Tier Ranking : Historical accuracy vs relatability in period drama hairstyles
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- Опубліковано 20 вер 2024
- What makes a good hairstyle in historical TV and movies : Historical accuracy? Relatable aesthetics? As a fashion historian and former hairstylist, I have THOUGHTS. Brooklinen is having their Birthday Sale right now through May 3rd where you can get 25% off using my link bit.ly/SnappyD... . This video is kindly sponsored by Brooklinen.
Period TV show and movie producers often need to balance historical accuracy with other things, like the hairstylist's vision, the costumes, the story, budget constraints, and a desire to create relatability to the characters. So, how can we just what makes "good" historical hair in movies and TV? I'll be tier ranking period drama hairstyles, looking at some of the most iconic and memorable hairstyles on the screen and examining how well they serve the story being told.
Ultimately period dramas are pieces of art that need to balance a variety of elements to tell a compelling story. Hair and makeup choices, like all other aspects of production, serve a purpose beyond historical accuracy alone. It's a problem when period shows and movies play off of historical myths, like the idea that medieval people didn't wash! These Hollywood tropes are self-perpetuating problems. If a character's relatability depends on lazy visual tropes, or their hairstyle being familiar to the viewer, I have to question the writer's capacity to tell a compelling human story in a different period of time than the one we currently live in.
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I went viral on twitter this week for saying people in the Middle Ages had soap, hygiene, and bath houses. This video is hitting me in the same place.
The bath houses. Yes! It's a bit frustrating that that myth still lingers. This something that needs help to be phased out. It's makes people think that people back then liked smells any more than we do now. Like they were some aliens or cared less.
@@Eyrenni Much like the myth of child marriage. Regular people were getting married in their 20’s. Only the nobility & royals were getting married as teens.
@@kimkohrt377 and even then it was more to give a person a few years to learn a new language ect ( a lot people in the high classes will marry outside of their country) . They where not expected to give birth until there early 20 or late teens .
@@kimkohrt377 Er, no. The peasantry / lower income people tried to marry off their children as soon as possible because they were a drain on the family resources. With no birth control and husbands unable to keep it in their pants no matter their financial status, women would be putting out a baby a year. Boys, unable to wed so young, were given away as soon as possible to 'apprentice' in some craft. Then the parents no longer had to feed, house or clothe the kid. Girls couldn't get respectable jobs, would never be able to support themselves in society, so they had to be wedded off as soon as possible. In ancient Rome, even the non-patricians were being married off as soon as they could arrange a dowry. Also, because people didn't tend to live very long, girls were considered 'women' as soon as they started menstruation, which could be as young as 11 so they were married off sooner rather than later.
@@druidriley3163 Oh look. A man on Beyoncé’s internet who is wrong. I suggest you read Dr Cat Jarman & Dr Eleanor Janega to dispel your false notions.
Meanwhile, Japanese historical dramas don't shy away from the very unflattering shaved samurai styles. Not every character will have them (before the Edo era, not everyone did and there was more variety), but a good amount do and those who don't shave the top will usually still have decent hairstyles.
And they do have proper headwear. Warrior monk hoods, veils (mainly on noble widows), silly court hats, helmets (on main characters too!), plated headbands, various straw hats on travellers or hunters.
Or one doesn't see the forelock/partial shave worn by youths.
@@deem7478 Oh, that one's even funnier. They sometimes have children wear it (once they get past the toddler Cleopatra hair stage) and often Ranmaru too.
Here’s a good, relatable way a period piece could do, have a women struggle with her hair. She’s trying to do a new hairstyle and is having trouble with it. Or have a man try to help but is just as clueless as some men are nowadays. There are so many ways like that to get people to relate to the characters in a way that isn’t overuse or a cliche and fits with the time setting
Yes. Maybe it's a period piece in the 19th century and a woman is trying to style her hair like she sees in the latest fashion magazine she's been saving up to buy. She saves loose hair from her hairbrush to make hair rats to give volume to one of those elaborate updos. She struggles and fails. Maybe she and her friends are trying the hairstyle out together, or modifying their nice dresses to fit in with the current fashion.
@@alaska4939 she doesn't realize the style she wants requires several hairpieces.
I LOVE this idea and really wish some show would include it!
