This is the 20th anniversary of the beloved 1995 Pride and Prejudice miniseries, so we’re looking back at that version and Jane Austen’s world. This is the next in a series of posts about this classic adaptation!
Pride and Prejudice. Talk to anyone interested in historical costume movies, and you don’t even generally have to mention “1995” for them to know which version you’re talking about: COLIN FIRTH. JENNIFER EHLE. The version that takes its time telling the story, and tells the story RIGHT (no pigs here).
Of course, the fact that the 1995 production has really nice costumes helps. Designed by Dinah Collin, they’re pretty darn true to the Regency era (with some exceptions, which we’ll discuss). They’re also well designed and well made from a story/character standpoint as well.
So in honor of the 20th anniversary of the only Pride and Prejudice that needs mentioning, let’s look back at the costumes: what was the design process, how were the costumes made, and how did they work in the finished product?
Designing for Pride and Prejudice
Dinah Collin started her research by looking at surviving garments, fashion plates, and other material in museum collections across the United Kingdom and even Rome. She aimed to get the overall look of the period correct, but, she said, “I don’t think it’s essential to be slavishly historically correct to the letter. I like to find that step between them and us, translating between the two flavours. It has to appeal to people in the modern day” (“Silk and Sensuality,” Sydney Morning Herald, March 6, 1996).
For example, although Colin Firth’s wardrobe was accurate, “pieces were selected that looked like clothes that could be bought in the modern era” (Designing the Costumes, Pride and Prejudice, BBC). (Apparently this was successful, as the designer received many letters from men asking where they could purchase Darcy’s linen coat! [“Silk and Sensuality”]).
One of Collin’s big emphases was making sure that the actors looked like real people wearing real clothes. “She didn’t want them to seem stiff and ill at ease in the costumes” (Designing the Costumes). Collin says that her aim with Colin Firth and the other male characters was to create something that felt like “jeans and a T-shirt.”
Distinguishing Pride and Prejudice‘s Characters
Any film/TV production has to think about characterization. The costumes aren’t just supposed to (hopefully) look like they’re of the time, place, and station of the character. They have to serve as a short-hand to help the audience understand the different characters’ personalities and motivations. This version of Pride and Prejudice did a very good job at basing the costumes in the era, but then tweaking them for purposes of characterization.
One of the biggest character contrasts needed to be between the uber-rich, London-based Bingley sisters (Caroline Bingley and Mrs. Hurst) and the still-well-off, but less-so, and country-based Bennet sisters. Designer Collin acknowledges that the Bingley sisters would, historically, have most likely worn the white muslin dresses that were incredibly fashionable in the period. However, she needed a visual shorthand to differentiate the two groups, so the Bingley sisters were dressed in bright colored silk gowns with lots of embellishment. Collin said, “The extent of their adornment needed therefore to be greater. I did this with bright yellow and cerise pink silks, feathers and brooches” (“Silk and Sensuality”).
In the video Pride and Prejudice 15 Years Later (which is definitely worth a watch!), Collin specifically mentions this orange dress worn by Caroline. She was worried that it was too bright, but felt that on screen, it was perfect.
Meanwhile, the Bennet daughters were dressed in light-colored cotton dresses with minimal bling, which to the modern eye reads more “country.”
The director of the series, Simon Langton, was influential in this decision. He said, “I wanted pale colors or creamy whites for the girls, to reflect both their zest and innocence. This meant that we could keep the darker, richer colors and exotic fabrics for characters like the Bingley sisters or Lady Catherine De Bourgh” (Pride and Prejudice: 1995, JaneAusten.co.uk).
Looking at specific characters, Elizabeth (Jennifer Ehle) was dressed in earth tones to emphasize “her practicality and active nature” (Designing the Costumes). Collin wrote, “I chose colours that had an earthiness to them — a lot of browns, for example; I particularly liked her in a curry colour… Overall I wanted a nice, straightforward look that was pretty but not fussy” (The Making of Pride and Prejudice).
When it came time to making the pièce de résistance, Elizabeth’s wedding dress, Collin was careful to make sure that her dress was believable given the Bennet’s station (although something tells me Darcy kicked in a bit of money towards this dress): “We checked archives and visited museums to find out exactly what a girl would have worn. If their family was short of cash, a bride would often wear her best dress, but if you could afford it you had a white wedding dress specially made” (“Something Old, Something New; Preview of Two TV Weddings,” Daily Mirror, October 28, 1995).
For Mr. Darcy, the emphasis was on dark colors (particularly dark green and gray), leaving warmer colors for Mr. Bingley. Colin Firth specifically requested to look “saturnine” (The Making of Pride and Prejudice).
Making Pride and Prejudice‘s Costumes
Sourcing the Fabric
Collin researched period fabrics at the Manchester Galleries (Pride and Prejudice 15 Years Later). She started by looking at purchasing Indian fabrics, as their designs are often similar to those used in the period. “I had some very good Indian suppliers with traditionally based, very fine materials. The printed fabrics needed to be very, very fine. Saris were very useful, particularly a white wedding sari” (“Silk and Sensuality”). But in general, most of the Indian fabrics had prints that were too recognizably modern, so she had fabrics custom-printed by a friend’s daughter at her college (Pride and Prejudice 15 Years Later). Collins wrote, “…We didn’t want to make them too simple, which would have been a shame for characters like Mrs Bennet, for whom we wanted more feathery prints. So we went through absolute torture before they came out properly” (The Making of Pride and Prejudice). The custom fabrics were screen-printed, which meant that they couldn’t be ironed!
Making the Costumes
Almost everything had to be made for the production, given that there were few film/TV costumes of the Regency era available for rental (and it’s certainly not an era in which you can do vintage!). One exception was the men’s uniform jackets, which were sourced from Italy, as there wasn’t time to create them in-house (Pride and Prejudice 15 Years Later).
Although few (if no) rental costumes were used, Cosprop’s costuming making facilities were where the Pride and Prejudice costumes were made. Collins wrote, “The great advantage of Cosprop, our costumier, is that you can draw on a tremendous amount of expertise all in one place, as they employ thirty-five highly skilled people” (The Making of Pride and Prejudice). The production chose for the “new to hire” option, which meant that after the filming of the series, the costumes would go into Cosprop’s rental stock.
Collin and her team had about two months to make the costumes before shooting began. In the end, costumes and wigs cost more than £10,000 a day (“Price and Prejudice,” Daily Mirror, September 25, 1995).
Hair and Accessories
Many of the actors, including Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth, wore wigs. The main female stars had their wigs custom-made, while the rest came from the BBC’s stock (Pride and Prejudice: 1995, JaneAusten.co.uk). The hair and make-up design was done by Caroline Noble, and the custom-made wigs were done by Ray Marsten.
Shoes were copied from extant originals (Pride and Prejudice 15 Years Later).
The Finished Result
Filming Pride and Prejudice (1995)
One of the more interesting aspects of the production is that the actors playing the Bennet sisters were able to treat their daytime costumes as a wardrobe. I’m sure there must have been continuity concerns, but beyond that, supposedly the actresses were able to wear whichever dressed they preferred for a given scene. Jennifer Ehle said, “There was one little dress that I used to wear a lot – just as today you would pull on a favorite pair of Levi’s or a well worn T-shirt. You don’t often get the chance to have a choice like that, and I was very grateful. My daily mix and match became part of the pleasure of making the series” (Pride and Prejudice: 1995, JaneAusten.co.uk).
Historical Accuracy of Pride and Prejudice (1995)
So far, I’ve mostly focused on costume designer Dinah Collin’s vision for the costumes. To what degree do they align with the historical period?
In general, Collin and her team get the Regency era right: — Pride and Prejudice was published in 1813, so it’s usually assumed to be set between 1810-13 (although the pig version harkens back to the period of Austen’s first draft in the 1790s). There are a few elements that aren’t quite precise for the period. Cassidy of Mimic of Modes has a good run-down on these, including low-necklines worn for daytime, a somewhat incorrect bust/corset shape, necklines that are the wrong shape, and fashion-forward hairstyles. I’d like to elaborate on a few of those, and talk about some of the things that they DID do right — all while acknowledging that I am FAR from a Regency expert, so please chime if you have thoughts/knowledge!
Aside from the “rich people in bright-colored silks, less-rich people in light-colored cottons,” one of the biggest deviations (although not THAT big, as we’ll see) is in terms of daywear necklines. Most of the characters, particularly the Bennet sisters, wear low necklines for “morning dress” (which in the period translated to morning and early afternoon). In the period, morning dress was almost always high-necked, or low-necked and filled in with a chemisette (a white, ruffly, sheer dickie).
That being said, while something like 90% of the Bennet sisters’s day dresses have low necks, there ARE times when they wear chemisettes to fill in the neckline:
The necklines were clearly an issue of characterization, because there’s one Bennet sister who actually wears high-necked morning gowns most of the time: Mary. Clearly she’s supposed to look dowdy, which, yeah, it’s not a great look by modern standards. She joins Maria Lucas (who is young) and Mrs. Gardiner (older) in wearing much more accurate high-necked gowns. None of these characters are in any way competition for Elizabeth, Jane, Kitty, or Lydia, and the necklines help in that.
Mrs. Gardiner, in particular, dresses in a very historically accurate style. She has more money than the Bennets, and lives in cosmopolitan London (even if it’s Cheapside), but I think the fact that she’s an older lady plays a large part in why she gets so covered up.
“Dear Georgiana,” Mr. Darcy’s younger sister, is another character who (while sporting the low necklines) also looks very “of the period”:
Next let’s look at outerwear. The Bennet sisters generally wear spencers, a short, waist-length jacket. These are very much of the period, except that they too sometimes have a low neckline, which generally catches my eye as “wrong.” However, I did some poking around and found at least one Regency fashion plate showing a low-necked walking dress (below), so my eye is clearly (somewhat) wrong!
An excellent compromise was made when Dinah Collin put many of the characters — particularly Elizabeth — in technically high-necked spencers that were worn open. As someone who hates a bottom-of-the-throat neckline, these are pretty AND historically accurate.
The filming took place over many months in order to be able to show different seasons. And, indeed, in the fall/winter scenes, many of the characters wear higher-necked spencers or pelisses (long coats):
One ensemble that I particularly like, even if it’s not perfectly accurate, is the one that Elizabeth wears while walking (in summer) with Col. Fitzwilliam at Lady Catherine de Bourgh’s house. She’s wearing a low-necked morning gown, but adds a narrow shawl which makes her look more covered up for outdoors:
Now let’s switch gears and talk evening wear. In general, I think the film does a great job here. The Bennet sisters look pretty much just-stepped-out-of-a-fashion-plate. (On a side note, the fashion plate below is a good example of the unique Regency bust silhouette — high and separated — that the film did not do).
The Bingley sisters stick with their bright-colored silk look for evening wear. Of course, such styles are period-accurate, it’s just unlikely that someone would stick so firmly into the bright-color camp (and not dabble in the white-cotton camp).
These cross-over evening bodices are right out of the period:
And I liked that some of the evening dresses had longer sleeves, a definite option for non-ball evening wear:
One last, little thing to point out — I liked how in the scene showing Elizabeth picturing Mr. Bingley hooking up with Georgiana Darcy, Georgiana is wearing a dress with a standing, Renaissance ruff-esque collar. This is a good foreshadowing of a late 1810s/early 1820s trend for Renaissance revival:
Now, let’s look briefly at men’s wear. In general, to my semi-educated eye, the guys look great. I love the HIGH HIGH collars on Regency men’s wear, and I like that they have the guys in knee-length breeches for more formal occasions (the older guys tend to wear these all the time):
Then for daytime, the younger gents wear ankle-length trousers, a new style that was indeed coming into fashion in this period:
And I’m sorry, but let’s look at that last picture of Mr. Darcy again:
What do you think of the costuming in Pride and Prejudice (1995)? What’s your favorite outfit?
Wow, it’s funny how much like twins — in facial structure, not just costume — Joanna David (as Mrs. Gardiner) and Dorota Czartoryska née Jabłonowska (of your picture) look!
My all-time favourite Austen adaptation. Darcy is perfectly attired. I love how the Bennett sisters’ clothing seemed so light and airy. Free even and how Lady Catherine’s and the Bingley sisters’ clothes seemed more confining and constricted movement. Less freedom no matter how beautiful they were. It said something about Regency society. What about a week devoted to Colin and Darcy?
We have already spent the bulk of this week and last week hyper-focused on Colin Firth as Mr Darcy! Not that this topic ever gets old.. ;)
This was so interesting and very well researched!
Thank you!!
This was delightful! But I am curious about the dove grey/silver cloak that bride Jane wore at the end – I just adored it and always thought it was a great way for a winter bride to partially cover up when outside – I always suggest it to friends who are marrying late in the year, which results in me getting very odd looks. It is just so elegant. But is it accurate?
Also, please do the hats! I must now! I love the bonnets worn at the wedding, and I swoon when I see Lady Catherine’s bonnet with the high tapering crown. Like a fancy-schmancy with hat!!!
I watched this at the same time as Jean Hunnisett, and we exchanged comments. She felt that some of the spencers could have been less plain, with more trimming, but on the whole thought it was pretty well done. (She thought some of her patterns had been used!)
Cool!
Hi! Having made a few of the costumes for this production when I worked at Cosprop, all the patterns were made in-house by individual makers, so didn’t use anyone else’s patterns….
Thanks for the info! Always exciting to hear from the designers and makers!
Talk to anyone interested in historical costume movies, and you don’t even generally have to mention “1995” for them to know which version you’re talking about: COLIN FIRTH. JENNIFER EHLE. The version that takes its time telling the story, and tells the story RIGHT (no pigs here).
The 1995 was a television miniseries that was almost six hours, not a movie. So naturally, it had the opportunity to take its time in telling Austen’s story.
I’m sorry for the double post, but I wanted to respond to the following:
When it came time to making the pièce de résistance, Elizabeth’s wedding dress, Collin was careful to make sure that her dress was believable given the Bennet’s station (although something tells me Darcy kicked in a bit of money towards this dress): “We checked archives and visited museums to find out exactly what a girl would have worn. If their family was short of cash, a bride would often wear her best dress, but if you could afford it you had a white wedding dress specially made”.
White wedding dresses did not exist in that time period. They did not become popular until Queen Victoria wore a white gown for her wedding to Prince Albert in 1840. All brides – even those from the upper classes like Elizabeth Bennet – usually wore their best dress or one specifically created for her wedding.
I know this is some time ago however, I thought it might be helpful to address your comment on white wedding dresses. You are correct in that a white wedding gown was not popular until Queen Victoria wore hers in 1840. It is not correct to say that there were no white wedding dresses at all. Ackermann’s repository has one for 1816 and “Le Journal des Dames de Modes” has one for 1813. Women in general, probably wore their only best dress unless they were wealthy when they would have viewed their wedding as an opportunity to have an entirely new wardrobe including wedding gown. Certainly Mr Darcy would not have wanted his wife to be wearing her “best” gown for their wedding and I can’t see Mrs Bennett not wanting her daughters to have a new gown at least.
So, the point is, there WERE white wedding dresses, though not common; women DID have new dresses made specifically for their wedding (and probably reused them afterwards, maybe even had them made over to be more adaptable); and yes White Wedding dresses only became the norm/very popular/the must have gown after 1840 when Queen Victoria effectively endorsed it.
http://hibiscus-sinensis.com/regency/weddingprints.htm
You are mostly right, but I just wanted to note that they didn’t become any more popular after Victoria’s wedding! I have never come across any evidence pointing to an increase in white wedding dresses after 1840; if anything, we have a higher percentage of later Victorian wedding dresses that aren’t white. I’ve seen the idea that she popularized it in several different fashion exhibitions, but there’s nothing to back it up.
I actually submitted an article on the topic of the popularity/idealization of the white wedding dress pre-Victoria to Dress (the Costume Society of America journal) and was turned down for a few reasons, once of which being that the concept was deemed obvious and unnecessary for the scholars who subscribe to the journal.
One of my only pet peeves about this one is Wickham’s uniform. Throughout the novel and movie, it’s made very clear that he serves in the Militia. Yet the pattern of the uniform is completely based on the highly prestigious 1st Regiment of Footguards, very hard to get in socially, and highly drilled (they needed to be, guarding Buckingham Palace and all). Definitely not something Wickham could hope to aspire to. Also, he wears the belt that his sword is supposed to be on completely wrong, showing the adjusting buckle where the regimental belt plate ought to be.
But, like I said, that’s about it ;-)
Interesting article – I always saw the fact that Kitty and Lydia weren’t dressed “appropriately” a lot of the time, with occasional forays into what would have been considered “proper” with the chemises and high necklines as indicative of the fact that their mother was completely under Lydia’s thumb and unable to exercise any authority over the youngest girls. Their few times when they’re covered were, to me, the moments when she thought about it for long enough to put her foot down and insist! :-)
No, I think your initial evaluation of Elizabeth’s low-necked outfit was correct. The “afternoon promenade dress” illustrated in the fashion plate was for afternoon wear, which would have been different from — and more formal than — typical morning wear. The outfit Elizabeth is wearing in the photo is the same one that she wears as she is walking home with her family after church, so I assume that it’s meant to be day dress. The problem is not so much that the spencer is low-necked, but that there is no chemisette to fill in the neckline. Of course, low-necked morning gowns are so commonly used in films set in the Regency era that it’s hard for me to criticize P&P too harshly for this inaccuracy.
