You know how much we all loved the first series of Wolf Hall back in 2015, so we’ve been waiting on tenterhooks until the next installment, The Mirror and the Light, finally came to the U.S. via PBS Masterpiece. Was it worth the wait? FUCK YEAH!
I thought I might just give a few recappy highlights, but I was way too excited once I started watching the new series on PBS Passport — a nice perk, btw, of donating to my local station; I can watch online or through my smart TV. All 6 episodes are available at once on Passport, so I can catch up with our British brethren who’ve seen it all already.
So here I go through the costumes in the whole series — the first three episodes are here, and now I’m wrapping up with the final three!
Costumes in Episode 4: Jenneke
This episode opens with King Henry VIII (Damian Lewis), Jane Seymour (Kate Phillips), and Thomas Cromwell (Mark Rylance) looking at the Whitehall dynasty mural that Holbein was painting in the previous episode. No idea how fast a painter Hans was, but we can assume some time has passed.
The actual life-size mural is gone, along with Whitehall Palace, which was destroyed by fire in 1698Â (except for the Banqueting House, which you can, and should!, visit). What this TV series takes inspiration from is this small repro painting made for Charles II, here:
The TV show splashed out on a decent painting repro, thankfully, but Henry makes a point of looking at his face in the mural, which only reminds us how Damian Lewis is NOT the old, fat, depleted Henry of this time period.
Just compare the face shape in this original preparatory sketch (cartoon) made by Holbein of the Henry VIII part of the mural, which still exists:
This will become more of an issue in the next episodes where Henry’s age and lack of vigor become a talking point, in particular when he marries Anne of Cleves. It stretches credulity a bit to see still-hot Damian Lewis as the aging creep his character is supposed to be.
But he gives it a good try through force of acting! Check out how proprietarily he strokes Jane’s pregnant belly and how uncomfortable she looks. Ewwww.
Onward to the titular character of this episode, Cromwell’s daughter, who is staying with him. She says she came because he was in danger due to the Lincolnshire Rising, so she wanted to see him. Their relationship will weave in and out of the episode.
Finally, the royal baby boy is born, and the whole court gathers around Henry, but there’s no sign of Jane. Henry’s worn this red coat before, but I think the black doublet with gold trim is new. Same old hat!
The happiest he’s ever been or will be! Lady Mary (Lilit Lesser) is not thrilled.
Cromwell visits Jane, who’s sick in bed with her ladies fussing about. Say goodbye, this is the last we’ll get out of our historical perfect compliant wife!
Her smock and cap are trimmed in red embroidery (made by machine), evocative of the period:
We often call this 16th-century embroidery “blackwork” but it was also done in red, blue, green, and multiple colors at a time. Some more elaborate extant examples in red:
Back at his house, Cromwell sees his son Gregory (Charlie Rowe) trying to convince Jenneke (Ellie de Lange) to stay. What a cute family picture, I bet Cromwell thinks. He also asks her to stay and tells her how he’s all undone by the accusation from Cardinal Wolsey’s daughter that he betrayed the cardinal.
Jenneke shows off one of the few distinctly not-English costumes in the series. She’s from Antwerp, and the fashions she’s wearing can be seen in various Germanic artist of the times. Going from top down, she’s wearing a fur-lined partlet, similar to this one:
Her gown has a wide laced-up front that’s shown in many Flemish dresses across the 16th century from peasant to upper-class.
That lovely pattern of applied stripes (called guarding) with embroidery on her skirt is often seen in more upper-class women’s portraits.
Cromwell goes to the queen again, but Jane is dying and there’s nothing to be done. Henry is sad, but Cromwell goes out and rants that he could have done better and Jane should still be alive.
Later, the council tells Cromwell to get the king another wife. When Cromwell brings Henry this news, he’s not thrilled, saying “I could be content to remain chaste my remaining days.” LOL, that doesn’t sound like Henry, but it’s probably taken from Hilary Mantel and she did her research. I guess the guy was delusional. Maybe putting him in all-white is intended to reinforce that idea? Interesting too that white is a mourning color in Asian traditions, and I’ve always thought it looks more blank and bereft than black (which has a richness, especially in lux fabrics). He certainly looks blank here and totally unlike himself, which gets the point across that this is his low point.