Knights rarely wear bevors (the part of the armour that protects the throat) in movies either, and Jason Kingsley-who has a great deal of experience wearing late medieval armour on and off horseback-says it’s probably because it conceals half the face and makes it really hard to record dialogue.
Fantasic channel, I love that guy. 🥰
I love the episode where he goes riding in full armour in the heat to find out if he would pass out. His horses are absolutely stunning. And so well treated. Although I did wonder how Jason was going to survive the video himself.
Jason Kingsley is basically my medieval accuracy god.
Bevors sadly prevent seeing the actor's mouth and hearing dialogue. It's like movie fighter pilots at 35,000 feet removing oxygen masks for speaking. The recent Richard III movie had excellent armour thanks to Toby Capwell, but the actor Harry Lloyd wore no bevor.
Going with how poop the sound quality is these days they should have no problem with dialog being muffled...
My favorite hairstyle might be at the end of the movie Elizabeth. It’s made very clear that Elizabeth has to turn herself into a sacred symbol and her appearance becomes more surreal, though she was already wearing wigs by this time. “Observe, (forgot his name), I am married to England.”
Getting crowded with her hair loose, a way Englishwomen at time basically only wore it on their wedding day, was meant to symbolise just that.
"Observe Lord Burghley, I am married, to England."
@@ragnkja It was also meant to symbolize she was a virgin.
@@druidriley3163
Specifically, she presented herself like a first-time bride on her wedding day.
@@ragnkja No idea. The "I am married to England" thing was in the movie. I doubt they were going for that in real life, as Elizabeth was hounded by her advisors most of her young adult life to get married.
It's basically lying whan studios say "oh, we didn't have the money for properly trained hairdressers to do period hairstyles." Oh, I see. You could fork out money to style the actors and actresses anyway (they need hair styling and *some* makeup to be seen the correct way by a camera - and stop them looking like grim death/hungover), but you couldn't let the hairdressers spend roughly another 10 minutes braiding/pinning hair up and $5/$10 for a batch tea-dyed muslin cap (it's at distamce, it doesn't need to be linen). Give me strength.
And a lot of the stylish can’t even fit a corset to an actress, to not hurt them.
I absolutely respect that there's a wide spectrum, and we shouldn't expect total versimilitude from every movie or tv show (for a number of reasons). Really appreciated this video! What does drive me absolutely nuts, though, is when I'm watching a documentary and I see lip gloss and a smoky eye on, say, a 15th century Ottoman courtesan, for example. I recognize that many people in different times and places did wear makeup, and even aside from that, it's usually necessary to put actors in makeup of some kind to ensure their features read in the right way on camera, but come on! It just takes me right out of it. It's one thing if it's an artistic choice, or a minor deviation intended to make the character's expression more visible, but I cannot abide Ye Olde Medieval Lip Gloss Smoky Eye - at least not in my documentaries! Please!
I'm so with you there
Oh yeah, documentaries are fully a different beast. If I can do no-makeup makeup, so can a show with an actual production budget!
You don't even NEED a smoky eye, just lay the kohl on thick and maybe blur the edge of it with your finger. Similar-ish effect, actually historically plausible. Hell I've seen drawings of Ottoman era Egyptian women's eye makeup where it does look like they did that
...I feel like from this comment you've been watching Magnificent Century
I love the way you talked about Reign. It's such a cute fun show with adorable things like zippers with pearls on them. It's a fun show to watch that isn't taking itself too seriously and I wish people who were judging shows on historical accuracy would realize that some shows aren't going for accuracy and that if you are expecting accuracy from Reign or Enola Holmes or similar you are setting yourself up to be disappointed. I don't know how accurate it is or isn't but I did like the hair in North and South a lot. A personal fave is some of the styles Clara wore in Dr. Who when was the governess.
I loved Clara's style it was like a tastefully done Victorian cosplay.
There's a lot to like about North and South but it suffers from the hat problem. The lead (Richard Armitage playing John Thornton) almost never wears a hat when he would absolutely be wearing a hat and all the other men are wearing hats, and it's a missed opportunity to use hat etiquette to increase sexual tension.
also, the loose hair thing, in several cultures, that we all may come from or know of- WERE not fans of loose hair. im told by my balkan bff thain the days of wearing headscarves loose hair was a sign of a loose woman, or worse a witch bc womens hair is power , long hair holds 'power' and so when it was unbraided and uncovered its power would be aloose. also hair being loose meant anyone could get strands that fell out and possibly 'use' them. (this of course reveals the annoying misogynist perception that women were inherantly a 'force to be contained" AND that there were people who would probably hex you if they did get some of your hair. wondering also that loose hair gets caught in so much ,so wearing a scarve/cap would be so helpful to anyone working as much would a very nice up-do would for a lady who wouldnt want her hair to get snagged on jewelry, or objects she passed by.
Until the 60s most "respectable " European women would not go out without a hat or a scarf. I never saw my Dutch grandmother without a scarf when she went shopping. This was especially true for lower and middle class women. My mother joyfully tossed out all her hats when we immigrated to Canada in 1958.
@@lenabreijer1311 yess! When I was little I'd still see older women wear headscarves at the store too and wonder why , although my own yiayia only wore one during Sunday mass
That's really interesting. Thank you!
My grandmother (Swedish, 101 this year) always wear some kind of headscarf when going outside. Not that she goes outside as much anymore lol
@@Eyrenni woah!!! Cheers to your granny! All the health to her! but yeah I wanna start wearing one myself, too if anything to keep my hair from getting frizzy
When I saw A Midsummer Night’s Dream with my freshman lit class in high school, their rendition of “but I have a beard! …coming 😔” was absolutely hilarious.
I think it would be cool to hear from people with knowledge about hairstyles from different eras/places/cultures etc.
as someone who deeply loves Reign, and has nearly lost a friendship arguing over it's artistic choices (ironically with someone who adores Vikings).... I appreciate this video and your video SO MUCH
It is very informative to note how some projects layer stuff like in VVitch. That is like a nod to people who like history or like detail.
Poor women and servants wearing caps and/or messy hair (and let's not forget being dirty because poor=dirty) in period movies is the same type of trope that in modern settings they use laundry hanging on a drying line as a way to infer poverty. Honestly, they (movie and TV show makers) need to dig deep and find a little more creativity.
In much of the world (including all of Europe, where I am from), line-drying laundry fails to be a visual shorthand for poverty _unless_ the items on the washing line show significant signs of wear. In other words, the act of line-drying your laundry isn’t a class-marker, but the contents of those lines could be.
*imply. But 100% agree with your conment.
Servants would be raked over the coals for looking "sluttish" (lazy messy).
I never knew drying lines were supposed to be a marker for poverty I thought it was more a marker of having the place to do so (farm OR wealth OR acceptability) , I may have overlooked the 'clue' in many films and not understand it.
I am french, and really most of the people I saw drying clothes in line are people who have a house (instead of an appartment) so generally wealthier people ^^'
@@ragnkja That!
Watching this remind me of when I took acting classes at nine. I had a cute outfit on with matching cap. Like a beret, it had no brim, and this was not a class concerned about lighting. The teacher still told me to take it off, and not wear them again to class. According to her, hats interfere with acting abilities.
Maybe this mindset helps explain the lack of headwear in period dramas..?
. . . I raise you ever former cast-member from Dickens Faire I know, who improvises scenes in spoon bonnets?
I was just in a play (community theater) where the 5 police officers wore police hats with a bill. No one mentioned shadows...
I appreciate your point about how giving characters contemporary styles to make them more relatable only further skews perceptions of what historical styles looked like. I also feel like it underestimates audiences' ability to emphasize with characters.
Agree so much on the consistency issue. It drives me nuts when productions costume and hairstyle characters individually for their personalities but then have no overall consistency so it doesn't feel like all these people would exist in the same time and place.
The big take away I have from this and from watching a lot of period pieces, is does it feel like a deliberate choice that is part of the storytelling, vibe, setting, etc or is it just bad, lazy, etc? A Knight's Tale works because it pulls you into the story, -- it's part of the vibe and feeling of the story. A lot of the things that don't work for me don't work because the randomly modern or lazy (i.e. the cap thing you mentioned) pull me out of the story and out of the setting. They distract.
Documentaries often have even less accurate costumes/hairstyles as they have no money 😅 I get your point though!
I love your point that anachronism can be a design choice, and that makes so much sense. Those who enjoy it, more power to you, although I admit that I long for shows that come closer to the (impossible to achieve) "accuracy" simply because I wish I could time-travel myself and would love to actually wander a 17th century Vienna street or a medieval countryside just once (without, you know, getting stuck there without modern dentists. Aaaaaaargh). I adore actually learning about hairstyles in history.
Looking forward to the 3rd of May! ❤
I don't understand why the costumers leave out hats, head gear and hair styles, they can make such a big impact. I did costuming for amateur opera and highschool productions. It can make a character stand out so much. Of course the actors frequently complained....
i love the knights tale, it is cheeky the silhouettes are close enough to the miniatures that you go ehh its ok (im a visual artist at the moment studying fibers at university) and its FUN. someone even looked up the sort of dancing they would have done.
My guess for your favorite Shakespeare beard line: "He that hath a beard is more than a youth, and he that hath no beard is less than a man: and he that is more than a youth is not for me, and he that is less than man, I am not for him" Beatrice, Much Ado About Nothing
Everyone loves a tier list. The unkempt peasant is in the same vein as the trope in fantasy writing where characters' improbably perfect white teeth are described, presumably so you can judge their character in some way.
I propose a motion to have more period drama hairstyling tier lists. Also, I would love to see your views on fantasy hair through a historical lens. Maybe not so much "is this period accurate" and more "is this hairstyle physically possible given the setting".
You should see Valmont, the other version of Les liaisons dangereuses made in 1990. Even the rich women frequently wear simple mobcaps with their otherwise sumptuous gowns.
I'm just waiting for a massive collaboration of costumers to talk about the utter chaos that the wardrobe of Reign.
i want this too. It's just that: chaos. There is not a better word for describing it.
@@missgiroud97 Fun chaos, but definitely chaos…
Hooray for the Knight’s Tale accolade! I really enjoy period drama that’s going for a general feel and aesthetic and owning it.
People who can’t appreciate A Knight’s Tale have been weighed, measured, and found wanting! 😂
Yes to multiple tier lists! And also to keeping some of the highlights from previous lists on new ones for continuity. (So if you did Marie Antoinette on on episode, maybe keeping that thumbnail on a future list)
I love the idea of making more bite-sized videos talking about stuff than just one big one. I really hope you manage to get people that know about historical hair from other parts of the world to join in.
please make another viking show video, im Norwegian and my dad has gotten WAYYYY too into the show and takes it as historical record... I had to sit him down and explain we do NOT have "Viking blood", that would be like saying we have "sailor blood" or "merchant blood" IT WAS A JOB !!!!! Our family build the boats, it would be far more accurate to say we have shipwright blood
Please add the miniseries The Scarlet Pimpernel (1980’s) to the future tier list. I saw it as a miniseries, but it might have been broadcasted in one hour segments. It’s the one with Anthony Andrews.
There is also a 1980’s BBC series called the Duchess of Duke Street that takes place 1880?-1925?. It’s long running so maybe only screen shot that one. If I remember correctly, it portrays a woman that is working class that works her way up to being a high class cook/chef with her own hotel. The production values were not high (not much money) but I remember it looking good for the time.
thank u for this video! It is very informative 😊
Watched shadow and bone s2 recently and one of my favourite things was literally like a few seconds of a scene showing some extras. A young woman had her hair down but wore a bandana, and a married woman had her hair tied into a bun, with a scarf wrapped around it. It gave me information that in Ravka, unmarried women wear their hair down, but married women wear their hair up, and cover it. Meant Alina wearing her hair down wasn't seen as a main character quirk or looking out of place.
I know the Shakespeare play you're taking about it's Much Ado About Nothing. Beatrice jokes that she would dress up a 'beardless youth' to be used as a gentle woman (servant) rather than marry him.
Also I agree with you about the 1993 version of Much Ado About Nothing being the best. & I will fight anyone who says otherwise. 🤺⚔
I do love having an audience that knows me so well!
@@SnappyDragon Personally I think I'd be freaked out that so many people knew so much about me. But then I'm rather an introvert.
Oh just popping in to agree about 1993 much ado about nothing! Superb! (But also there was a stage version that David Tenant and Catherine Tate played opposite each other and they are just so perfect as well!)
@@84rinne_moo David Tenant and Catherine Tate? No 10 doctor and Donna?
@druidriley3163 It's absolutely brilliant. My favourite version of my favourite Shakespeare play. If you want to see it you could keep a look out on yt as it shows up every now and then.
Was that a thinly-veiled future plug for a joint video with Cheyney McKnight? That would be really cool :)
Also... trying to take wedding photos WHILE wearing a big hat is also impossible, as lighting just doesn't work.
I would be so thrilled with a Cheyney collab!
So would I! Nothing in the works, though I'd jump at the chance.
Ohhhhh I’d love to see Cheyney’s takes with V. Please!
oh, i really love the philosophy at play here and the tiers you established! can't wait for more in this series
I feel like most people know this by now but in case it's not well known still, the vv in vvitch is just meant to be w. Like, i don't know for sure how "Witch" was pronounced on that era outside writing, but the film was just trying to use archaic spelling, not imply it is meant to be pronounced with a /v/. Before we had the letter w it was made by using two v's. V and u were two variants of the same letter - both called u - and were used historically for the vowel u, and consonants w or v or both, often interchangeably or based on location within a word. Eventually it settled on u for u, v for v, and vv for w, but w was still called "double u" at that time
In French, it's called a double V
@@5th_cellar good to know
Fun fact: In Germanic languages, “w” is pronounced as “v”; “v” is pronounced as “f”. “Volkswagen” is pronounced “folksvagen” in German. (We won’t get into vowels.)
@@MaidMirawyn technically, English is a Germanic language so it isn't universal, but I was aware it was that case in modern German at least. Plus that's really just spelling. Old English used to only have f for the v sound in spelling, but it only survives in a few words like "of". Also in some versions of Ancient Latin (if not most variants), v was actually /w/ for much of history
@@MaidMirawyn
Not all Germanic languages, or even all West Germanic languages, have had that particular phoneme evolution, as evidenced by English. And North Germanic languages as a rule don’t tend to use the letter “W” at all except in loanwords and names.
It makes me giddy that you also enjoy Much Ado as much as I do.
I agree with V about the 1993 version of Much Ado About Nothing. Being the best version of this play ever produced for film. & I will fight anyone who says otherwise. 🤺⚔
@ItWasAGoodIdeaAtTheTime cannot disagree because the only other version on film I have watched is the Joss Whedon one, and he is something of a dumpster fire person.
@@kellyburds2991 Dumpster fire is a *VERY* accurate description of that man & that version of Much Ado.
My actual favorite version is the one with David Tennant and Catherine Tate, *very* closely followed by the Shakespeare In The Park version with Danielle Brooks-- but the 1993 version is solidly in third, and that's out of *many* versions of this play I've watched 🤣
IIRC that version came out before I became aware of the dumpster fire, and it still fell flat for me. The characterization just did not work.
I love learning about historical hairstyles. I like to find ways to add them into our modern aesthetic.
When and where did the half-up hair style come to be the romantic 'historial' norm? I know it was before 1900 based on its depiction in the aesthetic movement
Blame the Pre-Raphaelites. They looooved the half updo, because it allowed the hair to be out of the face but also windblown and dramatic.
@@sophiejones3554 That makes so much sense, it's amazing how powerful their influence still is in our (romanticized) imagery of the past still is, from kirtles to knight's and half updos lol
I would love to see a collab with the Welsh Viking!
(I wish i had 2 zuzim to biy a goat 🤣)
Don't we all wish that? (Except apparently San Francisco, I hear they had a herd of them get loose the other day.)
I appreciate that you have more insight on this topic than I do and thank you for your good works. While I am a historian, I'm not a historian of fashion. My issues with adaptations tend to be related to the variety of "THAT OUTRIGHT DID NOT HAPPEN YOU HACKS"... Heh. When it comes to decent hair and dress? Hm... that's hard as I lack the knowledge at this time.
Yes, please continue with this series! May I suggest Gentleman Jack? 😊
Multiple period drama hairdo lists would be great!
