Ever since Carrie Bradshaw laid the foundation of the “good style” on the small screen, other series have tried to continue through the same path. One of the most recent ones is Game of Thrones, just about to air its fourth season, and whose medieval fashion has charmed most of the viewers. Emilia Clarke, Lena Headey or Oona Chaplin are some of the lucky models who wear the period elegance fashion in Game of Thrones.
Image of the Game of Thrones episode, where magnificent clothes can be appreciated. (Image credits HBO)
So, following in the footsteps of the medieval age, the British The Tudors fiction, based on the novels of American George RR Martin, adorns the princesses of their kingdoms with embroidered dresses, jewels and, of course, greatly braided hairstyles. It seems that medieval times are successfully being installed on television today. Fashion is a basic part of the atrezzo in a show, as it is proved by another notorious productions the adaptation of The Pillars of the Earth, written by Ken Follet.
Although usually fashion is more focused on women, it also includes their concern on the male characters’ way of looking. Men are usually depicted as wearing large fur with notable beards, which reinforce a good characterization. But the ones set in the medieval period are not the only trendy fictions nowadays. As said before, the concern over what characters were wearing began around the 90s, and Sex and the City was the one pulling the trigger.
The four main characters, Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda, were the pioneers on bringing together the small screen and large firms – it is by all known the writer’s fondness for Manolo Blahnik shoes. Since then, many have tried to encourage brand names to use the shows as their special showcases. Gossip Girl is another perfect example. This series, that chronicles the comings and goings of a bunch of wealthy Upper East Side teens of New York, is another production that invested heavily in designers like Oscar de la Renta and Elie Saab to bring current fashion designs to the fiction.
Blair Waldorf, Leighton Meester, in Gossip Girls wearing a Herve of the 2008 fall collection. (Image credits: In Their Closet)
In Britain, the award-winning Downton Abbey has all the necessary details of a real time series to dress its characters. Maggie Smith, Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern are the lucky actors that can enjoy the marvels of the Victorian fashion clothe. The female cast exhibits impossible hairstyles, and costumes that include transparencies and gauze, as well as three of the essential accessories for any English lady: head-dresses, hats, and of course, gloves.
As a matter of fact, and after all this examples, some might think that television sometimes gives more importance to what actors are wearing than to what they are saying. But nothing could be further from the truth, as most of the shows that prioritize the small details in the tailoring of the characters, usually have a highly labored and witty plots and dialogues.
MacGuffin´s Corner 