Just a quick photo of the Regency dress I spent most of today working on (though I started it yesterday)! I’m using Simplicity 4055, which luckily isn’t out of print, and since it’s supposed to be hotter than hades this weekend, I’m using a sheer black and white swiss dot fabric. The photo above is the lining (cotton batiste!) on the inside being whipstitched, which I did this afternoon. I loved how the pins looked.
Ok, off to go finish the eyelets on the short stays. They’re taking so long, but they look so lovely when they’re done, and unfortunately, I can’t finish the dress without finishing the corset first, since the bust of the dress lies wierdly without the stays on.
Also, with all this hand-sewing, I’m running out of costume dramas to watch! This week alone I’ve already rewatched some of my favorites, including Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, The Hours, and Becoming Jane, and last week I watched Hemingway & Gellhorn, Tess of the D’Urbervilles, and Birdsong. Suffice it to say, I totally have a thing for Eddie Redmayne now and I definitely need to see My Week with Marilyn. 😉
Anybody have any good suggestions of costume dramas to watch? Or good films in general?
One of my all time favourite costume dramas is the Jane Eyre miniseries from 2006 with Ruth Wilson and Toby Stevens, but then I’ve always had a fictional thing for Mr. Rochester and he is just heavenly in that version 😀
Oh, I love that version, and Toby Stephens is what got me to have 19th century Victorian governess fantasies in the first place. 😉
I LOVE the 1983 version with Timothy Dalton. That version is my absolute favorite, hands down.
What makes it your favorite?
Persuasion? An Ideal Husband? I can’t wait to see your dress!
I’ve seen Persuasion, but I will definitely check out An Ideal Husband. And thank you!
Oh, Eddie Redmayne is so cute in My Week With Marilyn! You’ll fall in loooooove! 🙂
He hee. The problem is that I’m in love with all moderately-attractive British men in their 20s. 😉
How about North and South? It’s my favourite. And Cranford… and Lark Rise to Candleford has at least 4 seasons of entertainment… Happy viewing!
Thank you! Somebody else recommended Lark Rise to me, so I will definitely check that out. I knew it was a tv show, but I didn’t know they were up to 4 seasons already!
Period Films, 1830s-1860s
1. Cousin Bette 1840s
http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2277441817/
Great clothing. Great example of a funeral carriage. Fantasic examples of hair combs. Originals? The cousin is a real you-know-what and I was happy she got her comeuppance at the end.
2. North and South (2004; Elizabeth Gaskell)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=MCdWVAGrMuk&feature=related
NOT the cheesy TV mini series with Patrick Swayze. This is by Eliz. Gaskell. Fantastic clothes for the main characters. Note the color schemes of the costumes are dull when they are up North, but become colorful in any South scene.
3. Bleak House
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=aFr0Kh9c_TY
Accurate make up: main character wears smallpox scars through most of the story. Only other time I saw something like that was “Deadwood”.
4. He Knew he Was Right
http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/heknew/
Great story about a husband’s descent into paranoia regarding his wife’s friendship with another man. Good 1850s material culture. Useless subplot involving crusty, irritating stuffy aunt whose only function is to show how outdated her clothing and hair is.
5. Possession
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=lxZwDEXkUG4&feature=related
6. Washington Square
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=6LeOk_x18BM
7. Cranford
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=iVpOsot8XX0&feature=related
8. American Friends
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=0rW_V9QWRRo
9. Mrs. Brown
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=GELcstDOj_0
10. Jane Eyre (BBC..Masterpiece Theatre)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=4UERiAbBDaU&feature=related
11. The Secret Life of Mrs. Beeton
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=OLmRiPfkB_I
12. Angels and Insects
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=w6frgR2LIdw
Not for children!
13. Victoria and Albert (BBC)
http://www.amazon.com/Victoria-Albert-Hamilton/dp/B00005O7N8
14. Turn of the Screw (Masterpiece Theatre)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=s2FMLuNoS8M&feature=related
15. Little Women (1994)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=SJk_Bv8Lt6s&feature=related
16. Under the Greenwood Tree
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=72Uqzg4kg00
17. Middlemarch
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=TW-Ux6xVFXE&feature=related
18. Wives and Daughters (1830s)
19. Our Mutual Friend
20. The Young Victoria
21. John Adams (HBO mini series)
A bit earlier than our time frame but excellently done. Not for children. There is a frightening tar and feathering with full frontal male nudity in episode one and a horrifying mastectomy suffered by Nabby, the Adams’ daughter without ether in a later episode, both of which were historically accurate.
Victoria, you’re just an amazing treasure trove of information! Some of those I’ve seen (and wouldn’t mind rewatching again), but a lot I haven’t. I definitely will try to make it through your list!