The costume vault

Once every thousand years, the internet, in its infinite wisdom, brings to my attention something so awful and unexpected, that my immediate need to rail at that awfulness is the only thing that will keep me from gouging my eyes out with a teaspoon.  Catherine of Aragon wearing a breastplate molded around her very pregnant belly for Starz's second season of The Spanish Princess is one of those "somethings". And it's been haunting me ever since I first laid eyes on it. For those fortunate souls who have no idea of what I'm talking about, let me explain.  The Spanish Princess is the latest Starz "historical drama" based on Philippa Gregory's awful "historical" novels. It is meant to be a sequel to 2013's The White Queen and 2017's The White Princess , and centers around Catherine of Aragon, the eponymous Spanish Princess who became Queen of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII. The show premiered in May 2019 and its second ...

The same way that Padme's character becomes less and less relevant as the prequels progress, so do the designs. That's why most of the designs of Episode III are hardly remembered. The most iconic costumes of the characters, those that everyone remembers, are from the first two prequels. That doesn't mean that there aren't good designs in "Revenge on the Sith", because there are. The main problem is that her pregnancy, and the fact that she needs to hide it, places such limitations on the designs, that most of them end being too similar and not very interesting. Still, I'm going to continue this series of articles about the real historical influences behind the costume designs of Padme Amidala in the Star Wars prequels with a few designs from "Revenge of the Sith". The first of these designs I will be breaking down will be the "Peacock Dress". Padme was supposed to wear this somber dress during a meeting with Chancello...

Despite all the political and religious backdrop, La Reine Margot is, after all, Margot's story. So who is Margot? Marguerite de Valois was the daughter of Henri II of France and Catherine de' Medici and became herself Queen of Navarre and France. Daughter of Kings and sister of Kings, she was never more than a pawn in the power plays of everyone else; being used by her mother, her brothers and later, her husband. She was always an unwilling and rebellious participant into everyone else's grand schemes and still, she tried and rebelled every way she could. This is actually one of her most important defining traits, both in the novel and the movie. So how is that reflected in the costume design? A FORCED MARRIAGE Margot's wedding dress is, undoubtedly, the most iconic gown in the whole movie; and it's the perfect dress in which to introduce our main character. This gown is designed as the perfect synthesis of the Catholic "style...

The European Renaissance spans into a long period of time and has its own characteristics in every one of the different countries where it developed. This is something that is generally ignored in movies, which generally only focus on the span between 1530 and 1580 in England. Therefore, the general image of Renaissance Fashion is that of Tudor Fashion. And so, Mad Love (2001), a Spanish production directed by Vicente Aranda is a welcome break from that monotony. The movie tells the story of Queen Juana of Castile, more commonly known as Juana La Loca (Mad Juana) who is said to have been "loca de amor" (crazy for love). And it takes place between 1496 and 1506 (only covering her married years). The movie takes a highly accurate route both in the sets and the costume departments, creating a mesmerizing image. What makes it so fascinating, partially, is the fact that it focuses on a time period and a place that is often overlooked. So it's very refreshing se...