The costume vault

The 17th century is Hollywood's forgotten century. Whilst productions set in the Tudor era, or the Georgian era or even the Victorian, are aplenty, for some elusive reason, there aren't many that tackle the period between 1620 and 1700 (and the great majority of these rare movies are adaptations of the Three Musketeers ). On the other hand, when you turn your head towards the European panorama, you will find quite a larger number of movies set in the Baroque Period. One of these movies, and one of the most well-known (if only because it's shot in English instead of French or Spanish), is Vatel . Vatel (2000) is a period drama directed by Roland Joffé, the acclaimed British director of The Killing Fields (1984), The Mission (1986) and The Scarlett Letter (1996), amongst others. The movie tells the real, yet highly dramatized, story of François Vatel, and it premiered in the Official Selection of the Cannes Festival, gaining quite a lot of critical acclaim. ...

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...