I swore I wasn’t going to watch The English (2022), the recent Western miniseries starring Emily Blunt, because usually Westerns focus on non-shiny costumes. But I’ve been on a reading kick lately on indigenous American history, and realized that I wanted to see some on-screen portrayals, but also watch things that I can review for Frock Flicks (since I sadly don’t know nearly enough about indigenous dress history, there’s gotta be some white/Anglo/etc. dress for me to say anything knowledgeable). And I was surprised to find that the series sucked me in! The story is haunting, the characters are complex, and the performances are strong, particularly by Blunt as an English lady who arrives in the American West in 1890 to avenge the death of her son, and Chaske Spencer as the Pawnee tribe member and ex-American army scout who headed to make a new home.
The costumes were designed by Phoebe De Gaye (The Forsyte Saga, Lark Rise to Candleford, The Musketeers, The White Princess, The Spanish Princess), and while yes, there’s a LOT of what you picture when you think “Western,” Blunt’s character (Cornelia) arrives in very fashionable dress… and De Gaye did some excellent things with that typically “Western” dress.
At the beginning of the film, Cornelia arrives in the “West” in a fashionable pink ensemble that demonstrates just how foreign she is to this environment. De Gaye told MemorableTV.com:
“She’s a fish out of water. When we first see her arrive, she almost looks like she’s in My Fair Lady” (The English | Interview with Phoebe de Gaye (Costume Designer).
She was originally supposed to wear white in this scene, but De Gaye told Vogue,
“I came across an interesting portrait from the period by the academic painter James Jebusa Shannon, where the woman was wearing a traveling costume in a very pale pink. [Director] Hugo [Blick] responded to that straight away” (In The English, Costume and Character Are Inextricable).
It was hard to get a full length shot where Cornelia was standing up, so we’ll have to work with this moment where things aren’t going so well to see the hem lace and pleating.
There’s a cutaway bolero type jacket with small puffs and a small apron drape.
Plus this GREAT hat with ribbon flowers and veil.
The jacket goes low in back with pleated, pointy tails.
I’m guessing this is the image that inspired this first outfit | Rose Pink by Sir James Jebusa Shannon, c. 1888, via Tumblr
Cornelia gets one other dress, a red satin dinner dress. It’s got puffier sleeves that seem a little fashion-forward for 1890. According to De Gaye, the goal was to keep Cornelia covered but also to be sexy:
“I thought that dress was just a great example of how you can be really sexy without showing an inch of flesh” (In The English, Costume and Character Are Inextricable).
Draping across the bodice, and that brooch has a lot of symbolism.
Once again, hard to get a full shot of the gown because of where the plot goes…
Luckily, many of the costumes were made by Peris Costumes, including this one, and they have some nice shots on their website | (C) Peris Costume
Here’s a fashion timeline of the 1890s from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. You can see here that sleeves start puffed but not TOO puffed until about 1893.
After that, Cornelia goes practical, but her costumes are still visually interesting and not simply dyed with mud. According to De Gaye, there’s a progression that happens with Cornelia’s clothing here:
“If you watch closely, you notice that she initially loses the jacket that’s part of her riding outfit, which is sort of like her armor. Then she begins hitching back her skirt, showing the lining. And finally she strips down to her underwear, only for a moment, when everything is close to coming out” (In The English, Costume and Character Are Inextricable).
Blunt starts with this puffy-sleeved, cross-over jacket.
She loses the jacket (but keeps a vest), and draws her buttoned-front riding skirt back over trousers.
Eventually things get Very Well Worn as shit gets serious.
There are also several flashbacks to 1875, when we see Cornelia back in England and before all the trauma that’s led her to America. First, she’s just finished an archery competition and wears this great sporting ensemble:
Blouse, vest with peplum, striped skirt.
HAT.
I immediately thought of the famous painting of female archers from a few years earlier:
The Fair Toxophiles by William Powell Frith, 1872, Royal Albert Memorial Museum
She also gets this dress, which is mostly backlit and so hard to see:
Pale blue, sheer fabrics, showing skin… it’s a whole different Cornelia.
And finally, as things start to change for Cornelia but still back in the 1870s, she wears a black ensemble with yet another fabulous hat:
Mad props to whoever trimmed these hats. I want this one SO badly!
The other main character is Eli Whipp/Wounded Wolf, played by Chaske Spencer. He’s a member of the Pawnee nation who has just left the American army (yep, his backstory is complicated). De Gaye told Vogue that she worked with IllumiNative, “a Native-led organization dedicated to reeducating the public about the past and present lives of Native peoples across America.”
“They kindly gave us specific patterns to work from and taught us about the distinctive elements of Pawnee dress. For example, Eli’s moccasins are a particularly dark color, almost black; in the hide paintings [typical of the Great Plains], if you see a figure with black feet, that generally signifies that they’re Pawnee” (In The English, Costume and Character Are Inextricable).
De Gaye talked to MemorableTV about recreating the specifics of Pawnee dress:
“One of the authentic things that we had to try and get right with him was the wearing of the breechcloth and the leggings. This is often fudged a bit, but Hugo wanted us to make it how they actually wore these things. It can be quite revealing because the Pawnee would wear a loincloth and the leggings were like chaps. Then, a breechcloth – which is a length of fabric – would hang at the front and be tucked through the legs to the back” (The English | Interview with Phoebe de Gaye (Costume Designer).
This red blanket was a key costume piece for Eli/Wounded Wolf.
Lots of interesting Anglo/Native elements mixed on Spencer’s costume here.
There are several minor characters’ costumes worth noting:
Kimberly Norris Guerrero plays a Native woman married to a white man. She’s got a European-style blouse but wears her hair in two braids in an indigenous style.
Black Eyed Mog is an Irish woman who’s freaky as fuck, and dressed to suit.
I liked that the show understood that the bowler hat was THE most popular hat of the 19th century, and avoided the trope of all the guys in cowboy hats.
Ciarán Hinds plays a particularly dapper (in terms of color and pattern) not-so-great guy.
So, if you’re interested in complex characters and a haunting story with thoughtful costumes, check out The English!
Have you seen The English? What did you think?
I absolutely adored The English and was deeply disappointed when it wasn’t nominated for anything. I loved how the supporting characters were fleshed out, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I grew to love the unconventional romance between Lady Cornelia and Eli/Wounded Wolf. I so wanted them to have their happy ending… but alas, that’s not how life works.
Props to the series for illustrating how First Nations/Native Americans had to compromise their values and lifestyle in order to survive. This is really a dog-eat-dog world, so you adapt or die.
I’m also not a fan of Westerns. But this is not a stereotypical Western by any stretch. If you’re on the fence, watch it for the brilliant acting, storyline, characters, and the sheer will propelling Lady Cornelia and Eli/Wounded Wolf forward. The costumes and the unconventional love story are just unexpected gems. Overall, a well done series.
I enjoyed it, but doubt I will ever watch it again. I LOVED Eli as a character. “Not my business.” But I did not like the ending. It felt deeply unsatisfying to me.
Agreed.
My issue with the ending was they had a bond that was fierce and neither cared for society’s rules. It didn’t make sense for them to part. The US was so large they could have disappeared easily.
What was your issue?
Don’t want to give anything away, but think about her “situation” and how she lost her son. She couldn’t be fully present for a real life with Eli. She had to set him free.
I get that. But he fully accepted her and I think he would have continued to do so. They both needed human connection and both fit the bill to perfection. So why not continue to do that?
I agree. Maybe she couldn’t have been a traditional type of female companion, but they could’ve been companions nonetheless. Spoiler Had I been her I wouldn’t have given him up for anything in the world. Why go back to England? It’s not like a stellar life awaited her there either.
That’s my feeling exactly. She also accepted him and that’s something he would also struggle with since he has been a US Army Scout and was accused of siding with the enemy and betraying his people. They both bridged two worlds and didn’t fit in entirely in either. That relationship is/was beautiful.
I felt they built up the romance and made me root for it, and then ruined it with the big reveal that she has THAT particular disease, so neither of them can ever be happy together, and then they just inexplicably parted and we end on a depressing note of years later, her being ravaged by the disease. Don’t make me sit through all that angst without a happy ending on the other side of it.
Wow. You all are making me consider watching a Western!
You seriously won’t regret it. Most First Nations/Native Americans get poorly written roles and this ain’t it. I think Chaske Spencer was finally given a part he could shine, and shine he did. His performance was brilliant. (not knocking anyone else but most of the other actors and actresses are well known for their body of work and I think a lot of First Nations/Native Americans don’t get the same opportunity based on poorly written parts for them).
Also, you know how they say ‘there are no small parts’? This series really means it. Supporting characters are fleshed out and help develop the story. It can be a bit maddening sometimes because once Lady Cornelia and Eli hook you, it’s tough to not want to see them on screen. But the side stories are complex and rich.
The attire Wounded Wolf is wearing in the standing photo looks a lot like regalia I’ve seen at powwows.
Everyone, and I mean everyone, wanted to make sure everything looked as authentic as could be — especially all the First Nations’/Native Americans’ roles.
Chaske stated he went and talked to war veterans with PTSD because he felt that Eli (the name Wounded Dog is one that isn’t used often and even Eli calls himself Eli) had PTSD. Chaske also went to the Pawnee Nation, so that aspect was also as accurate as he could make it. He feels a great responsibility
Overall, the depth of research really shows.
I simply must see this show now. I am reminded of the well researched and beautuful Native American dress from later seasons on Outlander. I am pleased as punch to see the authenticity.
And I must say, I am in love with several of Emily’s outfits and pieces including the hats and the sheer sleeves on that blue frock.
As someone who does early 1880’s Indigenous Steampunk cosplay, I am SO in love with the two flashback hats! (The one Emily wears at the beginning is damn nice too, just not as much my thing).
(BTW, the skirt in the archery outfit looks remarkably as though it was made from Burda 7880, a pattern for an early 1880’s style skirt & jacket which has been used and adapted by cosplayers worldwide. The drapery and overskirt shown side on in that photo are very familiar to me as I’m adapting the pattern for an evening outfit to wear to a wedding later this year)