Gorgeous Period Dress: Difference between revisions

* [[Miles Gloriosus|Dashing military types]] in full-on [[Bling of War]].

 

 

It should be noted that [[Older Than They Think|this actually had its roots in theater]], which seldom had reason to have plain or dirty clothes. Also keep in mind that this trope is not necessarily deceptive: there have always been those who delight in [[The Dandy|fancy clothing]], and modern Western society is far from the first to promote daily bathing or liberal use of soap. The Romans bathed more than we do.

*** Or in Lelouch's case, extremely ridiculous-looking outfits.

**** Especially the purple Victorian style dress he wore in one of the picture dramas.

** This troper happens to fancy the [[Cross Dresser|dress]] Ciel had to wear to Viscount Druitt's ball that came complete with frills, lace, ribbons, bows, gloves, and a very ornate hat that probably had half a garden's worth of pink roses on it.

*** Don't forget the [[Of Corsets Sexy|corset]] he was shoved into... complete with the infamous [[Does This Remind You of Anything?]] scene.

* Many [[Hammer Horror]] films.

** ''The Curse of Frankenstein'' and ''The Man Who Could Cheat Death'', starring legendary [[Hammer Horror]] redheaded beauty [[Hazel Court]], are excellent examples.

** The ruby slippers were silver in the book. Both changes were evidently made to show off the (at the time, ''extremely'' impressive) Technicolor.

* The 1935 film ''Becky Sharp'', an adaptation of Thackeray's ''[[Vanity Fair]]'' and the first ever full-colour film, popularised this trope.

* However, it can be dated back even further to 1920s silent films that use the rather odd-looking two-colour red and green Technicolor. One such film is ''Phantom of the Opera'', which uses colourful costuming in a big ballroom scene.

** Subverted in [[The Movie]] of [[The Musical]] which had all the costume ball dancers in black and white, rendering lyrics like "Splash of puce/Flash of red" completely moot. Actually, going by the "colorful" criteria, only the Diva wears anything wildly colorful and it's mostly pink anyway.

** And now sort of done with the [[Disney Princess|Disney Princesses]] themselves, on some of their [[Pimped-Out Dress|fancier-themed merchandise]].

* The 1950s seems to be the peak period for widescreen epic films with eye-searing Technicolor. Examples from that decade are ''Ben Hur'' and ''The Ten Commandments'', and, from the Napoleonic era, ''Desiree''.

* The 1943 version of ''[[The Adventures Of Baron Munchhausen]]'', which manages to sidestep most of the iffy politics of Germany at the time.

* Bizarrely combined with [[The Dung Ages]] in ''Flesh+Blood''.

** If anything, Commodus's clothing was too understated and rough. He should have looked like an overblown Louis XIV.

*** The Romans didn't live in [[The Dung Ages]]. Almost every character in ''Gladiator'' was underdressed and far too filthy to be realistic - even the slaves should have been spotlessly clean and neatly dressed.

* One of the most famous [[William Shakespeare]] film adaptations, ''[[Henry V]]'', directed by [[Kenneth Branagh]], was famous for taking the story and laying on the mud and gore real thick on the period costuming to show medieval war in all its filthiness.

** [[Laurence Olivier]]'s version of ''[[Henry V]]'' is a straight-up example of this trope, though; it was the first color Shakespeare film, intended as a morale-booster during World War II, and the look is heavily modeled on fifteenth-century manuscripts.

* The first-class passengers' clothes in ''[[Titanic]]'', contrasted with the third-class's filthier clothes and segregated areas on board the titular ship.

* ''[[Snow White and The Three Stooges]]''

* ''[[Moulin Rouge]]!'' tries its very best to make your eyes bleed with colour...especially during the Can Can scene in the beginning of the film.

* The film version of [[Virginia Woolf]]'s ''[[Orlando]]'', starring [[Tilda Swinton]] in very pretty clothes.