I'd love this video & would like to see you do more of them. Here's a few period TV shows you might. Like to review rank for their historical hair styles:
• The Great (2020)
• Sleepy Hollow (TV series 2013 - 2017)
• Victoria (TV series 2016 - 2019)
• Belgravia (2020)
• The Gilded Age (2022)
• Versailles (2015)
• The Serpent Queen (2022)
• Downton Abbey (2010 - 2015)
• Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (2012 - 2015)
• Gentleman Jack (2019)
Yes to all of that. But I feel like peeking through my fingers (or the metaphorical version) when it comes to Sleepy Hollow because I loved that series too freaking much (and, coincidentally, did watch a lot peeking through my fingers. Lol) so, while I only watched it all once and can't remember how accurate it is, i'd hate to see it roasted.
I LOVE Miss Fisher's series! I would also recommend Detective Anna (Russian TV series 2016 - 2017).
@@kanashiiookami6537 Yah I can understand how you feel about Sleepy Hollow (I love it too). But I'd also be interested in seeing where it sits/ranks on V's scale.
@@dyeawkward9320 I haven't heard of that series before thanks for the recommendation. Just curious where can I view it (streaming platform?)
I do late 14th century reenactment and we all love A Knight's Tale and literally no peasant (non-reenactor 😂) has ever made a comment about my headwear at events. My next project is going to be a cap so I don't have to do my hair 😂
Saaame. -another 14th century enthusiast
I think my least favourite is the crap that came out of Vikings. Like, as someone who is Norwegian, that show made a lot of men get ... really ... weird ... about it. The appropriation was such bullshit, and having creepy men try and force that shit on me for years was not my favourite point in time.
I don't have the cultural knowledge to even start in on that set of issues with it, but I will dragon screech all day about the damage their aesthetic choices have done.
yes! a regular SERIES like this
now i'm super excited to see more of your tier lists! both this and the one for ranking corsetry have been such a joy to see!
I kind of love how Reign just openly and deliberately did not try to be historically accurate. They knew what they were going for and we’re supper upfront about it from the start. It’s why I couldn’t get into Bridgeton, I watched half the first episode but felt it wasn’t one thing or the other.
Yes, I do want more videos like this! I'm a sucker for a tier list and I am also terrible at styling my own hair.
I absolutely love your willingness to discuss the a) the practicalities of filming and b) the validity of making artistic choices. Of course we want more of this :)
The Last Kingdom has so much to answer for, but especially those chinstrap braids from season one. I have yet to find where they found the inspiration to have the queen wear her hair that way 😅
Something similar occurs in depictions of ancient civilizations/warriors going into battle whether historic or fantasy. The lead actors will be bare headed instead of wearing a helmet or protective head gear because it obstructs their face. Meanwhile all their men (secondary or supporting characters)will be wearing face covering helmets/protective gear. Some things you just have to accept as artistic license or limitations of technology & budget.
The lead characters are wearing plot armour instead 😆
Later armoured warriors suffer a similar lack of protection, since the lead characters are put in open-faced helmets and no throat protection-unless the plot calls for a concealed face.
😂😂😂
or just dumb. TV series from Merlin to movies like Excalibur to any number of historical games show men lounging around in armor or chainmail!!!! OMG. That stuff was heavy and uncomfortable and to see characters having coitus or sitting at a dinner table _still in armor_ or at drinking parties wearing it s hilariously laughable.
I like the idea of you making this a series. especially if you keep the old stuff so we can all gawk at the number of things in each tier, especially the fugly one.
I love the idea of a SnappyDragon-hoard of videos on this theme. Bring on the series!
i'm writing this comment as you are mentioning headwear, i don't know if this show will be reffered later on inn the video, but i find it's a shame whenever Outlander deviates from historical accuracy for those cosy chunky grey wool vibes because it makes the purposefully anachronic/ uncommon details stand out a lot less than they could (Claire's grey jumpers and cardigans of later seasons are a nearly impossible choice for anyone outside of her situation to make but it's not that different from what whe was wearing when she was dressed by everyone else, laoghaire's comment on brianna's dress comes out of the blue when she doesn't stick out as much as she could (peasant and boho style of the 70s were wild) but even jaime's hair that is mentioned as being much shorter and more messy looking than his contemporary in the book just looks like yet another scotsman where everyone else is as unstyled as he is)
now it's not to undermine the cosuming as a whole, they managed to creat a visual identity that is still recognisable today, they sparked interest into historical costuming to a lot of people (myself included), they show the personality and background of most characters quite effectively (geilis's eye brooch is a perfect use of this : it's the eye of bonnie prince charlie but this fashion of wearing a loved one's eye as a brooch only came around later in the century) and something we don't mention enough is that everyone is extremely normal with staywearing : the only pair not worn with any chemise is by laoghaire as a purposefully deviant gesture and all of the shots of claire dressing up in the first season kinda show her adapting to this new environment, environment she reappropriates when she puts a zipper onto it as a way to make it more comfortable for her own sensibilities, but never is it mentioned as being restricting, neither by herself, nor by birana or geilis (which would have been more likely to burn them off in the 60s)
I hope you do make this into a series. I always enjoy a good deep dive. Plus I often discover new watchables by watching tier list videos.
