With a new adaptation announced as coming to PBS and causing much consternation, claiming “Why are they trying to remake perfection?” I figured I should take a look at the last version of The Forsyte Saga (2002) and its second season, sometimes separately titled To Let (2003). Guess I missed it when it aired on PBS originally, which is weird considering my Masterpiece Theatre addiction since childhood. But the series is available on PBS Passport, because I’m a good little supporter of my local station.
The story of both series can be summed up as: marriage is a financial agreement and may or may not become a pleasant lifestyle for those involved. This is the same point that had been made earlier and more succinctly by George Eliot and Thomas Hardy, among others, but the books this TV show is based on were published in the 1920s and author John Galsworthy inexplicably won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1932 because of it. A lot of reviews call this a Victorian soap opera, but it doesn’t have enough plot twists or real drama to qualify as a soap to me. This is a straightforward bad marriage tale, and it carried from one generation to the next.
Kendra didn’t like Gina McKee as Irene in series 1. I rather enjoyed her and understood her character — as an orphan without funds, she makes a bad marriage, and her feelings are totally shut down with her first husband, the cold, creepy, eventually abusive and rapist Soames, played by Damian Lewis. Having only seen him as Henry VIII in Wolf Hall (2015), I wonder how and why he’s so good at playing this sort of leering, dominating misogynist. It’s seriously disturbing!
But Irene warms up as soon as she meets an architect, Phil (Ioan Gruffudd), who’s unfortunately the fiancé of her friend (and Soames’s cousin) June. With Phil, Irene comes alive, she talks about art and beauty, she smiles and jokes, she’s fully human. It was shitty Soames making her into an ice queen. I’m a bit shocked at reviews praising Lewis over McKee because it’s easy to play a bully who is unrepentant all his life until possibly the very end, but it’s hard to show how an abused woman survives and then thrives in her future life.
In series 2, I can’t stand the character of Fleur (Emma Griffiths Malin), who is just a spoiled brat. She gets everything she wants from daddy Soames. And she thinks she can just get Jon (Lee Williams) because she wants to — she actually stalks him, bullying her way into her cousins’ place to get near Jon, finding out where he’s working, all after just bumping into him at an art gallery. What a creep! Just like her father! Jon does fall in love with her, even though she’s a shallow twit. But when the truth comes out about their parents and Jon is horrified, especially after seeing Soames physically threaten Irene in her own home, and Jon finally rebuffs Fleur, she throws a fit. She wails and cries just like a child whose favorite toy has been taken away. She whines that Jon is her possession, like all the things daddy buys for her. She is the worst. Where Irene makes bad choices out of desperation, Fleur does hurtful things from selfishness.
If you can muddle through these personalities and their drama, the costumes are quite a nice diversion. Designer Phoebe de Gaye has to span the 1870s to 1890s in series 1, while the second series is all right around 1920. The later is perhaps more successful for historical accuracy, but the first does set the tone and establish the characters. With a large cast and many years to cover, there’s a lot of recycled costumes, but how they’re chosen for each character is thoughtful and helps express parts of the story.
I’m breaking up my costume analysis into the two main generations of the story, which corresponds to the two series that were broadcast (although the specific shows were cut differently for the U.S. and U.K., so no idea what you’ll find on streaming now). What I’m calling the first generation is the initial Forstye Saga that aired in 2002, and I’m calling the second generation The Forsyte Saga: To Let that aired in 2003.
First Generation: Forsyte Family’s Costumes
The story of the first series begins in 1874 and ends around 1900, with most of the action happening in the first decade. We’re introduced to the wealthy (although not old money) Forsyte family — their money is earned, not inherited or based in land, they’re not aristocracy, so in Victorian Britain, they aren’t at the top of society but are well to do, and very conscious of their status. This is displayed through their fastidious dress. At these family gatherings pictured, the older women are all decked out in slightly old-fashioned finery, showing their riches but also their age.
Soames’ cousin Winifred (Amanda Root) is of his generation, and at the start of the series, she’s engaged to a fellow who turns out to be a caddish spendthrift. While her elder aunts’ gowns skew towards the 1860s with round hoops, Winifred wears early bustle gowns for both evening and daytime.
Both of these gowns compare well with fashionable shapes of the period:
Winifred’s costumes keep up with the times steadily, and she wears a number of lovely, if recycled costumes, like this one for a scene set in the 1890s. The hair and styling show her change from hopeful youth to troubled married mother.
Again, she’s wearing a silhouette typical of the times:
First Generation: Irene’s Costumes
As the main female character, Irene Heron, later Forsyte, gets the biggest and most varied wardrobe. She’s an orphaned 17-year-old when the series begins, and still wearing mourning for her father.
She abruptly drops the black dresses when she accepts an offer of marriage from Soames.
Their marriage progresses slowly and unhappily, and it’s hard to see much progress in time via the fashions. Irene wears the same princess-line dresses with small or no bustles for most of this series. Her cream and black outfit, seen here with Phil and June, is recycled from Lillie (1978).
These are typical princess-line basque bodices of the period:
The style started at the end of the 1870s and continued into the very early 1880s.
Irene is wearing this beautiful embroidered pink gown — a loose, “at home” outfit — when Phil visits Soames to show house plans, and then Phil makes a pass at Irene. This outfit shows everything about her character, her wealth, her delicacy, and how she’s trapped as an elegant creature in this house, always under her domineering husband’s eye but for a moment here and there.
The gown is reminiscent of many extant embroidered dressing gowns and tea gowns, like this:
Weirdly if you know me, I’m not a fan of this purple outfit of Irene’s. It looks clunky, and I don’t know if it’s the fit or the materials. Something about it doesn’t work. She wears it for dinner and again with this hat out to see the house being built.
The series does a good job providing characters with appropriate headgear!
While there could be more variety, most of Irene’s and all the women’s hats are the late-Victorian “flower pot” shape like the bottom two images on this fashion plate:
And the top two on this fashion plate — the style was worn for several decades, even as gowns changed.
One of her rare wide-brimmed hats is worn with this blue and white outfit for a carriage ride (this is a promo pic).
One unique and rather odd thing about Irene’s costumes in this first series is how often her outfits are designed with an emphasis on the waists. Specifically, she has a bunch of costumes that appear to have a corset shape or wide “Swiss waist” belt shape on the outside of the dress. There’s this green and white ensemble she wears for a dinner:
This blue toned outfit she wears during her affair with Phil:
After Phil dies, she still wears the style, including this one when she walks out to the house and meets the older Joylon.
The style was done over this time period, but it wasn’t as ubiquitous as it looks in this show. I suppose it’s just Her Thing?
When an onscreen storyline involves adultery, it’s required (though cliché!) to dress the lady in red, so Irene gets several red gowns, starting with this lovely red velvet ballgown. She first dances with her cousin-in-law Montague, then with her lover Phil, which both her husband and June see.
The rest of these are promo pix showing the simple elegance of this gown.
These two do NOT sit together in the scene!
But note the jeweled strap on her gown and how it slides off her shoulder — it does that while she dances with Phil. This totally reminded me of the iconic Madame X gown, just in red instead of black. Sargent’s original painting showed one strap sliding off the woman’s shoulder, which was found scandalous, so the artist overpainted it.
But then I realized Sargent had also painted a similar red dress, though it doesn’t have the jeweled straps.
Irene wears another red dress for a uncomfortable family dinner.
This one also bears resemblance to a Sargent portrait — look at the same sleeve treatment!
Finally, when she arrives at the hotel room Phil had arranged for them to meet at after his trial (but he never arrives because he’s killed in a carriage accident), Irene is wearing this red and black bustle gown. The adulteress at the scene of the would-be crime!
That’s not all though. When she’s hiding from Soames in Paris — and getting to know young Jolyon (Rupert Graves), she wears red again. Perhaps because Soames will accuse her of adultery with Jolyon, even though it hasn’t happened yet?
The clothing has moved towards the 1890s here. Lots of lovely details on this blouse and hat!
First Generation: June’s Costumes
June is kind of an in-between generation. She’s young Jolyon’s oldest daughter, and he has two children with his second wife who are more part of the “second” generation. Young Jolyon also has a fourth child with Irene around whom the second story revolves (yeah, young Jolyon really got around!). June is characterized as “young” in all of her costumes, even in the second series, where she becomes the most fashion-forward of all the characters.
She starts out wearing a lot of nice bustle gowns, like this one at the time of Phil’s death. Bet you recognize it now because while it was probably made for this show, it has since been recycled, including for Doctor Who.
This one, however, was recycled previous to this production.
While this blouse is also recycled, the colorful combo with the embroidered skirt and smoking cap gives her an artsy look.
Appropriate because here she’s arranging her father’s artwork for an at-home salon, and later she’ll open her own art gallery.
Second Generation: Forsyte Family’s Costumes
The second series starts with a brief scene set in 1909, which I’ll discuss in June’s costumes, and the rest of the story starts in 1920 at the 18th birthday party for Fleur Forsyte, Soame’s daughter with a French waitress he married specifically because he wanted a son (shades of Henry VIII, yikes).
The Forsytes are separated into the old guard of the main family vs. young Jolyon, Irene, their son Jon, and June. Jolyon’s younger daughter, Holly, somehow gets a pass on marrying Val Dartie, Winifred and Montague’s son. The main family is cool with her hanging out with them, but the others are Not Spoken Of.
I actively hate that upholstery trim head necklace Holly’s wearing. I’m not saying it’s wholly inaccurate, just that it looks hella dumb. This next hat she wears is much more tasteful, and her daytime outfit shows how these “second generation” costumes tread the line of very late 1910s to very early 1920s.
Other than some of the evening wear, the series two dresses are not “typical” 1920s — compare with this 1919 fashion plate. These costumes have a slightly lowered waistline, long straight skirts, wide necklines, and there are tunic styles and kimono shapes.
Characters of the older generation generally don’t wear very ’20s fashions. Note how Winifred makes herself look slightly ridiculous with this beaded headdress.
As we’ll see, these kinds of headpieces are better suited to the younger folks whose wardrobes overall include more 1920s elements.
