A classic novel adaption by the BBC, The Way We Live Now (2001) is chock full of a fine actors in excellent costumes, spouting precise and often witty dialog.
Yet I think this Victorian story holds up today because it’s about class and money without being didactic and grim like Dickens. It’s about the different status of women and men in society without being moralistic and tragic like Hardy. There’s no great romance involved but love, passion, and marriage are discussed endlessly. Writer Anthony Trollope wanted to satirize the “powerful and good,” and that sure is relevant right now.
This miniseries focuses on Augustus Melmotte (David Suchet) as a mysterious grifter, supposedly a big-shot financier, who gives the original “greed is good” speech and promises his fellows to just “invest and it will be returned 100 fold.” His daughter Marie (Shirley Henderson) becomes a hot-ticket commodity because of her rumored dowry. She tries to make friends with socialite Georgiana Longestaffe (Anne-Marie Duff), but Georgiana’s appalled by the Melmottes’ uncouth behavior that reveals their questionable past. Georgiana’s on the hunt for her own husband and might even consider wealthy Jewish banker Mr. Brehgert (Jim Carter), if he can just not be so, y’know, Jewish.
But the heart of the story is the Carbury family of impoverished nobility — Lady Carbury (Cheryl Campbell) writes terrible novels to help fund her dissolute son’s lifestyle. That son, Sir Felix Carbury (Matthew Macfadyen) is an entitled louse having sex with a lower-class woman, Ruby Ruggles (Maxine Peake), while chasing upper-class money. Poor, pallid Hetta Carbury (Paloma Baeza) is disgusted by her brother, frustrated by her mother, and pines for an honorable way out.
Meanwhile, idealistic engineer Paul Montague (Cillian Murphy) wants to build railroads, while his mentor Roger Carbury (Douglas Hodge) proposes to Hetta, who has fallen in love with Paul. But Paul was previously engaged to American psychopath Mrs. Hurtle (Miranda Otto), who doesn’t think their relationship is over.
There’s a lot going on, and it’s thoroughly entertaining IMO, because the class machinations move things along as much or more than just the typical romance stuff. And the costumes by Andrea Galer are excellent! Some are recycled from other productions, and many were recycled after this series. There’s a ton of detail in the costumes, plus generally good hairstyling and use of hats. The story takes place around 1870, over the course of just a couple years, and the fashions are early bustle, with a large cage bustle in the back for the upper-class women’s gowns.
Since this is one of my favorite styles, I couldn’t help but indulge in a deep-dive here! Let’s start with the major characters in order of who wears the best stuff, IMO.
Marie Melmotte’s Costumes in The Way We Live Now
Supposed heiress Marie is first shown in a rather girlish outfit of a dark purple gown with a high neckline accented with a big ruffle. Her hair is down, further emphasizing her youth and naïveté.
As her father blathers at her, she’s sewing, clearly hating both her father’s words and the stitching.
For the first ball held by her family, Marie is much talked about but barely seen. Felix hunts her down and seduces her in the dark, so we only get a glimpse of her light purple gown.
This isn’t all that fancy of an outfit for a supposed heiress. Just a little lace and minimal jewelry.
It’s such a plain look compared to what was the fashion for evening wear:
At another dinner hosted by the Melmottes, Marie wears a very similar gown, but in a deep red/burgundy, and she has more jewelry. She and Felix flirt secretly, hiding their affair from both their families as of yet.
Her hair is up in a style suitable for the period.
Finally, Felix makes a move on Marie in daylight, in front of Mrs. Melmotte, when Georgiana is staying with the family. Marie is besotted and wants marry him.
Her brown ensemble coordinates with Felix’s riding outfit. The costume designer makes excellent use of narrow stripes here (and in other costumes in this series) — the pattern gives texture and movement to the outfit without overwhelming the actor’s small frame.
The bustle draping is gorgeous and excellent for the 1870s.
Compare with the gown on the right in this fashion plate — the shape is very similar.
Marie has to suffer through her father’s preferred suitors at another dinner. This gown has the same basic shape of her previous evening outfits (including the exact same sleeve shape), but different decorations on the bodice with a contrast fabric panel.
Feisty Marie threatens that she’ll run away with Felix, telling her father off while wearing this appropriately bright, dramatic red gown. The use of narrow stripe against the red satin is really good.
Putting her money where her mouth is (literally), Marie goes to bank to withdraw what should be her own money, then tries to take a train to meet Felix and elope. For this escape attempt, she wears a black jacket with a black and white stripe skirt. She’s accompanied by her maid.
During a brief scene with Georgiana, Marie wears this recycled purple plaid gown while playing piano.
Then she wears it again later when Felix’s sister delivers the unfortunate news of how Felix was just using Marie and doesn’t really love her. As if to come full circle and reinforce Marie’s naïveté, her hair is down while her heart is broken.
But dayum the purple plaid is so very Victorian!
She’s last seen in mourning for the father she never really cared about, but now she really is an heiress.
While not as ruffly as this fashion plate, Marie’s mourning gown is typical of the period.
Georgiana Longestaffe’s Costumes in The Way We Live Now
At the Melmottes’ first ball, Georgiana wears a pale green gown (recycled from previous productions). The lavish lace on the gown’s neckline and skirt remind us that her family comes from old-school landed wealth.
But Georgiana has to wear this same gown several times with different hair decorations and a variety of jewelry — because her family may be land-rich, but they’re cash-poor.
She has no dowry, and she needs to land a wealthy husband or she’ll live forever as a spinster at her family home. So she accepts widowed Mr. Brehgert as a suitor because he’s a prosperous banker. However, he’s Jewish, and Georgiana’s friends warn her that this won’t be acceptable in “good” society.
At home with her parents and when she stays with the Melmottes, Georgiana frequently wears this yellow gown, and again the narrow stripe really livens up the simple design. This is her most frequently worn outfit.
The looks on Georgiana’s face are hilarious each morning at breakfast with the Melmottes! She finds them completely lacking in table manners and insufferable, but suffer them she must because she needs to be seen socializing in London, which her own family can’t afford.
Her white ruffled morning dress reminds me of this type of dress:
Out walking with Marie, Georgiana first wears this blue striped gown — both young women in are those narrow stripes that the costume designer made such good use of.
Later with her parents, Georgiana wears the blue gown again, offering close-up views.
At another breakfast with the Melmottes, Georgiana wears a recycled pale green morning gown.
Finally, Georgiana does get a second evening gown for a dinner where Lady Monogram (Fenella Woolgar) is bitchy about Mr. Brehgert being Jewish. In this moment, Georgiana seems to pass it off and even when her parents complain about the match, she’s prepared to defy them. But when she tries to disappear Brehgert’s children from his first wife and freaks out about the prospect of having children with him, much the less them being Jewish, he realizes she’s still a bigot at heart and just out for his money. So he declines her, BOOYAH.
Hetta Carbury’s Costumes in The Way We Live Now
For the ingenue supposedly at the heart of this story, Hetta is terribly plain and uninteresting, both as a character and her wardrobe, IMO. This is the first of many pale dresses she wears, especially at home.
The only redeeming quality is that the gown is made from yet another narrow stripe, however it’s in such a pale cream/champagne/yellow, it still fades into the background. Like Hetta.
Hetta and her family visit their cousin Roger at his country estate. Her traveling suit is pale blue and plain as everything.
But the style is historically accurate.
For the Melmottes’ first ball, Hetta wears a gown with this weird front thing, not quite a polonaise, that frames a smocked insert.
There’s probably some fashion plate that explains that dress, but I can’t find it. Her hair is OK for the period (though her’s tracks a smidge more 1860s).
At home, she wears this lace-topped blouse/gown a lot. Boring and serviceable.
For another visit to Roger in the country with her mother, Hetta wears this other traveling suit. It’s in the same basic style as the first one but made of a pale green satin in a narrow stripe.
She also wears this suit with a hat, and even a veil, to see Paul off at the train station, and finally to meet Mrs. Hurtle.
Her miniature riding hat tracks with period styles:
The most elaborate gown Hetta wears at home is this bustle in pale blue satin.