I love this tier list. While I really enjoy ranking videos that address historical accuracy, I really appreciate yours because it gives credit for trying or for artistic choices, and I feel it's important to give credit for those choices when they're made. Two thumbs up!
Excellent content, as always!! I run into a lot of apathy and ignorance in my work. I've been studying historical dress for about 30 years now. I've been hired as an expert, costumer, and wardrobe for a few films and plays. I've had directors and producers dismiss my research as everything from too hard to too uncomfortable. "too many details will overshadow the storytelling." There are a lot of things that cause costuming to be an afterthought. It's sad. I've never worked on something as big as these movies and shows, but i know these things pervade all l levels of the entertainment industry.
I do have a soft spot for anachronistic movies and historical fiction.
I loved hearing your experience with directors/producers. I feel like they have overestimated the difficulties in favor of laziness! So disappointing!
I would kill to hear your opinions on the stylized hair of Mozart l'Opéra Rock. Also interested about how you feel about the hair and wigs in Harlots
I would love to see a series about historical hair in media!
I have to say, it was nice to see the Reign costuming department go from department store to actually custom made gowns for women in the later seasons (more 4 than 3). Most of Mary's costumes in Season 4 were custom made specifically for the show. Gives me a sense of pride.
Yes, yes. More tier lists!!!
I love these- this is very much like other ones I've seen-- I missed all the "accuracy police" ones, because I'm lucky and everything I watch from historical costuming to historical warfare has that anachronistic tier and discusses the varied choices and how well they work and how some are fun, some are lazy, and some are so annoying! I haven't really watched Poldark, Knights Tale, and Reign but this correlates really well with all the other commentaries I've seen on them, so I know which ones I'd enjoy. I particularly love the points where hairdressing knowledge about good v. bad wigs, extensions, hair care, etc. comes out as well, because I know the basics about loose hair in history, but few (I can think of one or two) other reviewers are experts on hair care and styling, and I am completely clueless.
This is definitely a good ranking. I immediately thought of the modern telling of Little Women where the director made a stylistic choice in how to style the women as opposed to the numerous other Little Women films. Little Women could be an episode of its own because there are so many different adaptions of this story over time.
If you do another installment in this format, I would LOVE to see you rank Showtime's "The Borgias" because that show had some of my favorite hairstyling of all time. It's probably not on the same level of authenticity as "The VVitch", but they definitely did their research.
LOVE to hear more of this kind of commentary.
Yes please make this a series!!!!!!!
I would love to see a deep take on what the Vikings and The Last Kingdom has done with the genre and expectations! It's the exact same things I've been talking about as a reenactor for years!
Can confirm; would love this to be a series.
Ooh yes, I'm eagerly awaiting the installments of this series 😍
Please make another one of these! (Also tysm for the trans allyship, it's very appreciated rn)
I'd love to see more of this kind of video. Is the TV series Galavant on your list? I'm figuring it will go in the didn't even try category, but I'd love to hear your opinions.
I loved the show itself but would be interested in V's take on it!
My least favorites are all in The Last Kingdom! 😁 And yes, please, more rankings of hair styles!
You need to view the Swedish show : Anno 1790
There is also a very cute little hint on wigs, where the main character is gifted a wig for s formal finner, since he is not wearing wigs in general due to practicality, cost and the fact he doesn't need one.
Don't know if the show can be found with English sub titles tho.
Definitely do more tier lists! And bring on guests to give other viewpoints on hair.
Fun fact: period dramas and costume dramas still have more historically accurate hairstyles than documentaries, because with documentaries the makers don't want to bother with the hairstyles for a couple of dramatized scenes. This of course leads to a situation where the actor has the hairstyle that happens to be that day. For example, in one funny case, in a documentary about ancient Greek hairstyles, an actress had her hair dyed pastel salmon red and curled wavy (but on the other hand, without this case, there would not have been a discussion about whether the ancient Greeks would have been able to blonde their hair and dye it salmon red in theory).
Well, I know I'm looking forward to more of these! Also I apparently need to watch the ones that ranked in the top 2 tiers. (I tend to watch a lot more anime than live-action, so I haven't actually seen anything on the list.)
Spooky i was having a conversation about how i get taken out of films when the hair "accuracy" is terrible like Sanditon
“Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell “
I need someone to watch this and talk about it! Whether in a tier setting or otherwise please!!!! ❤
I love this series so much! The gentleman with the thistle down hair is creepy!
absolutley love your videos!! Would love to hear your thoughts on the BBC's Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell
Love this tear ranking and hope you continue and have guests for ethnic hair styles.
would absolutely love to see more tier-ranking videos :D
Is it the scene in “As You Like It when Touchstone says, “Stroke your chins, and swear by your beards that I am a knave”?
Got nervous for a second when you started to talk about the Vvitch because I think it's beautifully made :-D
Yes yes please make more! As many as you want! I’d tune in to the series every time 😊
I would love to see more tier lists & more colabs with other people!
What the Frockflicks gals refer to as "the great hairpin shortage."
So interesting. Artistic licence is so easily ignored by many costume commentators so it's always good to see someone recognise and explain it. Am looking forward to seeing which other shows you talk about next. The Mayfair Witches (AMC's dreadful adaptation of a superb saga of a book by Anne Rice) is one you may want to consider - some of the recent flashbacks were dreadful and looked no different to the current timeline costume/hair. TFS ☺
I always thought about 'artistic licence' being more like what was done in 'Angels & Insects'/ 'Insects & Angels' -- there's an aesthetic, but it's also presenting with authenticity- I don't know....
Please please do more of this! I enjoyed every second, love your choices of movies! You are my favorite history nerd here on youtube!
Such a fun video! Would love to hear your thoughts on "Sanditon". The hairstyling choices of that show were so confusing lol And also seemed to change drastically from season to season!
Like the main's one & a half accurate styles in s1; she had it authentic to the time center-parted & up at the big party, & at least had it up at the funeral.
What the hell was with all the side parts for the women...?!
I'm conceived in the series if you have the energy!
Whenever I see half-up styles in period dramas, I start making snarky comments about "the great bobby pin shortage". I am pretty sure Sanditon's lead actress was boycotting hairpins, considering how often she wears her hair down.
As for caps, I don't understand why filmmakers don't use them a lot more, considering they are such a cheap and effective method of styling hair. Assuming the cap style is full coverage, you don't need any sort of expensive wig or hairpiece to convert the actress's regular hair into a historical look. Just pull her hair back with a center parting and put a cap on her. Heck, you could easily use cheap cotton instead of linen for the caps and machine sew them.
The rant about the bad Viking attire made me think of the Welsh Viking. Would definitely make a good collaboration.
I would watch a series of Videos on this topic!!!
Can't wait for the next episodes in this format! My suggestion would be Wolf Hall, but there might not be much to analyze since everyone wears headgear in that show lol
I'm absolutely here for future tier lists!
Okay, it wasn't historical, but as a child, I really liked Yeoman Janice Rand's woven beehive in Star Trek: TOS. It felt futuristic in a relatable way. Also not historical, but cultural. I appreciate seeing black women choose to shave their heads or wear close cropped styles which is and has been a part of several African cultures. I love it even more since (white) long flowing hair is considered a hallmark of beauty.
Please make a video on Vikings! I have so many friends that watch that show and then try to tell me what cool hair Viking men and women wore back in the day. I've only seen clips and pictures from the show but I will never watch it. They did my ancestors dirty in that show!
I know the Norse people and "Viking" era was violent and I'm in no way saying that was ok, but getting historical costuming wrong under the guise of accuracy really drives up my blood pressure.