Everyone’s outfits for Fleur’s wedding are more traditionally elegant.
Second Generation: Fleur’s Costumes
As the main female character of this series, Fleur gets the flashiest costumes, notably the evening gown she wears for her 18th birthday party. It’s green hammered satin in a backless halter style with beaded motifs at the waist and a swooping side drape. Very dramatic and flashy, suiting the spoiled rich girl who gets everything shiny and expensive she asks for from daddy.
Fleur’s dress tracks with highly fashionable styles of the period.
For a dinner party in another scene, Fleur wears this elaborate gold and pearl net headpiece that has wings over the ears. Very flapper girl.
Those crazy kinds of headpieces seem to be more of a ’20s, even ’30s thing, like this:
But when she goes out with daddy, she wears demur embroidered white, as if she’s just a sweet little girl. HAH.
It’s less an innocent look than bullish naiveté — she simply thinks she can have anything she wants because she’s never been denied anything by her father. Her mother calls Soames out on this, to no avail.
Pretty, impractical dresses for farm life (and ruining Jon’s life).
But they’re all appropriate for the period — light cotton day dresses with V-neck collar styles.
She saves her fancier day dresses for home, of course, plus hats.
This promo pic shows the colors and details a little better.
A graphic print dress at home. Her hair isn’t bobbed, she just wears it waved and pinned back.
Compare the shape and details of those dresses with these:
Lastly, there’s her wedding gown, which is still more of a 1910s style. Her family is conservative, and for this important event, she couldn’t wear something as high fashion as she did for her birthday party.
Second Generation: Irene’s Costumes
Irene is older and a mother now, she’s settled and living happily with her final love. So her costumes carry less meaningful weight in this series. But she still has some wonderful outfits!
I freaking love this stripe suit she wears at June’s art gallery where Jon and Fleur meet (this is a promo picture because, of course, the four of them do not stand together in the scene!).
And check out that bicorn hat! Yep, it was a style in the period, at least in the very late 1910s.
Later on, Irene wears a beautiful embroidered white and black outfit. The accessories are exquisite.
Several costumes show how well she fits into the Arts and Crafts style of the house. This building was designed by her former lover Phil (the one in the TV show is based on Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House), and it’s in an architectural and decorative style that emphasizes natural wood, straight lines, and geometric motifs. So it’s appropriate that Irene wears a tea gown in an artistic reform style here in soft pink with embroidery.
While it’s hard to see much of the costume in this one scene, I feel it’s similar to the Liberty tea gowns and similar loose outfits that were popular from the late 19th through early 20th century.
But this flowing pleated orangey-gold gown is even more in the artistic dress reform style. She wears it early in one scene with a headband, and later in a longer scene when Soames confronts her.
There’s gold embroidery at the neckline and gold buttons on the shoulders.
The sleeves are full and draped, and it’s worn over another layer, along with a belt and chunky jewelry.
The draping is just so lovely! I can’t get enough of this gown, and screencaps don’t do it justice.
The flowing lines are rather like Fortuny but also pleated gowns by Callot Sœurs and Paul Poiret.
Second Generation: June’s Costumes
For the intro scene of the second series, June is shown at a suffragist meeting, where she’s also baby-sitting a 10-year-old Jon.
After the meeting, she takes Jon to her aunt’s birthday party, where the little boy befriends 8-year-old Fleur. They were fated (gag).
Back to June’s costumes, yep, classic 1900s day dress. Nailed it.
When the story jumps to 1920, June has bobbed her hair and is running her own art gallery. She wears quirky berets and bold graphic prints. Her style is pushing forward to the 1920s while everyone else is hanging on to the ’10s.
I couldn’t get decent screencaps of this outfit, dammit. I think it’s a black and white stripe skirt.
With this blouse, tied at the neck, and that killer bakelite necklace. Plus a good look at her sharp bob.
Second Generation: Annette’s Costumes
I didn’t mention Annette in the first series because her costumes are mostly boring — she’s a waitress wearing a lot of dull black, then when Soames marries her, she gets some recycled costumes that are fine. She exists to procreate for that man, ugh. At least in the second season she gets her own affair and interesting clothes. Starting with this pink ensemble for her daughter’s birthday party.
At a dinner, she wears another beaded headpiece. Like Fleur, Annette tiptoes up to the 1920s for evening.
Compare with:
What are your thoughts on The Forsyte Saga?
Find this frock flick at:
I remember watching the BBC 1967 version in B/W when I was a tween/teen. Pity that one isn’t streaming – great cast, Eric Porter, Susan Hampshire, Michael York, Margaret Tyzack. But probably not the best choice for frock review.
Saw the original B&W version in the recent past, and though the staging is flat and the aging makeup horrid, it holds up as drama w a great cast and great performances.
In the 21st c remake Damien Lewis is a chilling Soames, but the ‘To let’ was a letdown.
From what I’ve read they are making character changes – Irene a dancer? In the latest version. Why???
I did hear, ages ago, that some of the costumes in the early version were actual 19thc dresses, but I’ve no proof. It has the looks of a 1970s BBC production.