Cromwell and Jenneke have their last chat at church. She asks him to come back to Antwerp with her, he counters that she should stay with him at the abbey he wants to “retire” to, which has beekeepers and nice-smelling honey. No dice, she leaves, and that’s the last we see of her.
Just when things are at the worst, the worst guy returns, Stephen Gardiner (now played by Alex Jennings), and he’s buddy-buddy with another of Cromwell’s old enemies, the Duke of Norfolk (Timothy Spall).
In the BBC media pack, Timothy Spall noted:
“We have a brilliant costume team. I’ve got a very cheeky pair of leather tights on here. I’ve got these thigh-length boots, I’ve got a jerkin, a codpiece. All the men have a codpiece which was an acceptable fashion and evidently a mark of your status and virility. Me thinks the Duke of Norfolk protesteth — or displayeth — too much! But there we are. It’s superb. The colours are very important which show your rank, wealth and status. Where you live, what you have, what you display.”
There’s some political stuff going on in council, Henry’s pissed at the French, Cromwell’s interrogating Geoffrey Pole in the Tower, and Wriothesley is getting sneaky.
Then Henry’s leg wound nearly kills him, sending him to bed, and we get several gross leg shots, which I did consider screencapping, but I spared ya. Instead, let’s admire the stunning black and gold damask fabric on the coat/robe he’s laying around in.
Stephen Gardiner’s all excited to put the heretic John Lambert on trial up agains the king himself. It’s a show trial, of course, just to prove that Lambert is way too Protestant for Henry’s Catholicism-Lite religion. Henry doesn’t want the Pope but he doesn’t want Luther either. He just wants to run everything himself! Note he’s wearing ermine — no question who’s the king here.
Henry asks for Cromwell’s opinion on what Lambert has said, and Cromwell replies, “Nothing’s wanting,” which is fucking weird IMO. Gardiner accuses Cromwell of agreeing with the heretic, which later Cromwell does admit to with Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury. Yes, Cromwell had Protestant leanings, and season 1 mentions how he got a forbidden English translation of the Bible. But he was way too smart a politician to say something like that out loud, in public, in front of the king! That’s just silly.
I guess that’s why he’s quickly taken sick to bed.
His shirt’s embroidery is in black, like these extant versions:
The episode ends with Henry telling Cromwell and Gardiner to kiss and make up at Cranmer’s dinner party. Instead, at the dinner table, Gardiner accuses Cromwell (when he was working for Cardinal Wolsey) of murder via poison, the Duke of Norfolk rants about Wolsey and Cromwell’s corruption, and then Cromwell tries to choke the shit out of Norfolk. As you do.
Costumes in Episode 5: Mirror
This episode starts with yet another Holbein painting, now it’s the one of Anne of Cleves, which Henry and the council check out. The king questions Holbein about Anne with regards to this painting. Cromwell explains that she only speaks German and the German women don’t sing or hunt, they only sew and pray. This should have been a warning to Henry!
Not a shitty portrait at all! It’s lightened up a bit (which makes sense given the one we see now is much older), and the only change made is to give her a very slight smile.
Norfolk offers to shake hands with Cromwell, but then complains about some abby being brought down with all the Dissolution of the Monasteries. He should get an exception because his ancestors are in that one. This was an actual complaint the Duke of Norfolk made to Henry VIII, but the king said nope, no exceptions, just rebury your ancestors, the crown gets the land and money.
Henry signs the wedding contract with the Cleves delegation, and he gets the idea for a match between his daughter Mary and Philip, Duke of Bavaria (Johannes Schreiber). So Cromwell has to go tell her about that. Mary is playing at, I think, the virginals, and wearing her red damask gown. This is another of those beautifully lit, painterly scenes that the series does so well!
She’s not thrilled about a Lutheran suitor (and it’s no shock that nothing comes of it), but she agrees to meet for the alliance. This will be her last conversation with Cromwell — what started out as so intense and the subject of gossip just withers away into nothing.