* ''[[Plunkett and Macleane]]'' for the most part averts this showing a more realistic and gritty costume approach especially with lower classes. However it plays it straight during one scene during a huge ballroom [[Dances and Balls|dance]] among the ''very'' rich, fitting the trope nicely. It's pretty much a costume designers wet dream.

* The 2005 version of [[Pride and Prejudice]] starring Keira Knightley is (sometimes) a subversion of this trope. In the big ballroom scene, [[Gorgeous Period Dress]] rules, but otherwise, the lead characters all dress relatively simply, if appropriately for reasonably well-to-do people (the Bennets) or wealthy (Darcy).

* All film (as well as TV) versions of [[Anna Karenina]] make use of this trope.

* The 2005 film version of [[Arsène Lupin]] with Kristin Scott-Thomas, seeing that it's about a gentleman thief who moves in Belle Epoque high society, uses this trope extensively.

* The [[Martin Scorsese]] version of [[The Age of Innocence]], starring [[Michelle Pfeiffer]] and [[Winona Ryder]]. In fact, virtually '''any''' movie or show based on a novel by [[Henry James]] or [[Edith Wharton]] (cf. ''[[The Portrait Of A Lady]]'', ''The Europeans'', ''The House of Mirth'', ''The Buccaneers'', ''Daisy Miller'', etc.) is guaranteed to make ample use of this trope, seeing that both authors were writing about the upper classes of the late Victorian era.

* ''[[The Duellists]]''.

* The characters in the 1963 ''[[The Raven]]'' wear somewhat lavish garments that all seem to be from different periods and regions.

 

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

* The HBO series ''[[Rome]]'' also combines this with [[The Dung Ages]]. The patrician dinner party will be wall-to-wall jeweled dresses and lavishly decorated togas, but if you're a member of the lower classes, prepare for burlap tunics and a generous layer of filth.

** This was historically accurate, if the filth of the poor was a bit over-exaggerated. The Romans believed in daily bathing and clean clothes. Slaves weren't expected to have expensive clothes but house slaves were expected to keep themselves clean, if only so that they wouldn't stink up the house. The average modern would be more comfortable in Caesar's Rome than in Regency England.

* Often seen in British historical dramas, such ''The Pallaisers'', [[Upstairs, Downstairs]], and ''Bleak House.'' The latter two series use the [[Gorgeous Period Dress]] of the upper-class viewpoint characters as contrast to the dress of the servants and lower-class viewpoint characters.

** The miniseries ''Elizabeth R'' is one of the most spectacular examples. According to the DVD commentary, virtually the entire budget went on the queen's dresses (which explains why the sets are just one step above canvas backdrops).

** The various BBC miniseries of Jane Austen novels, e.g., "Pride and Prejudice", "Emma", and "Mansfield Park".

*** Which presents an interesting contrast with most recent U.S. movies adapting Austen (excepting the [[Gwyneth Paltrow]] [[Emma]]), which often slightly subvert this trope in the interest of realism (see above entry on 2005's [[Pride and Prejudice]].)

* ''[[Mad Men]]'' engages in this at the most recent time when it might be applicable: the early [[The Sixties|Sixties]] (really an extension of [[The Fifties]]). All manner of high-fashion dresses (usually traditionalist, at times frighteningly avant-garde) for the women and impeccable tuxedos for the men appear at high-class functions, and sharp suits for both sexes at work combine with that era's hairstyles (if your hair doesn't have chemicals in it, you're living in the past!) for a picture of '60s New York that makes it clear exactly what 40-50 years can do to a country. Alas, [[Everybody Smokes|all of it reeks of cigarette smoke]] (which, admittedly, is [[Truth in Television]]).

* An unusual example can be seen in the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episode "The Girl in the Fireplace"- gorgeous period dresses on gorgeous [[Steampunk|period]] robots.

** Period pieces in ''Doctor Who'' tend to fall under this as it's what [[The BBC]] does best.

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* The ''[[An American Tail]]'' series, taking place during the 1880's, features these with the more wealthy female characters.