Check out last week’s post on episode 1 of Disraeli: Portrait of a Romantic (1978). This week, I’m taking a look at episode 2, titled “Mary Anne.” Referring, of course, to Mary Anne Lewis, the future Mrs. Disraeli. This episode covers the years 1837-1851 by my calculations based on the events referenced.
It starts with Disraeli’s first successful election when he’s seated as a member of Parliament for Maidstone, which happened in 1837. From there, it references Wyndham Lewis’ death in 1838, Disraeli’s courtship of his widow, her acceptance of his proposal of marriage, and their wedding which happened in 1839. It then skips to around 1840-1841 when Disraeli has a notable setback career-wise as he’s snubbed for a position in the newly formed Peel government. There’s jump forward of about 5 years to 1846 when Disraeli and Lord George Bentinck form an unlikely alliance against Peel’s Corn Laws, which ultimately ends with Disraeli and Bentinck forcing Peel out and the splintering of the Conservative party into two factions and resulted in Bentinck becoming leader of the new Conservative party in the House of Commons. The episode ends with Disraeli accepting the position of Chanecellor of the Exchequer, which happened in 1851.
So, what does that mean in terms of fashion? Well, mainly not a lot changes drastically for the men, unless we are talking about Disraeli himself, who by the end of the episode has put away his gold chains and bright colored frock coats, and adopted a very conservative and somber silhouette.
You can watch the second episode of Disraeli: Portrait of a Romantic (1978) in its entirety on YouTube!
Do you think the 1840s are the death of fashion? Tell us about it in the comments!
Find this frock flick at:
First of all, my thanks for pointing me at this series. I hadn’t heard of it previously and I’m a fan of Ian McShane’s work. The early episodes’ dandyish menswear is eye candy, even though womens’ fashions of this period are weird and mostly horrid. (Patricia Hodge/Lady Blessington generally gets the best of a bad lot.)
I’ll be interested to read your thoughts on the wig and makeup as Disraeli ages.
The series is now available on Amazon Prime if you have it.
Beautifully made gowns, but they’re still hideous.
That sums it up for me. Not what one could call an elegant silhouette. (And, oh, god, spaniel curls–eww.)
I’m sorry, but that brown suit with the ruffly shirt just looks like a bad 1970s tux to me!
Disraeli and Lord George Bentinck form an unlikely alliance against Peel’s Corn Laws – actually, it’s the exact opposite. Peel wanted to remove the Corn Laws, which kept the price of food artificially high. Dizzy and Bentinck wanted to keep them. Peel was in favour of the industrial cities being able to feed the poor. Dizzy supported the farmers. (But he didn’t try to reintroduce tariffs when he eventually got power.)
I know. It’s complicated and not costume-relevant. It’s all about tariffs stifling productivity. Who knew that might be relevant to anything?
I like some of the cartridge pleating on the death of fashion dresses, FWIW.