in the presentation of that lifestyle — both in the way I tried to do it and in the way Wharton did it in the book. The decor had to become a character for me. …

Even if ordinary people don’t understand fully the significance of the different pieces of china, they will at least see that a lot of pomp and circumstance goes into certain sequences. And as it’s not done by me, but by the characters, they get some understanding of the ritual.”

From the china to the costumes, all of it together creates that world seamlessly. Watching this movie today, I’m struck by the reminder that these people are the “old money” of New York that, in The Gilded Age (2022-) the “new money” Bertha Russell is so intent on breaking into. That TV series takes place in the next decade as the robber barons of industry are amassing their wealth and trying to impress. That flashy new money is contrasted with the tasteful opulence of the earlier generation shown here. However, in the BFI interview, Scorsese pushes back on the idea that this film is “lavish” or expensive, saying:

“Although The Age of Innocence may look lavish, the editing, the angles, the dissolves and the length of the images were all worked out way in advance to give the impression of extravagance. In fact, it only cost $32-34 million, and some of the most complicated things, like the beginning of the ball sequence, took only three-quarters of a day. But it was important to achieve the effect of a saturation of detail.”

Well, for comparison, among the top movies of 1993, the first Jurassic Park had a $63 million budget, Mrs. Doubtfire had a $25 million budget, and Schindler’s List had a $22 million budget. Among frock flicks in 1993 the budgets were much smaller, with The Remains of the Day at $15 million and Orlando at $4 million. Methinks Marty Scorsese had already forgotten the tiny budget of his own early films! I wouldn’t say Age of Innocence was on a tight budget for its time at all. He did use his budget well, of course.

Before diving into the costumes, here’s a quick overview of the era’s silhouette. The film takes place in the 1870s with no specific year noted, but the gowns generally have the narrow natural-form bustle shape that started around 1875 and continued until 1882. None of the gowns have the big elliptical bustle of the early 1870s or the aggressive, architectural bustle that was fashionable in the mid-1880s.

I’m going to focus on just Ellen and May’s costumes, because that’s A LOT, and I’ll add a few others that interest me. I have to note that most of the older women (like Mrs. Welland, played by Geraldine Chaplin, and Mrs. Archer, played by Siân Phillips, and also Newland’s sister) wear dark, conservative dresses that really don’t show much details in screencaps.

The men wear the usual collection of suits, coats, and tailcoats, all impeccably done, with hats, gloves, and correct accessories, so there isn’t much else to say. In one of the very few costume-related articles I could find, I was amused to hear this from assistant designer George Potts in the LA Times:

“It surprised me when I was doing the research that, back then, many of the ties were pre-tied. You get a better bow, plus, for a movie, it’s good for continuity’s sake.”

The LA Times also claims that “Some dresses were made with built-in corsets, for efficiency’s sake.” But in a circa 2002 interview with Objectif Cinéma, Gabriella Pescucci says she always wants actors to wear historically accurate underwear:

“For the silhouette, it’s much better, because it’s the underwear that gives shape to the costume. A dress, depending on the era you want to recreate, cannot be worn without a corset or a bustle. Moreover, it allows the actors to be in the same physical (and therefore mental) conditions as the characters. It was Luchino Visconti who made me understand the importance of having original accessories.”

Onward!

 

 

Ellen’s Blue Opera Gown

The countess’ return to New York causes a stir, and in the novel, she’s described as wearing a “dark blue velvet gown rather theatrically caught up under her bosom by a girdle with a large old-fashioned clasp.” This costume captures elements of that look.

 

 

May’s Opera / Engagement Gown

We first meet virginal, innocent May when she’s wearing this white satin confection. Actually, I think the gown has a slight pink tone to the white, but that still reads as very girly and pure. She continues wearing this to the Beaufort ball after the opera, where Newland announces their engagement.

This gown is one of several that were made by and still occasionally displayed by Tirelli Costumes. Here you can see the pale pink-peach tone of the gown better than onscreen.

A recent public display went to the Serlachius Museums in Mänttä, Finland, and our friend Maija Hallikas-Manninen took these fantastic photos:

While the pale evening gown seems like a theatrical design trick to show now young, innocent, and naive May is, pale evening gowns were certainly popular for young ladies, and they show up in lots of fashion plates.

 

 

Mrs. Mingott’s Pink Plaid Dress

The only other woman, aside from Ellen and May, who wears really interesting costumes is their grandmother and the family matriarch, Mrs. Manson Mingott (Miriam Margolyes). While she wields vast social power, she’s also described as ‘monstrously obese’ in her old age and the ‘burden of her flesh’ makes it impossible for her to go upstairs, so she lives on the first floor of her house, surrounded by her little dogs. However, she is always beautifully, smartly gowned, and her head is topped with piles of youthful curls that make her look a little ridiculous. She’s a study in contrasts, that’s for sure. The pink plaid we first see her in is covered with ruches, ribbon, and lace as exuberant as her personality.

 

 

May’s Burgundy Print Day Dress

The scene where we first meet Mrs. Mingott is when May and Newland formally tell her their engagement has been announced, and they’re accompanied by Mrs. Welland. While most of May’s evening gowns are in light tones, her daywear is a mix of dark and light, according to the season. On this autumn day, she wears a burgundy print accented with lace.  According to the LA Times, Pescucci used some vintage fabrics in the dresses, so I wonder if that lace is antique because it’s so lovely.

 

 

Mrs. Mingott’s Blue Dress

This costume is one of the few in the whole movie that appears in two scenes! Mrs. Mingott wears it first when she’s planning a dinner to reintroduce Ellen to New York society. The dinner is declined by all, unfortunately.

 

 

Ellen’s Blue Paisley Day Dress

As the narrator explains how Mrs. Mingott’s dinner invitations are rebuffed, Newland thinks of Ellen being excluded. She’s shown alone, moody, lounging in front of the fire, wearing this briefly glimpsed dress.

 

 

Ellen’s Red Evening Gown

Finally, through some finagling, the very prominent and exclusive Van der Lydens throw a dinner party for Ellen. She rather carelessly arrives late and wearing this amazing, stand-out, scene-stealing red gown. All the other ladies are wearing black or colors that seem black onscreen and May is wearing white. This really leans into the trope of the vampy, femme fatale, lady in red. She’s a scarlet woman because she’s left her husband and possibly shacked up with another man at one point. She doesn’t follow the rules, and it shows.

 

 

May’s White & Silver Evening Gown

In the novel, May’s entry to the Van der Lydens’ dining room is noted, and she’s described as: “In her dress of white and silver, with a wreath of silver blossoms in her hair, the tall girl looked like a Diana just alight from the chase.” While the costume designer didn’t put flowers in May’s hair, she did get the white and silver effect, especially with all that tulle.

In the movie screenshots, the gown reads more silvery, but the actual gown seems to have a greenish tone. It’s all about what looks right under the lights!

 

 

Ellen’s Burgundy Day Dress

At the Van der Lydens’ dinner, Ellen invites Newland over the next afternoon to chat — and their affair begins. She’s wearing this lovely (but hard to screencap!) burgundy dress accented with a burgundy and black stripe. I think the main fabric of the dress also has a subtle tone-on-tone stripe or even a check. There’s black lace at the neck and cuffs.

While it’s hard to see a lot of the costume in that scene, it seems similar to this extant gown in a burgundy tone-on-tone stripe:

 

 

May’s Navy Check Day Dress

The next day, Newland and May are walking through an aviary, and he tries to get her to shorten their engagement and set an earlier wedding date. She jokes about eloping, which, of course, they won’t do. This is a really lovely ensemble, perfectly proper for the period from head to toe.

Checks and plaids were popular during the 19th century and look especially sharp during the bustle era, as this fashion plate shows:

 

 

Ellen’s Burgundy Velvet Gown

This costume is directly inspired from the novel. Wharton writes:

“It was usual for ladies who received in the evenings to wear what were called “simple dinner dresses”: a close-fitting armour of whale-boned silk, slightly open in the neck, with lace ruffles filling in the crack, and tight sleeves with a flounce uncovering just enough wrist to show an Etruscan gold bracelet or a velvet band. But Madame Olenska, heedless of tradition, was attired in a long robe of red velvet bordered about the chin and down the front with glossy black fur. Archer remembered, on his last visit to Paris, seeing a portrait by the new painter, Carolus Duran, whose pictures were the sensation of the Salon, in which the lady wore one of these bold sheath-like robes with her chin nestling in fur. There was something perverse and provocative in the notion of fur worn in the evening in a heated drawing-room, and in the combination of a muffled throat and bare arms; but the effect was undeniably pleasing.”

Carolus Duran did paint several portraits of women in gowns with fur, although not quite in this princess-line tea gown style that I can tell. Here’s the closest I can find, at it does seem fitting since the subject was a Polish-American actress and Ellen had married a Polish count.

This is another very difficult to screencap costume because it’s so dark and worn in a dark room. The black trim down the front seems like a mix of feathers and fur, with lace accents.

While Newland is surprised by this gown style, it was fashionable in the late 1870s. Sometimes called a tea gown, the ‘all in one’ look of a long, princess-line bodice tended to be worn for less formal ocassions.

 

 

Ellen’s Green & Black Evening Gown

Only a brief glimpse of this costume at the theater, but this is one of those scenes where the camera does an intense focus on Ellen and Newland to the exclusion of everyone else. These kind of tricks make The Age of Innocence a surprising film to watch, time and again, and set it apart from other frock flicks.