I know this is a late post, but I love love love the dress Mrs Phillips wore when talking to mr. collins at a party. it had a maroonish base, but looked like it had various layers of creme netting or lace over it, which rendered various hues of maroon. I can’t even describe it properly, and can only find one small photo of it online.
Yes, that’s a nice gown. It seems to have lots of ornamentation that would be appropriate for the mid-1810s.
http://www.cap-that.com/austen/prideandprejudice/1995/2/images/cap0322.jpg
http://www.cap-that.com/austen/prideandprejudice/1995/2/images/cap0328.jpg
I am another latecomer to the party having just discovered this blog the other night. After watching the DVD and examining the dress going frame by frame I made a discovery: the netting overdress is a separate garment. Mrs. Phillips wears the dark red dress with the netting overdress in Episode 2 during the card party at the Phillips house. She wears the same dress minus the overdress in Episode 3 during the Christmas party at the Phillips house.
The dress itself appears to be a deep red with a dot pattern which I am guessing is woven in. The dots catch the light as she moves and are visible in both scenes. The skirt is unadorned but the bodice is trimmed with what looks like narrow gold ribbon or lace under the bust. The sleeves and neckline are edged with wider gold lace with a scalloped border. The sleeves themselves appear to be puffed by securing them front and back with a vertical line of three flowers, two light pink or white and one darker pink at the bottom, with a broad gold ribbon below the dark pink flower. Most of these trims are visible through or below the overdress in the card party scene, particularly when they are sitting at the card table and Mrs. Phillips reminds Mr. Collins that hearts are the trump cards.
I posted some frames on my Pinterest board:
https://pin.it/fr5ay5t53wj3tl
https://pin.it/hsbexrexbsxlxl
https://pin.it/bwv44z5ngnjh6s
https://pin.it/opsy2k34zhtqij
https://pin.it/y6b3oqlbhw45vj
https://pin.it/7whvjvu2u7kuiy
What is the odd type of hat that Darcy, Bingley, and Mr. Hurst put on their heads when they arrive at the assembly near the beginning of the movie?
That’s a cocked hat, or a ‘chapeau bras’, which folded flat to take up less space at the opera or when held in a carriage. As adults had to wear hats when outdoors, these were typically worn only between the coach and the front door. The fold-flat style of hat became the collapsible opera top-hat later in the 19th century.
The army officers’ bicorne hats (worn before 1812) were a similar style, worn most famously by the Duke of Wellington
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/b0/7b/29/b07b29b2ab87a749ca531d5867e77fd6.jpg
The fore-and-aft style is almost never worn in portraits is it obscures the face too much (I can’t find a single portrait where the sitter is actually wearing the fore-and-aft hat, whereas there are several with the earlier side-to-side style) The picture linked below is of an officer of the 61st Regiment, one of those which served in the Peninsular War 1808-1814, and illustrates why these hats aren’t worn in portraits.
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/13/ad/a1/13ada19643859dec70534a4266a27283.jpg
Has anyone else noticed that, in the scene that takes place in the inn at Lampton, where Georgiana invites Elisabeth to dinner, they are both dressed in the same colours? I’ve often wondered if that is symbolic of the close relationship they are to have in the future.
I’m watching the 1995 version of P & P right now. I absolutely love “The Walking Dress.” Thanks for posting about that dress and the others in the product. I’m scanning the internet now for more pictures. The whole outfit is lovely but I like what look like long strings or ties.
I love the costumes in the 1995 version but I’m always taken aback by the seeming seasonally wrong clothing choices. There’s snow in the wedding scene but Elizabeth’s chest is so bare I’m positive she’s going to die of pneumonia before they get to the honeymoon. Mr. Bennett returns from London on a rainy SUMMER day wearing a caped winter topcoat. Elizabeth returns home after Lydia’s elopement wearing twice as many clothes as she wears on a Fall or winter day. Are these clothing choices historically accurate?