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 ...

ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE DAY: Today I open a new Facebook page for the blog. So I've you want to stay updated on what I post more easily, check our Facebook and follow me! I'll post every of the blog's updates and many many more. See you there! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you enjoyed this article and would like to support the blog,  consider  buying me a Coffee ? 💛 💛 If you want more content like this, subscribe! Or come say hi on  Facebook ,  Tumblr ,  Twitter ,  Instagram  and help us grow! DISCLAIMER: I claim no credit for images featured on this site unless noted. Visual content is copyrighted to its respective owners, and inclusion here is under fair use for criticism, comment, and news reporting purposes. If you own the rights to content here and wish it removed, please contact me.

I've never been a purist with historical accuracy as long as the changes made have real reasoning behind (generally a narrative or symbolic one). I will always think that La reine Margot (1994) costume design is one of the most gorgeous and smart designs ever, even if said designs' main premise is to purposely bend the period in regards to costume. But there are certain things that bother me in regards to historical accuracy in costume which I realized when I found myself constantly irritated while watching The other Boleyn Girl (2008). This led me to post a question: when is it right to bend history? why is it interesting sometimes? whilst other times it's simply horrendous? To me, when these changes are made for the narrative's sake, I'm usually on board (like the 2012's "Anna Karenina" designs, which mixed the 1870's fashion with 1950's fashion in order to enhance the sense of theatricality and falsehood in Imperial Russia). But wh...