 

 

Ellen’s Blue Embroidered Day Dress

OK, this is the one costume in the movie that I find kind of ugly. That embroidered front and sleeves on the dress are beautifully made, but they don’t look like they go with this dress. They’re too, IDK, folksy or something and the bright white pops in a clunky way. I don’t get it. She wears this in winter, when she and Newland meet and he imagines her kissing him but they’re interrupted.

 

 

May’s Pale Print Day Dress

Until now, May’s daytime dresses have been dark, but she’s wintering in sunny St. Augustine, Florida, with her family, so now she’s wearing lightweight and light-colored dress — but with dark trims because it’s still winter. This is where Newland visits her to ask to move up the wedding date (again), and she gives him a way out because she suspects he’s in love with someone else, though she hasn’t yet figured out who.

Tiny all-over prints were found in the late 1870s, as seen in this fashion plate:

 

 

Mrs. Mingott’s Blue Dress, Again

Second-wearing barely happens in this movie! In this scene, Newland asks for Mrs. Mingott’s help in speeding up his and May’s wedding date. You can see a little bit more of the blue and purple colors in this dress.

 

 

Ellen’s Pale Green Gown

Later that day, Newland visits Ellen for their big emotional scene. But let’s talk about this dress because I’m of two minds about it. First, here’s what the novel says:

“She was dressed as if for a ball. Everything about her shimmered and glimmered softly, as if her dress had been woven out of candle-beams; and she carried her head high, like a pretty woman challenging a roomful of rivals.”

OK, I see that Gabriella Pescucci was going for shimmer, glimmer, candlelight, and pretty. Got it. Also, it’s relevant that in the novel, Ellen is a brunette because I think this gown would look better on someone with darker coloring. On Michelle Pfeiffer, the colors make her look washed out and not all that pretty. But the gown itself, the pale colors, the lavish lace, the more informal tea gown style, all go together to make the character look more sweet, romantic, a little forlorn, and wholly the opposite of that confident, slightly careless woman in the red dress at the Van der Lyden’s dinner party. This does the job from a costume design point of view, even if it’s not the most flattering to the specific person.

Ellen’s gown is an especially extravagant version of a style like this extant gown:

 

 

May’s Wedding Gown

Only shown as the couple stands for posed photos, May’s gown is both traditional and ostentatious.

And it’s right in line with fashionable extant gowns:

 

 

May’s White & Blue Striped Day Dress

Seen ever so briefly as her hands are sketched at the Tuileries during their European honeymoon. Pity we don’t see more because it looks awesome with all those stripes and pleats!

 

 

May’s White & Gold Embroidered Evening Gown

Still on their honeymoon at a dinner in Paris, May wears this stunning gown that’s only seen from the waist up as she’s sitting at the table.

At least we can see the full gown on display! None of these skirt details can be seen in the film.

 

 

May’s White Archery Dress

Back home, May wins the Newport Archery Competition and receives a pretty silver arrow pin as the award. This is described by Wharton as:

“In her white dress, with a pale green ribbon about the waist and a wreath of ivy on her hat, she had the same Diana-like aloofness as when she had entered the Beaufort ball-room on the night of her engagement. In the interval not a thought seemed to have passed behind her eyes or a feeling through her heart; and though her husband knew that she had the capacity for both he marvelled afresh at the way in which experience dropped away from her.”

Kind of harsh assessment there (when it’ll turn out that she’s far more knowing than Newland figures), but the white dress and pale green ribbon are represented onscreen.

 

 

Mrs. Mingott’s White Day Dress

She’s part of the family group summering in Newport, and she gets a lovely white linen and lace ensemble. Her dresses are a perfect example of how larger, curvy women can be dressed in beautiful period costume.

 

 

Ellen’s White Lace Day Dress

Also in Newport but staying with other people, Ellen is only seen by Newland from the back. In his memory later, he imagines her face from this moment. Her outfit is a very typical late 1870s summer gown, very lacy and fresh. It’s the slightly more mature and less ‘athletic’ version of May’s archery dress. You could say this is a romantic, sweet look for Ellen, but it’s also just a summer dress, much like the next outfit she wears.

 

 

May’s White & Purple Stripe Day Dress

I looked really closely to see if this was the same dress she wore at the Tuileries, and it’s not. The stripes are narrower, and the skirt doesn’t seem to have the pleats. She wears this in Newport at breakfast.

 

 

Ellen’s White & Brown Stripe Day Dress

Newland stalks Ellen from Newport to Boston so he can pester her about their lost chance at love (fuck that guy). She has another excellent summer ensemble with a great parasol, beautifully trimmed hat, and a dress in subtle stripes.