Hetta’s gown has the typical square neckline of the period, although her clothes are very lightly trimmed. Compare with the style of the blue gown in this fashion plate:
At the Melmottes’ for dinner, Hetta wears another sad-sack evening gown. At least she has some decoration in her hair.
When Paul proposes to her, Hetta’s wearing a lavender gown with a lace bib. Looks a bit clunky to me, but it also fits in with everything else she’s worn. This isn’t a fashionable society girl — she’s mild as milk, practically homebound, with little thought to making an impression on anyone.
Hetta becomes a go-between for Marie and Felix, carrying messages back and forth, while wearing this darker blue suit.
And this is what she’s wearing when she delivers the bad news about her brother to Marie.
The side view of both women shows how their costumes reflect the period silhouette:
One other thing Hetta wears is an embroidered princess-line dress at home.
That’s a typical housedress or morning dress style from the era:
Lady Carbury’s Costumes in The Way We Live Now
Unlike her daughter, Lady Carbury strives to remain fashionable even though her family’s fortunes are gone. In the first scenes, she receives the publishers of her crappy romance novels, and she’s wearing this elegant orange gown.
For both family visits to cousin Roger at his country estate, Lady Carbury wears this smart grey/green suit.
The bustle shape and draping of her gown are just right for the period.
Mother and daughter play piano at home, both wearing simple outfits.
Then for the Melmottes’ first ball, Lady Carbury has a fancy gown, decked out with lace and trims and even butterflies in her hair!
Her evening wear style is definitely more fashionable than her daughter and even more so than Marie Melmotte.
Back at home, Lady Carbury has a buttoned-up orange day bodice that I think is the same fabric as the evening bodice she wore in the first scenes and probably worn with the same skirt. Making two bodices was sometimes done to get more use out of the same skirts.
The Carbury family attends dinner with the Melmottes, and Lady Carbury wears an elegant silver/grey gown.
Mrs. Hurtle’s Costumes in The Way We Live Now
Paul’s American ex-lover is shown in a series of sheer-necked bodices, as if to emphasize she’s the sexy, slutty one. Yes, sheer fabric was used in the neckline and even sleeves of evening gowns during this period, but it seems like overkill for one character to always wear that style. It’s a clichéd way of showing her as a brazen hussy.
She attends the opera and has dinner with Paul wearing this sheer-sleeved gown:
For the seaside trip she begs Paul to join her at, she wears a bodice with a sheer neckline.
And for her last dinner with Paul where he tries to break up, Mrs. Hurtle wears a gown with a sheer lace neckline and sleeves.
As I said, the sheer thing was done in the period, but would one woman wear nothing but that style?
Other Women’s Costumes in The Way We Live Now
Just a few outfits that caught my eye! Madame Melmotte, Augustus’ wife and Marie’s step-mother, is supposedly French, doesn’t speak English, and mostly wears boring stuff. Except for this gown in narrow black and white stripes trimmed in black and white fringe and piped in red. What a great combo!
Georgiana’s friend, Lady Julia Monogram, is super concerned with social status. She’s in two scenes, wearing one rather ugly evening gown and one less so.
Georgiana’s mother, Lady Pomona Longestaffe, only has a couple short scenes and wears this same outfit.
It feels appropriately just a little outdated, like mom is wearing very nice clothes that just aren’t very trendy. Her gown seems from the previous decade to the story’s action:
While her hair looks like something she might have worn when she was a young debutante herself!
Ruby Ruggles is just a country girl getting screwed (over) by upper-class twit Felix. She has one simple outfit.
Plus a hat and cloak when she follows Felix to London:
Augustus Melmotte’s Costumes in The Way We Live Now
The main character and a man with a little bit of fashion worth noting! He’s larger than life, flamboyant, loud, and dresses that way.
He always wears a big printed floppy bow tie, and he has a series of fancy waistcoats.
At the dinner where he hosts the Chinese diplomats, Augustus wears a particularly fancy embroidered white waistcoat. He’s a total showoff!
Have you seen The Way We Live Now?
Find this frock flick at:
Hollywood, please don’t remake this!
This film features one of the wildest American Southern accents ever attempted by a British actor.