Read on Twitter
I'm not actually a historical costume pedant sitting in an academic ivory tower quibbling over every unaccurate detail. I just dislike costuming that doesn't understand dress concepts before messing them up. As a countermeasure, here's a thread of ahistorical costuming I adore.
(Also: I was doing costume design long before I did academic history. I've made a ton for re-enactment and stage, I've got lots of costume designer friends, I teach costume designers, and have been involved in pulling and costuming screen stuff. I do understand what's involved!)
First up, my always and forever costume love, Queen Margot / La Reine Margot (1994). Set 1572, it's sixteenth centuryish, and utterly luscious. The spirit, the style, the fabrics carry it through.
Anything designed by Eiko Ishioka. Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) is a fantastic intertwining of historic and conceptual costuming. As Coppola said, “The costumes will be the set.”
More Ishioka goodness
Mirror Mirror (2012)
The Fall (2006)
Immortals (2011; bad film, but does have amazing costumes and a semi-clad Henry Cavill, a costuming choice I always enjoy)
Mirror Mirror (2012)
The Fall (2006)
Immortals (2011; bad film, but does have amazing costumes and a semi-clad Henry Cavill, a costuming choice I always enjoy)
(this will be a slow build thread in between work)
Kate Hawley's designs for Crimson Peak (2015) are immersed in artistic trends of the fin-de-siecle, making costumes that embody the period's aesthetic spirit without being completely literal
Beautifully put from a costume design lecturer. Authenticity and accuracy are different things. https://twitter.com/hare_today_/status/1265990972376330241?s=20
I'm not as huge a fan of Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette (2006) as many people, but the eighteenth century doesn't do much for me anyway. However, the costuming combining modern and historic detail is a masterclass in on-point anachronism, and hella stylish. Works perfectly
Here's Taboo again: https://twitter.com/BillAndTedTest/status/1260872607143997445?s=20
To costume Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007), Alexandra Byrne drew upon a lot of 20th century fashion references. Because she's a great designer and really knows her stuff - especially after doing the first 1998 film - it works.
As she says: 'I knew the period really well, so there is a kind of inherent backbone of research that I knew. [it] made me freer to look tangently and to read more maybe than just looking at reference. ... I thought she was a fashion icon in her time and we could [express that]'
I'm a massive Sandy Powell fan, and her costuming strength is brilliantly on display in the live action Disney Cinderella (2015). Total melange of periods that works perfectly for the characters and the slightly pantomime fairytale feel.
You can make great costumes on Disney money. But Powell's true genius shines through in The Favourite (2018), using a very low budget. Combining spot-on 1710s cutting with cheap fabrics and techniques that riffed on the era makes for ahistorical costume heaven.
'The kitchen servants’ uniforms, for example, were created from thrifted denim. “We bought every pair of second-hand jeans from the charity shops near Shepperton, cut them up and stitched them into women’s corsets and men’s waistcoats” Hot damn 
https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/the-favourite-costumes
https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/the-favourite-costumes
And it's *still* period authentic! Here's some 17th century paintings of poorer people in denim clothes
Colleen Atwood's entire body of work is delish, especially her translations of Tim Burton's aesthetics. Are the costumes of Sleepy Hollow (1999; costumed c. 1794) historically accurate? Sort of. Are they wonderful? Yes!
Moulin Rouge! (2001) isn't holding up well as a film, but I love the costumes. Catherine Martin is a marvellous all-round designer with an incredible eye. With Angus Strathie, my compatriots' high style, high fashion version of the Belle Epoque is gorgeous.
(PS - Gatsby: no)
(PS - Gatsby: no)
(I was working in shoemaking at the time, and we did the shoes for Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor for this film, so I got to see the designs in process and development. I also did the fittings. Once I ended up with my face two inches away from Kidman's naked thigh.)
I can't think of good high concept ahistorical Regency/Empire costumes (lotta bad ones though. See @BillAndTedTest). Bright Star comes nearest? Though it's pretty accurate, because of wonderful Janet Patterson .
I'd love to see something along the lines of Galliano at Margiela
I'd love to see something along the lines of Galliano at Margiela