Her bodice has an overskirt that’s ruched over the hips in a ‘pannier’ style that was on-trend at the end of the 1870s, as seen in fashion plates:

 

 

May’s Grey & Tan Dinner Gown

I really can’t tell much about this gown, but I’m including it to be a completionist! She wears it at dinner with Newland’s family and they come home to learn of Mrs. Mingott’s stroke. Every scene is super dark, so I don’t really know what color it is. Just a guess.

 

 

Mrs. Mingott’s Green & Yellow Stripe Robe & May’s Blue & Gold Stripe Day Dress

May & Newland visit the next morning to find that Mrs. Mingott is fine, it wasn’t really a stroke, she just had a falling out with Regina Beaufort. But she’s put out enough that she’s not fully dressed and wears this lovely striped robe.

May is wearing a lovely dress in a navy blue with gold stripe. This will be the only other costume repeat in the film.

Not only does this ensemble have another great hat, the dress has a gorgeous embroidered collar. See, this embroidery really works with the dress, while those white embroidered pieces on Ellen’s dress totally did not.

 

 

Ellen’s Green Velvet & Fur Coat

Newland goes to pick up Ellen at the train station since she’s coming to see Mrs. Mingot. They have glove sex in the carriage.

In an interview with Roger Ebert, director Martin Scorsese said:

“The more you had to get through all those clothes — the more he had to imagine through the clothes what was going on with her, the shade of the skin, the touch, the feel, the warmth, everything — I loved that tension, that conflict, and it’s very sweet.”

And that’s why this is the only coat I’m including in my write-up. As a costume, it’s basic and expected. But the scene it’s worn in is iconic.

 

 

Newland’s Chinese Robe

I’m only including two “casual” outfits of Newland’s because they mildly interest me. According to the LA Times, this robe is an authentic period piece. He’s looking at a book of Japanese art while wearing a Chinese silk robe and then fantasizing about his wife’s early death. Unpack that!

 

 

May’s Chinese Robe

She, too, is wearing a Chinese robe for a “casual” at-home scene. In a way, it’s the most similar and sympathetic they’ve outwardly appeared, yet inwardly, they couldn’t be farther apart.

 

 

Newland’s Silver Embroidered Smoking Jacket

That embroidery is gorgeous and a nice, extravagant touch as he sends his would-be paramour a key for a hookup.

 

 

May’s Blue & Gold Stripe Day Dress Again

OMG a repeated costume! We actually see more of this dress the second time around, though in a darker setting.

 

 

May’s Made-Over Wedding Evening Gown

Wharton writes: “It was the custom, in old New York, for brides to appear in this costly garment during the first year or two of marriage.” Enough changes have been made to the wedding gown for it to look quite different when May wears it to the opera. The LA Times notes that the sleeves were shortened and the neckline cut down, though I rather think the sleeves were changed entirely and the blue-edged ribbon seems new. The rest of the bodice appears similar, and the skirt looks untouched.

After they leave the opera early, May tells Newland that Ellen is going back to Europe soon. This is where we begin to see that May is no longer the innocent little girl — she’s a player! She’s figured out what’s going on behind her back and begun maneuvering to stop it. As Cláudio Alves at The Film Experience said: “Her silence is not ignorance but strategy.”

 

 

Ellen’s Blue & Black Evening Gown

I thought this might be the same gown she wore at the theater because they have similar necklines and sleeves and both are very dark. Plus, in the first scene, we’re only shown the neckline, while I did find a still with a full-length view from the later scene. The screencaps I got from the dinner scene show blue accents, but this still shows green, and costume in the theater scene definitely has green accents. However, I think this gown has a black overlay on the sleeves, and the one at the theater doesn’t. What do you think, are they two slightly different costumes or the same one?

 

 

May’s Purple Evening Gown

May Archer’s first dinner as hostess is a farewell party for Ellen, where Newland realizes that all of New York society, including his wife, believes he and Ellen have been lovers, and they’ve all rallied around his wife. May is regal AF in this purple gown with an embroidered bodice and ruched skirt. Forever one of the top dresses I’d wear the shit out of!

Director Martin Scorsese said in Sight and Sound magazine of the final scene between May and Newland:

“It all came together in that scene, and I loved the way I was led by Wharton down the path of Newland’s point of view, in which he underestimated all the women, and how he wound up checkmated by them, and how his wife becomes the strongest of them all. I find that admirable. Even though I may not agree with May totally, I like the growth of her character from a young girl to the person who takes control.”

The costume underlines the point. She’s still soft, light in tone, with floral touches, but in a more mature fashion. She’s figured things out and made the necessary plays to keep her place in society because that’s all she’s got, and she doesn’t want to lose it.

The film’s epilogue talks of the Archer family life, their children, May’s death, and then Newland visiting but not really visiting Ellen in his older age. But that’s it for the costumes, which are the best part of this story for me.

 

 

Are you in love with the 1870s gowns in The Age of Innocence too?