MovieChat Forums > A Place to Call Home (2014) Discussion > What is up with the costumes.

What is up with the costumes.

posted 8 years ago by jfcharles-782-247545
5 replies | jump to latest

Loving this show, but what is going on with the costumes?
If you are going to do something period, at least get it right.
Where to start.....women would never wear rhinestones in the daytime, crinolines need to at least match the length of a skirt, fifties hair was very round, not hot rolled and pouffy. Just no.
There were certain times of day that ladies did not wear hats.

And whomever is doing clothes for Anna.....great colors, but start over on shapes and the correct
Shoes for what outfit. Geez. But the great actress overcomes the blunder.

[–] james-manning 8 years ago

jfcharles- I must agree with you; Elizabeth is usually turned out correctly for a rich conservative woman of the times but some of the younger actresses are put into things that simply wouldn't be seen in the 1950's- especially in a well off family that is fairly social and obviously puts thought into such things. The hem lengths are a little skimpy too especially on Doris and Sarah for some reason. George has many smart suits and they give him good colours. The hair/wigs are inconsistent. Sarahs' hair is simply too plain, Olivia often wears hers in a ponytail! Perhaps a tight little chignon or a french pleat if she hasn't had the time to put in pin curls.It is a lot more work than it seems to create the look of the time I suppose and that really shows.

[–] penn412 8 years ago

I think George has the best wardrobe. Very Paul Stewart -:)
I was a teenager at that time and they got Anna's crinolines right. (We used to starch them in sugar water to make them REALLY stiff.) But her hair is definitely 21st century. The jewelry is pretty much accurate too, as are the little scarves around the neck and,at one point, an angora sweater. We did wear pony tails, too. But I doubt a woman of Olivia's class would have done so. Also, in the US many of the guys had crew cuts during that era. Perhaps Australia was exempted from that blight. Sarah looks terrific in anything she wears. I doubt she'd have been able to show off her figure so well back then. And james-manning is right. The hems would have been at least an inch longer.

[–] penn412 8 years ago

Two corrections! It's Paul STUART....and I meant to say CAROLYN looks terrific in anything she wears.

[–] penn412 8 years ago

One more thing. Gino wore a suit to Sarah and George's engagement party. He wore a suit to church Xmas Eve. He wore a suit...
thank god... to his wedding.

So why does he show up at Ash Park dinners in that damn beige windbreaker... when he must know all the other men will be dressed.If he doesn't want to wear a suit why doesn't Anna buy him a nice jacket for his birthday or Xmas?

[–] CobblersAwls 8 years ago

I posted on another thread on the infamous jacket...but Gino is wearing what was a kind of substitute for a men's blazer, popular in the '50s.

It was not a hard and fast rule, but that style of jacket (it's not a windbreaker really, but a kind of boxy loose thing in a wool or cotton with padded shoulders) was more of a lower class type of jacket worn by men than the Ash Park guys would choose. The lack of tailoring, etc., would have made it less expensive, etc.

It was just a class thing more or less. And the costumer is presenting Gino as a farmer and working man in his loose jacket.

I saw that the first time and it took me waaaaay back to the days when blue collar/working class men all owned one when they wanted to wear something nicer than work clothes.

It fits Gino's background and lifestyle of the time.