Well, the limited series Mary & George (2024) is over, and since I covered eps one through four a few weeks ago, now’s time to finish with episodes five through seven. I didn’t intend to go deep on this one too, but … I love this historical period, and costume designer Annie Symons and her team continued to knock it out of the park!
Episode five takes place in 1618 and opens with the Villers family having their portrait painted. Mary’s showing she’s come up in the world. Her current husband isn’t impressed, but whatevs, he was just a stepping-stone for her.
George is finally wearing a standing band! The style of the suit is similar to this full-length portrait of George, but sadly not in glorious white. Except for that one suit in episode three, he wears blue-ish tones and dark colors.
At first I thought Mary’s blue gown might be the same one she wore at court when she finally got the ear of the king.
But a behind-the-scenes photo from the series’ ruff designer shows the dress is different and much more blue, plus has a wonderful new ruff:
Found this close-up of eldest son John, and while he continues to be a sad freak of a character, he’s wearing some AMAZING lace there.
Compare with this extant lace:
The king and queen hold a feast to celebrate Mary being elevated to Countess of Buckingham. While Queen Anne is wearing a gown repeated from previous episodes, Mary has a flashy new gown in pale blue and white, coordinating with the court again, and she’s wearing the highest and most elaborate hair she’s had yet. It’s notable to me that Mary’s hair is really plain throughout most of the show. I guess this goes along with making her look super serious. In Harpers Bazaar, costume designer Annie Symons said of Mary Villers:
“The character of Mary is very precise and neat. A bit like a missile, she’s determined to meet her goals. And we also had this idea that she was a modern woman living in a man’s world. There are elements of her that are quite suitlike and masculine in their simplicity.”
Though for this scene, she does go more elaborate, because, as Symons continued in that interview:
“Basically, every time there was a significant moment with Mary, she would have a different color outfit. She is kind of this chess piece that changes color.”
Here’s a nice back view of Mary’s ruff and slashed sleeves. Also, she brings her lover, Sandie, who she’s calling Miss Brooks (which isn’t a correct form of address for the period), and who’s actually a low-born Irish prostitute, spy, and who-knows what else.
Hard to get a full view of Mary’s gown in this scene, but again, Instagram to the rescue:
The whole family is there, with John Villers and his still extremely unhappy wife Frances. She’s wearing a wheel farthingale dress in a very peplum-not-pinned-ruffle style (see my explanation of how this was done historically in part one).
George (in red) is to one side of the king, while the heir apparent, Charles, is ignored at the king’s other side.
If you look closely, you can see George is wearing a bigger earring here. According to Nicholas Galitzine in The Moore County News, “Annie Symons was very smart in allowing the size of this earring to grow as George grew with his power.”
He definitely gets more powerful, because King James adds George to the privy council, where they question Walter Raleigh (who’ll get executed at the end of this ep; no spoilers in history, remember?).
George gets some darker outfits, like this one with subtle sparkle.
Check out this back view — you can see the ribbons with silver tips, that’s how his breeches are laced from the underside to his doublet. This is how men’s pants were held up before suspenders or belts.
On this extant doublet, you can see the row of tiny eyelet holes along the waistline where those ribbons would go through, connecting the breeches to the doublet. The versions in the TV show don’t have as many ribbons so I suspect they ribbons are just for looks, not function.
Charles is a bigger part of the final episodes, given that he’ll be king soon enough. He should button up that doublet, but I do like the fabric.
George is “tricked” into marrying Katherine Manners (called “Kate” here), which is a simplification of what was probably still a scheme by Mary to get the two married. Anyway, Kate is good, giving, and game for anything with George, and I’ll let this lack of hairpins go because she is in bed, after all. Just wish I could have gotten clear screencaps because that’s a pretty yellow dress.
Mary comforts her eldest son John, and I love that she has another embroidered jacket:
Extant embroidered jackets of the period usually have a white background fabric with black or colored embroidery. But in period portraiture, you can find some rare examples with colored background fabric, like this:
There’s more business with the Villers sibs. Just an excuse to better see this random embroidery on George’s sleeve caps.
The ep ends with Francis Bacon turning George against Mary, because the series is really painting Bacon as the baddie of the whole court. While it’s true that he and Edward Coke were huge enemies, Bacon’s only real crime seems to be peddling a little influence, as most folks at court did. Coke lead parliament in prosecuting this and got Bacon stripped of his office, but not his titles.
Before diving into the next episode, I found a behind-the-scenes photo of the fellas at that Edinburgh feast in episode four. This clearly shows that James’ suit is inspired by a portrait of the king — yet you could barely see any of this amazing suit onscreen and it doesn’t show up again!
That portrait:
Episode six opens in 1620, and Queen Anne is dead. Technically this is incorrect because she died on March 2, 1619, and while there was a delay in her funeral, she was buried on May 13, 1619. Also incorrect is how Charles, Mary, George, Bacon, etc., all wear black ruffs.
Sure, I get it, “all black” reads as “mourning” to modern audiences. Just like “white dress” reads as “wedding” even though that style wasn’t common until the 1840s.
In the 16th and 17th century, ruffs, collars, and bands were almost always white, made of linen and / or lace. They could be lightly tinted with color via the starch used to stiffen the ruff — this created a pastel effect. White ruffs could be embroidered on the edge with blackwork (black thread) or possibly black-accented lace (though this could also be silver lace that’s tarnished). But we just don’t have evidence for solid black ruffs made of solid black fabric or fully black lace.
Compare with this image from the most recent big royal funeral before Queen Anne:
All the gentlemen petitioners are wearing black, head to toe, except for their white ruffs and collars. These are the most important mourners, surrounding the queen’s coffin. No black ruffs at all.
TV gonna TV, and here’s Mary in mourning at the queen’s side:
Aside from the black standing ruff, her outfit looks very similar to Queen Anne herself, wearing mourning for her eldest son Henry:
The full gown is simple, but effective.
Was the jewelry taken from this mourning portrait? Even if the ruff should be white.
James is shown as partying on in spite of his wife’s death and decay. And while he didn’t visit her often during her final illness, when she did die, it was his own illness that kept him from the funeral, and he was reported to experience “fainting, sighing, dread, incredible sadness” at the time. He also wrote a sonnet in her memory.
But here, he dances with half-naked boys. That does give me the chance to notice how his breeches show no evidence of being laced to his doublet (so George’s ribbon ties are probably fake).
But he does have great big shoe pompoms, which were quite the fashion! Such as:
James finally goes to parliament, with Charles and George in tow. Oh, I didn’t mention, George has long hair now. And it sucks as much as his modern boy-band hair did. Is this on purpose? Given what excellent hairstyles this show’s team can do for the women — and how great Tony Curran‘s wig / actual hair looks long — I guess George’s greasy long locks are part of his character?
James has a double lace standing ruff, which is pretty cool! I guess the king wearing a white ruff while everyone else is in all-black is to show he doesn’t care about his dead wife :(
Francis Bacon is conspiring with the Spanish, who want their Infanta Maria Anna to marry Charles. Of course I had to check if the portrait shown to Bacon and George was accurate…
Whew, it is! Not one of the better known ones, but it’s really her and of the period.
Kate is pregnant, and Coke is cracking down on George and his brother Kit for corruption in the court blah blah blah. Courts are always full of corruption, that’s standard-issue. Kate’s hair is cute!
It’s looking a little bit fashion-forward like her daughter here…
Kate’s dress is the 1620s high-waisted style that can look pregnant even if the wearer isn’t (but she definitely is). Love the materials and trims, they look both rich and delicate at the same time.
The color combo and print remind me of this portrait:
While the actual cut looks a smidge more like this one with the little tabs at the waist:
George and Kit beg their mom for help, so Mary’s back to scheming, and she fixes everything for them. George and Kate’s baby girl is born, and things are looking up. George is back with his big pearl earring and a lighter suit.
The suit is actually a pale turquoise in a gorgeous material:
And that lace is excellent, combined from different pieces, as the ruff designer describes on her Instagram.
Kate is wearing the exception to “ruffs don’t float” — ruffs on a supporter in the 17th century aren’t necessarily attached to anything else. Technically, they’re attached to that supportive device (a rebato, whisk, supportasse, or piccadill, as explained in part one), so they aren’t just floating around the neck either.
This back view shows the wire supporter in gold, as well as the narrow fabric band of the ruff itself, which is also decorated in gold, and sitting above a pearl necklace.
Kate’s dress is a heavier floral than before, but the colors keep it light. Full view of her outfit:
Back view with hanging sleeves:
The floral design, bows, and overall style are reminiscent of this style:
Things are moving along fashion-wise and plot wise to the conclusion…
Episode 7 jumps to 1623 in Spain, where George is trying to finagle the “Spanish match” between Charles and the Infanta. This bit of historical politics dates back to the first English heir, Henry, for whom Queen Anne had suggested a Spanish marriage. After he died young, the queen proposed a Spanish marriage for her daughter. King James was interested in the union for Charles because he wanted the Spanish Infanta’s dowry money.
None of this makes it into the TV show, of course, and it just looks like a randomly reckless idea of George’s that he pushed Charles into. So much so that Charles sings a pretty romantic song in court to the Infanta, which is cute but ridiculous.
This short scene does yield some spectacular costumes though. Infanta Maria Anna and her ladies-in-waiting showcase the iconic Spanish renaissance / early 17th-century fashions, even if they don’t have speaking roles.
I think her costume is most similar to this:
This is what the Infanta looked like around the same period:
I couldn’t get much detail on the ruffs from these Infanta portraits, but take a look at this one from a bit earlier:
Notice all the pearls hanging from the edge of the ruff? Yep, they went there:
Ruff designer Marija Radojicic says they made three of these elaborate ruffs for this scene, yet only the Infanta gets a closeup. WOW.
Since Charles is singing, he gets an outfit that really stands out — this pink suit goes with the sweet, romantic song.
Lest you think that pink isn’t period, oh yes, it is!
George wears a distinctly different color for him. Onscreen, it just looks dark, but it’s actually a gorgeous plum satin that’s wonderfully slashed.
Cutting decorative slits in the fabric of a garment was very fashionable in the 16th and 17th centuries, as shown in portraits like this:
The actual scene is very dark, and I lightened my screencaps a lot. This behind-the-scenes shot shows their costumes more clearly and how bright they actually had to be to show up at all!
The marriage negotiations go nowhere, and George and Charles return to England. Mary has been ingratiating herself with the king, who’s becoming more and more ill. George addresses parliament and calls for war with Spain. He’s wearing another slashed suit, now back to his more typical blue, and he has a metal gorget under a falling band, probably as a nod to his militaristic tone.
Mary and George bicker in front of and with King James about the idea of war, James is annoyed to the point of revoking George’s titles, and then the king falls faint. They send Charles away, and George KILLS THE KING. What the actual fuck?!? I found one rumor that George might have poisoned the king due to bad medicine the king was given, but it’s well-known that King James died from advanced arthritis, gout, kidney stones, and dysentery. In the show, nobody finds out, and in quick succession, George’s next child is born, and Charles is crowned king.
Then it’s 1628, and George is hanging out at a dark inn, looking to get laid. The soldier he’s chatting up is not impressed, and, in fact, is pissed off because George’s war-mongering has lead to a series of failed battles and many men killed. So the guy murders George. That much is historically accurate.
I wonder if George’s final outfit was inspired by a portrait of him — at least those studs…
I would have loved to see this fancy pearled version though!
Mary is notified of her son’s death, and true to historical accounts, reacts with no surprise. Interesting that she’s wearing more color in this scene and the next than she has for much of the show. As the costume designer said, color in Mary’s wardrobe signifies a major life change. Now, her scheming business is done — Mary is successful and financially secure.
The final scene shows Mary at head of the table with the rest of her children and their families surrounding her. She’s provided for all of them, and she’s survived.
Compare to this portrait painted shortly before George’s death.
The whole fam:
Did you watch all of Mary & George? What do you think of the costumes?
Find this frock flick at:
