TBT: Aristocrats (1999) episodes 1 & 2

Aristocrats (1999) is a BBC miniseries adaptation of the non-fiction biography of the four Lennox sisters: Caroline Fox, 1st Baroness Holland (1723–1774), Emily FitzGerald, Duchess of Leinster (1731–1814), Lady Louisa Conolly (1743–1821), and Lady Sarah Lennox (1745–1826). All four were descended from an illegitimate son of King Charles II and the daughters of the the Duke of Richmond, and so highly placed in mid-18th century English society. And three had very interesting lives, as the mini-series demonstrates: Caroline defied her parents and married leading politician Henry Fox, Emily married the rich Irish Duke of Leinster, while Sarah was rumored to be married to the heir to the throne, the future King George III, but didn’t and went on to have a turbulent life. While there are no spoilers in history, that’s as much as I’m going to tell you — you’ll have to watch the series or read the biography to find out more!

Although I have some quibbles with the fact that this series tries to cover too much time, even going so far as to use different actresses for different age ranges of the key characters, it’s still a great story and a great production. Some of the headliners include Jodhi May, Serena Gordon, Anne-Marie Duff, Geraldine Somerville, and a rare appearance by Julian Fellowes as an actor!

Most important, the costumes, by James Keast, are very close to spot-on for the period, covering the 1740s through the 1780s, with some obvious budgetary limitations (in that many costumes are worn for “decades”). According to the Sunday Star – Times, 

“Costume designer James Keast had to create more than 1000 outfits for the 100 principal cast members as well as outfit about 1000 extras. Again the attention to detail is outstanding with hand embroidery tracing laser copies of real costumes of the period. Then there are the wigs (each character needed at least one) which grow in size and extravagance as the series moves into the 1780s and ’90s” (MCCARROLL J. Are you game?: [A edition]. Sunday Star – Times. Jul 15 2001).

Now, let’s take a look at the costumes in episodes one and two, which is set between 1743 and 1762, by focusing on the major characters:

 

Lady Caroline Lennox (& Mr. Fox)

Played by Serena Gordon throughout the series, Lady Caroline is the eldest daughter. Her wardrobe is representative of the kinds of things worn in the series, mainly consisting of “sacque” gowns aka robes à la française, which were the most popular style of dress of this era.

The series begins with her being dressed in this dark green gown, which we get to see in lovely closeup:

Here’s your standard saque gown of the 1740s:

However, that has sleeve ruffles, which were probably a later change. Here’s the kind of pleated cuff that was fashionable in the 1730s-40s:

The trimming includes “rococo braid,” the modern term for the modern trim that’s a good approximation of the kinds of woven and knotted trims they wore in the period, plus embroidery and spangles:

This is a later gown, but a good example of the loose pleats typical of the sacque/française and which are well represented in the series:

The hairstyling is nicely done, if a little more 1730s than 1740s, with soft curls worn up and hanging ringlets:

1730s styles tend to be more ringlet-y:

While 1740s styles are generally shorter and closer to the head:

She also does the ribbon-over-the-hat which annoys me:

Where did that trope come from? I don’t know, and I’m happy to be proved wrong, but I generally see hats with ribbons that tie down from UNDER the crown, not over the brim:

And at one point someone dies, so she gets a black dress with gold trim and fabulous tassels, plus a great hat:

Another great dress is this beige? saque with contrast orange and gold trimmings:

Those pleated trims are very typical of the 18th century:

After her marriage, things stay about the same, but in one fancy party scene she powders her hair:

From my own research looking at portraits, powder tends to be less often worn in England in the mid-century than on the continent (but it was worn):

And later in the 1750s, she gets this beautiful mauve sacque with serpentine pleated trims and ribbon embroidery:

Which reminds me a lot of something like this:

 

Lady Emily Lennox (& Lord Kildare)

The focal character for episode two is Lady Emily, played in the adult version by Geraldine Somerville; her hot hot hot hubby is played by Ben Daniels.

Young Emily spends a LOT of time in this dark blue jacket:

It has a fitted back with pleats that release into the skirt:

Fitted-back gowns and dresses were very popular in England in the 18th century, and are underrepresented in the series:

She also occasionally wears this brownish pink floral sacque gown:

It’s those kind of details that make the costumes in this production look straight out of a portrait:

She also gets a red riding habit:

Riding habits were styled after menswear, and so usually with higher necklines, woolen fabrics, and mens-style hats:

Older Emily gets a much more extensive wardrobe, including several green sacques with pleated fabric trims:

This pale blue sacque gets worn over the span of a decade, from when she’s being courted:

To seeing her teenage sons off to Eton:

Emily’s wedding dress is in a textured creme fabric, over an embroidered stomacher and petticoat:

The costume was displayed several years ago as part of a exhibit of movie wedding dresses:

10 plus years later, she gets this pale mauve jacket and petticoat:

That kind of jacket, with short skirting, feels more post-1775 to me:

And at the same formal party her sister powders her hair for, Emily gets a beautiful blue and silver sacque:

Husband Lord Kildare, duke of Leinster gets some standout pieces, including this velvet coat with serpentine metallic trim:

You see this kind of trim a lot on menswear in the period:

He also wears a beautiful suit with fabulous lampas fabric waistcoat to the wedding:

Check out how great that floral and lace motif on the waistcoat is for the era:

 

Lady Louisa Lennox

We don’t see a lot of the younger sisters in these episodes, so I’m just going to hit some highlights. Lady Louisa (adult version played by Anne-Marie Duff) basically wears this one blue dress throughout her childhood:

Except at Emily’s wedding, when she gets actual silk:

Okay and I just re-noticed this boring pink number:

Grown up, she has a gorgeous white or ivory gown for her wedding:

A nice blue velvet riding habit:

And this nice spotted taffeta sacque with cute hat:

 

Lady Sarah Lennox

Youngest sister Sarah will be played by Jodhi May as an adult, but she’s barely in these episodes so I’m going to save her for the next post. Young Sarah has ONE jacket and skirt ensemble* and it’s a clunker:

*Except at Emily’s wedding, which, see the Louisa section above.

 

Duke & Duchess of Richmond

We see a LOT of the sisters’ parents, and their wardrobes are great! Mom spends a LOT of time in this gold and blue striped sacque:

But she also has a dark blue sacque, or maybe more than one:

I don’t love this ugly green dress, mostly because it’s open so widely in front and that stomacher NEEDS some trim:

This green sacque is better, mostly because of the damask patterned fabric and the stomacher trimmings:

Finally this purple sacque is really gorgeous:

Meanwhile Julian Fellowes as the duke is excellently poncy, with his black coat over patterned waistcoat:

Allow the real Duke of Richmond to demonstrate the lower-top hair popular in the 1730s-40s:

This is his Fancy Suit — blue fabric, gold trim with cool layout:

Stay tuned next week when we’ll look at episodes 3 and 4!

Do you remember Aristocrats? What’s your take on the costumes?

 

 

 

 

Find this frock flick at: