Boardwalk Empire (2010-14), Season One

I’ve been running out of stuff to watch, people. Yes, yes, I SHOULD be watching all the current content! But I don’t wanna! So I randomly fired up Boardwalk Empire (2010-14), which I thought we’d already covered, but I checked and was confused by Peaky Blinders — vintage gangsters, same thing right? Instead of 1910s (Peaky) Brits, Boardwalk is about 1920s New Jersey-ans (Jersey-ites?); it’s loosely based on a real-life NJ gangster, features many well-known figures from organized crime like a young Al Capone, and its pilot episode was directed by Martin Scorsese. Call me a heathen, but I found the first episode’s direction clunky! Nonetheless I was entertained enough to keep at it. Steve Buscemi (Lonesome Dove, Barton Fink, Billy Bathgate, The Death of Stalin) plays the lead gangster, Kelly MacDonald the woman whose life intertwines with his, and various other gangsters and lawmen are played by Michael Shannon (whose character is implausibly religious), Shea Whigham, Michael Kenneth Williams, Jack Huston (Miss Austen Regrets, Parade’s End, The Great Fire, Pride & Prejudice & Zombies).

In particular, what’s kept me watching is the surprisingly historically accurate costumes designed by John Dunn (Casino, The Notorious Bettie Page, the first episode of Mad Men, Dickinson, Julia). The first season is set between January and November 1920, and Dunn told an interviewer,

“We try to be as authentic as possible; this is for several reasons. I like to help the actors to submerge themselves deeply into the period so we like to keep the clothing as “real” as possible. Of course we do some adaption. For instance, our Al Capone is physically quite different from the historical person so we have to adjust for that. Also, I’ve seen way too many period films re-interpret a period to ill-effect. I try to avoid an egotistical ‘look at me’ approach to period design and instead try to give the audience a visual portal into the period” (An interview with Boardwalk Empire costume designer John Dunn).

Which these days feels like a damn novel approach! I know I’m behind the times here with a 2010 series here, but let’s delve into the costumes of season one of Boardwalk (future posts looking at later seasons, assuming there’s something to say!)

Starting with the boys, because they’re the least interesting (sorry!) — except here we actually get use of COLOR and PATTERN, which is quite novel for a 19th-20th century-set production! According to WWD,

“He [Dunn] immerses himself in the Twenties by reading and researching as much as he can, and can often be found at his desk, poring over books about tailoring that were published in the Twenties. Ensuring that the fabrics, colors, textures and fits are true to that time period is essential for Dunn. In the early Twenties, the rise on men’s trousers was quite high, all the men wore suspenders, their flies were all buttons and they also had a shaped back with a belt, Dunn said” (The Roaring Twenties: John Dunn Talks ‘Boardwalk Empire,’ Fashion).

And that research led to color! Dunn said, “We’d been served a steady diet of sepia-toned costumes in films and old photos up to that point; but in fact, the early ’20s was a madly colorful time. We really wanted to show that to the viewers” (Meet Acclaimed Costume Designer John Dunn). And, “But if you take apart a hem or a seam in a vintage garment, you’re like, ‘Holy Cow! Look at that color!’ It was not a drab period at all. We were amazed by the colors even the men were wearing back then” (EMMYS: ‘Boardwalk Empire’ Costume Designer John Dunn Finds The Color).

Part of the problem is that almost all photography from the 1920s is black and white (and film too!), so it leaves us with a particular greyed-out image of the era. And I’m not sure if it’s a money issue or technology issue, but even magazines don’t use a lot of color and when they do, it’s a pretty limited palette:

But take a look at the colors shown in this 1920 Montgomery Ward catalog, which I just spent AN HOUR trying to find (okay, spent an hour trying to find an American clothing catalog from 1920 specifically. THE THINGS WE DO):

Even bolder is gangster Chalky, played by Michael Kenneth Williams. Dunn said,

“We do dress Chalky in bolder colours and prints than we do any of the other characters. The trends of the ’70s were inspired by the late ’20s and early ’30s so there is a similarity in the silhouette. I actually like to think that Chalky is more of a precursor to the zoot suits of the ’40s, not as exaggerated of course, but bold and colourful” (Boardwalk Empire Costume Q&A: John Dunn & Lisa Padovani | Clothes on Film)

Let’s compare these styles to actual clothing advertised in 1920, again from that Montgomery Ward catalog (okay, some of these guys would be affording even NICER stuff, but let me tell you, finding sources Specifically From 1920 has about killed me). All of the lead men wore custom suits made by a Brooklyn factory called Martin Greenfield Clothiers:

Hats are REQUIRED for outdoor wear, and the weather calls for overcoats:

Of course, the women are even more interesting to me. Most glam is probably gangster’s mistress Lucy, who wears flashy, colorful, fashion-forward ensembles (and is the only woman with shorter — not quite bobbed — hair!):

At the opposite end of the social spectrum is Margaret, who starts off as a working-class housewife/mother:

We see working-class but bohemian looks on Angela:

Once Margaret starts working in a dress shop, she’s loaned nicer clothes:

And then she really comes up in the world:

I loved that none of the women have bobbed their hair yet. Yes, SOME women were as early as the late 1910s, but it was still very avant-garde:

One character whose wardrobe I really loved was Gillian. She’s super gorgeous and reasonably fashionable, but some of her outfits seem more 1918ish than 1920:

And finally, there’s the elderly social reformer whose character name I’ve forgotten, but who looks way more 1910 than 1920:

One last factoid: a lot of the extras’ clothing was real vintage. They wanted to custom make for main characters, so they could control color/style/etc., but for extras, Dunn said:

The truth of the matter is that a large share of the clothing you see in Boardwalk Empire is authentic vintage clothing and clothing from the Hollywood costume rental houses. The number of costumes required for the large crowd scenes you see on the show make it impossible to manufacture everything in the time we have to prep an episode… A large part of what our in-house costume shop does is re-enforce and restore authentic clothing so it is sturdy enough to withstand an entire day of filming (An interview with Boardwalk Empire costume designer John Dunn).

 

Have you watched Boardwalk Empire? What did you think of the historical accuracy of the costumes in season one?

 

 

 

 

Find this frock flick at: