|
Period
Movies, Help Photo Dating
San Diego's Costume Guild
encourages us to tell people when we are asked, what period are our clothes from?
We usually suggest they think of a movie from that period, not everyone can
relate to dates or Era's but they usually can relate to a period movie.
Not all the costumes in the movies are period correct, go to this link for the
reason. costumersguide.com Depending
on how period correct you want to be, is a matter of preference. If you
are anything like me you may just want to get close enough to get the general
idea of the decade your trying to recapture, just as long as it believable and
you don't look ridiculous. Those of you new to costuming will find this
chart helpful. Not all period movies are good for costumes were less than
impressive. You may want to watch a movie
in slow motion, or constantly pausing so you can take a good gander at the period
clothing. Especially the movies that brag about being period accurate in their
costumes right down to real mustaches, grown just for the movie. Not all period
movies are good to watch just for costumes, like Dances with wolves for
instance. Unless you interested in civil war uniforms and Indians, there's
not much to see.
Those of you who know of Bat Masterson
may want to go to the Ford
County Historical Society site. (close
window to return) and have a look at a fabulous photograph of
the Peace Commission of Dodge City of the same time period. See Wyatt Earp
and Bat Masterson. They all wore very cool hats.
| Movie |
Date Range |
Era |
Comments |
| Marie
Antoinette |
1755 |
|
Even
though this period in not for dating photographs, you may still want to
see it to get ideas from it. I am thinking about the fact that
Victorians did imitate these late fashions just like we repeat fashions
from years past today. |
| Pride
and Prejudice |
1825-1850 |
Regency
|
This era is
before the camera, so you would see these costumes in tiny portraits that
came in ornate little boxes (see
History of Photograph). All
of Jane Austin's movies are good sources of this period.
Mostly Empire dresses and bonnets. |
| Gangs
of New York |
1860 |
Civil
War
Early Victorian
|
If
you like to dress down, watch this. Not too much by way of high society
in this film. |
| Cold
Mountain |
1860 |
Early Victorian |
For women's clothing
mostly, watch Nicole Kidman's beautiful clothes
morph into rags. Most people think of bonnets for this era but the
diversity of hats in this film proves them wrong.. |
| Tombstone |
1881 |
|
See polar opposites from
dressy to casual. Ties, from bow ties to scarves and ascots. As collars go, from
turndown wing tips to no collar, short jacket and long coats. My point
being that in the 1860s the clothes may be easier to pick out for lack of some
of these items and likewise if you see a bow tie, don't insist it's of the
1860s. Excellent for Men's clothing |
| All
About Julia |
1890 |
Naughty
Nineties |
|
| Finding
Neverland |
1908 |
Turn
of the Century |
|
| Beloved |
1900-1915 |
|
Samples
of clothes worn by former slave folk. |
| |
|
|
|
| The
Color Purple |
1909-1916 |
|
Mostly
poor folk. |
| Titanic |
1914 |
Edwardian |
Edwardian
wealthy, first part of movie |
| Aviator |
1920-
1940 |
|
Great!
costuming because it take you through a few decades. You get to
watch the subtleties of change in hairstyles too. |
| The
Great Gatsby |
1920 |
The
Roaring Twenties |
Flappers,
make you think of the short dress with tiers or tassels but in this film
the dresses were actually fairly long still. |
| A Beautiful Mind |
1933 |
Great
Depression |
Clothes
were plain and money was better spent then on clothes. |
| Cinderella
Man |
1930s |
|
|
| "I Love Lucy" re-runs |
1950s |
|
Great!
to see circle skirts, two tone shoes and clothes. |
| All
The Kings Men |
1950 |
|
Mens'
suits |
|
Bulk
Rates
Note: For optimal viewing of these photos, your display setting should
be set at "True Color (24 bit)" and your screen resolution should
be set to "800 by 600 pixels.