The meeting between Mary and the duke is elegantly staged on steps layered with rugs and cushions. Mary kisses the cross that he offers, and Philip kisses her cheek (that really did happen and caused some speculation at court).
To meet with the duke, Mary adds a loose gown over her red damask gown. The garment is rather like an Italian garment called a giornea, which was a long, sleeveless overgown, first worn at the end of the 15th century, or even a Spanish ropa (there’s one in the 1589 pattern book by Juan de Alcega). This specific one is repeated from The Borgias, season 2 (2021).
Cromwell, Gregory, and Wriothesley are having dinner, and Cromwell tells his son to go meet Anne of Cleves at Calais. This gives a good look at Gregory’s other doublet, in a putty damask accented with blue.
Wriothesley (“Call Me Risley”) is pissed and claims a headache to leave. He’s just jealous because he wanted to go to Calais. Watch out for that one, he’s a sneaky bitch.
Cromwell and Henry have a deep convo. The king says, “I am greatly altered these last 10 years, you not so much.” But honestly, Damian Lewis looks more the same as in series one than Mark Rylance, who is noticeably older. Not trying to being an asshole here, it’s just that Rylance started out 10 years older than Lewis, so time’s advancing on him, and it shows.
Meanwhile the new queen’s maids of honor are getting fitted with new white frocks.
Two things that make me happy in this scene: 1) braided and laced hair styles on two of these gals (compare with this Tudor Tailor video), and 2) the gal on the right with her gown open shows how Tudor gowns work with the inner lacing and the top pinned closed over — compare with this pattern diagram, again from The Tudor Tailor:
Norfolk strides in with his young niece Catherine Howard (Summer Richards). She’s acting like an idiot, gawping with her mouth open, giggling, and basically being a dumb teenager cliche. Her blue gown is fine, but her hood is very sticky-uppy!
Rochford talks shit about Catherine to Cromwell. HAH. That’ll bite ya in the butt, lady. Cromwell says to send the girl away till the king is safely married.
Speaking of the king, Henry has the terrible idea to go surprise his new bride, and he’ll be in disguise! He thinks this is jolly good fun. Just as hilarious is the idea of King Henry VIII packing his own trunk (as if he’d ever consider THAT!), but the scene does show off a ton of great costumes that I needed to screencap.
Like his big ol’ pumpkin pants with all the nice little ties (points) to lace the waistband into the doublet.
You know you’re the king when the LINING of your robe is just as gorgeous as the outside!
And you also know you’re the king when you just wad up that fancy robe and huck it into a box!
This one doesn’t have as fancy of a lining but the gold pattern with fur is fabulous.
Henry would have all these clothes, as the king, even if we don’t see every single piece onscreen. Costume designer Joanna Eatwell mentioned in a Tatler interview:
“I really, really like the menswear of this period. Men are the peacocks anywhere, and I love the shape that we created for [them]. The actors enjoy it when they put the costumes on. You suddenly see them stand up and expand their chests, and feel very, very powerful.”
We don’t find out what Henry does wear to meet Anne, but the result isn’t good. Gregory reports late at nite to Cromwell, asking why he didn’t stop the king and did you tell her Henry was old? Because when the king arrived, Anne recoiled on seeing him. And this is where I have trouble suspending disbelief because I’m seeing Damian Lewis, not Old Henry.
Then Henry returns and starts making up excuses to not marry Anne, telling Cromwell she didn’t have the right papers and he was led wrong by reports. She wore an ‘outlandish bonnet’ and she ‘painted her mouth,’ she has a ‘sallow complexion,’ and he kept thinking of ‘pale Jane.’ Ugh get over yourself, dude.
I do think this slashed doublet is new; it’s not the same one he wore all through the first season. The gold embroidered burgundy coat is from the first season and also worn several times in this season.
Since Henry can’t figure a way out yet, he goes through with it, starting with a formal entry into court. There’s a nice little touch where one of the trumpeters is Black and wearing a soft hat.
While not credited in IMDB, this is reminiscent of John Blanke, who was a royal trumpeter since Henry VII, possibly as part of Catherine of Aragon‘s entourage. The book Black Tudors: The Untold Story by Miranda Kaufmann has a chapter on him, and I highly recommend the book.
Those maids of honor accompany Anne and Henry, although now the ladies have their hair down, when before several had their hair taped up, and it looked like they were going to put on French hoods. Huh?
For this bit of ceremony, Henry’s in purple with the same gold coat from his last wedding.
Anne of Cleves (Dana Herfurth) wears a very elaborate Germanic gown, much like this painting only in burgundy velvet and shining gold. She’s leaning over to hear through the interpreter.
For a character who doesn’t have any dialog and is in only these short scenes, Anne gets two fantastically elaborate costumes! This behind-the-scenes image shows some of the work that went into that gold-trimmed skirt.
I think this is the only time in either season Henry wears “royal” purple. He may not be into this specific woman, but he can put on a good show for court and the alliance.
In the Tatler interview, costume designer Joanna Eatwell talked about the king’s costumes:
“It’s more about status than style. Because of Henry’s nature we are fetishising masculinity, hence the broad chests, hence the huge shoulders. It’s opulence in the very scale of men, going down to nice little turned calves. Henry was very fond of his calves. He had nice legs, apparently. He hadn’t quite reached the stage of complete disintegration.”
Check out these behind-the-scenes images from Lewis’ fittings for this outfit. DAMN I LOVE THESE FABRICS.
For the first time, Cromwell wears something other than his basic black — he has a burgundy/purple-ish damask doublet under his fur. He’s pushing the sumptuary laws, but DAMN I LOVE THIS FABRIC TOO.
At the council, Henry complains that he wants out of the impending marriage, but Cromwell says it’s necessary for defense of the realm.
Eventually, it’s the 1540 wedding day, and Henry is no happier about it, and he’s also looking a bit weaker, leaning on his staff and almost stumbling around. I still don’t quite buy him as “old” Henry, but I give Lewis all the credit for trying. Couldn’t the makeup department have aged his face up just a little?
Not sure if this is a repeated gold coat, but this was a great view of all the beading on it and on the doublet.
The wedding does happen, if anticlimactically. Anne expects a kiss on the lips but only gets a brotherly kiss on the cheek.
Anne’s gown is more like the Bruyn painting of her than the Holbein one (except the headdress is closer to Holbein). This costume is done all in shades of gold and white with tons of pearls all over. It’s exquisite!
Of course, after the wedding, Henry continues to complain about his new queen, telling Cromwell, “I do not believe she is a maid.” JERK.
At the council, Risley reports that the Holy Roman Emperor and France are breaking up, so England doesn’t need the German alliance anymore. Dun dun duh!
Cromwell gets a surprise upgrade to Earl of Essex and chamberlain, with Risley and Ralph Sadler splitting secretary duties for the king.
Henry wants out of this marriage and tells Cromwell to pay her off.
A bunch of guys follow Cromwell into the council chamber and say “we don’t sit with traitors.” They take his chain of office and arrest Cromwell. While the events of Cromwell’s downfall are sped up for TV, the random capriciousness of it is pretty accurate. The king made him an earl in April, but he was arrested in June. The reasons why are partly the king’s dissatisfaction with the Cleves marriage, but even more so it was all the powerful aristocrats, like Norfolk, who hated Cromwell and saw him as a lower-class upstart. Norfolk was aided by religiously conservative Gardiner, who opposed any changes in the church that Cromwell seemed to embody. These guys ganged up on Cromwell and, using squealers like Risley, leapt into action when they found a chance.
Costumes in Episode 6: Light
This episode starts on June 10, 1540, a little over a month before Cromwell’s execution. He’s taken to the Tower of London and given the same rooms Anne Boleyn had (this doesn’t seem likely, but now the show has an excuse for a Claire Foy flashback).
Ralph Sadler (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) is the only one who visits Cromwell in the Tower. I haven’t mentioned Sadler primarily because his costumes are the same boring black stuff most of the men wear, but he’s a great character. Starting at age 7, he was raised in Cromwell’s house, and there’s a bit of that in series 1. He’s given an excellent education and becomes Cromwell’s right-hand man and secretary, rising to the court position of Gentleman of the Privy Chamber in 1536. Sadler continued to serve Henry, then Edward, and later Elizabeth, especially as a diplomat to Scotland.
Only in this last episode does have a screencap-worthy outfit — he’s wearing a beautiful green satin doublet under all that black. Sadler tells Cromwell he didn’t know in advance about the arrest, and Risley called him back so he wasn’t in the room.
Maybe if Brodie-Sangster had a beard, he’d resemble this fellow? The costume works, anyway.
Norfolk and Gardiner interrogate Cromwell, along with Richard Rich, and Risley acting as the king’s secretary. Cromwell is accused of everything, from wearing purple to an engagement with Mary to treason. Risley specifically uses words Cromwell said and twists them around.
Harry Melling, who plays the turncoat Thomas Wriothesley, said in the BBC media pack of his signature outfit:
“The costume is just remarkable, the detail that’s gone into it — it makes you sit and stand in a certain way that gives you an insight into the character. Certainly, there’s flourishes of a bit of a peacock here. He’s someone who’s come from wealth, who is part of the aristocracy. As you can see, he likes to flaunt that and show off a bit! There were certain traditions in terms of clothing — I know that the colour black was the most expensive dyed cloth to have, so people wearing black was a real statement of wealth, power and position.”
That spotted animal-print collar comes right from the one period image of the guy.
Sadler continues to visit Cromwell in the Tower and reports that Risley has moved into Cromwell’s house, which was dissolved by king.
The interrogation resumes, and they critique the size of Cromwell’s former household, to which he points out that Rich and Risely were part of it. Cromwell critiques them in turn, saying they won’t be able to manage things as well as he has, and “you’ll read the lines as written, but you won’t read between them.” Mark Rylance delivering this dialog is so delicious.
Sadler reads Cromwell’s final letter to Henry, which supposedly Henry had read aloud three times. But the king refuses to pardon Cromwell.
Back at the Tower, Sadler thanks Cromwell for raising him and remembers how he never cried when he first came to Cromwell’s house as a child, but he cries now. It’s a good scene, I was verklempt!
Cromwell says Gregory should write a letter repudiating him. It’s not clear if he really did that, but Wikipedia notes that his wife did write to the king pleading for mercy towards them at least. Gregory and his family were dependent on Cromwell, so when his house and property were confiscated, Gregory had no home or living. However, Henry VIII was fickle, and about five months later, he made Gregory the first Baron Cromwell and a peer of the realm, also granting him and his family Oakham Castle and various lands.
Cardinal Wolsey (Jonathan Pryce), or at least his ghost, shows up, and Cromwell talks about Dorothea, the cardinal’s daughter, a nun who called Cromwell a liar. Wolsey seems forgiving-ish of Cromwell.
Cromwell will get the ax, and Henry marries Catherine Howard on the same day, July 28, 1540. Unlike in episode 1, it’s not just for TV drama, it really did happen that way.
Henry looks on, ready for his next wedding. Sorry, bud, it won’t turn out any better!
Mary watches the young Catherine getting ready. Mary’s worn this gown before, but this is a good view. Also she’s wearing it with the plain black hood she wore in her very first scene of this series, which seems like a nod to maybe things going downward for her again.
On display, they used yet another hood, interesting.
Catherine is being fitted in what looks like Jane Seymour’s wedding dress. She’s attended by Lady Margaret Douglas (Agnes O’Casey) and Lady Richmond (Viola Prettejohn), wearing the same gowns they wore in episode 2. They don’t look excited to be at this party.
If you look past Catherine at her seamstresses, notice how they’re dressed in lovely middling-class fashions rather like Liz Cromwell (Natasha Little) in series 1:
The execution is intercut with scenes of Cromwell’s former household. First is Gregory, in a new doublet. It’s a beautiful black and burgundy pattern accented with black fur, a semi-mourning look.
Risley sits in his (formerly Cromwell’s) house, looking kinda guilty, which he should be. Sadler is the saddest, crying for his father figure.
In Cromwell’s final speech, he apologizes for “I have offended my master,” and looks out at Cardinal Wolsey in the crowd.
The final scene is a flashback to Cromwell at his fantasy “retirement” abbey with bees buzzing and the sun shining.
Find this frock flick at:
