Top 10 Most Historically Inaccurate Costumes on TV
#10: Tutmania “Boardwalk Empire” (2010-14)
This item may seem a bit nitpicky, as this HBO hit strove for authenticity in its costumes. Set during the Prohibition-era 1920s, with its illegal production of liquor and a supposed increase in organized crime, the series features lots of beautiful flapper fashions. But the season 3 opener, taking place on New Year’s Eve 1922, features an Egyptian-themed party. Yes, Tutmania swept America after the discovery of Tutankhamun’s Tomb in November 1922, but that’s only a month before the celebration in the episode. Unlike today, when news is shared instantly around the world, it took a lot longer back then for people to even learn of new discoveries - never mind creating dresses and products based on them. Even the song sung in the episode, “King Tut,” was written in 1923—and not on New Year’s Day.
#9: Boots Are Sexy “Wolf Hall” (2015)
Unlike other shows featuring the life of King Henry VIII, this BBC miniseries based on Hilary Mantel’s novels certainly had an eye on historical accuracy, particularly in the clothes—with one glaring exception. While hose and shoes —yes, on men—were in fashion in the 1530s, some modern sensibilities may consider such styles a bit less than masculine. Costume designer Joanna Eatwell seemingly wanted to make Henry, Thomas Cromwell, and most of the men, appear more macho and mobile by putting them in leather boots more often than not. Men did wear boots during this period, but only for outdoor activities like hunting, riding, or combat, not for doing court business. And certainly not for dancing.
#8: Problematic Corsets “Westworld” (2016-)
This time-jumping, reality-bending science fiction juggernaut isn’t necessarily going for historical accuracy, yet it does pretty well in its Old West theme park. The hard-to-find exception, if you’re even looking for it, are the style and wear of the corsets. Victorian-era corsets have a hook-and-eye busk in the front that clasps right over left, and are commonly designed straight across the top of the bust, but come to a point at the hips. However, some of the characters on the show, in particular the saloon girls or prostitutes, can be seen sporting the garment with the point going through the middle of their chests, meaning that the corsets are being worn upside down. And ok, maybe they were in a rush to get dressed. But Dolores’s corset is also upside down, and worse, wouldn’t exist in the 1880s. Underbust corsets like this came into fashion around the turn of the twentieth century.
#7: Long Hair & Side Parts “Sanditon” (2019)
Top 30 Most Long-Awaited TV Kisses
Look at pictures, any pictures, of nineteenth-century women outside of their bedroom and their hair will almost always be up. It was very unusual for women to have their hair down in public, with long flowing hair being more of a modern sensibility. Not only that, but their hair was usually parted smack in the middle. Side parts are more of a 20th-century aesthetic. Yet in the 2019 miniseries based on Jane Austen’s unfinished novel Sanditon, most of the women have their hair in fanciful side parts. And Charlotte’s hair is almost always down. At least she dresses correctly for the ball, even if the dancing is ludicrous.
#6: No Chemise “The Alienist” (2018)
Top 10 Historically Inaccurate TV Shows
Perhaps we can forgive the prostitute who opens TNT’s gritty 1890s police drama for wearing a corset without an undergarment. The corset has become a visual shortcut for sexy, after all. But for the main character, Sara Howard, a proper society lady with gorgeous outfits, to reveal a corset without a chemise under it? Ridiculous. The chemise protects the skin, and keeps the corset clean. She also removes the corset by unlacing it in the back, rather than just unhooking the front busk. This seems to be more of an attempt by a network that can’t show nudity for sexual titillation rather than historical accuracy. Meanwhile, the closeup of the marks left on her skin appears to reinforce the myth that corsets were some patriarchal torture device, rather than a necessary support garment.
#5: Needless Lacing “Robin Hood” (2006-09)
Lacing is a staple of Renaissance Faire garb the world over, so of course the BBC series about our favorite legendary outlaw shows it in their costumes. True, lacing was a common—though not the only—way to fasten clothes before zippers. But lacing usually serves a purpose: to close the opening. Only the wealthy could afford decorative lacing, so it was used minimally; not like a patchwork quilt holding together strips of fabric. It was also pulled tightly, and any gaps would reveal only undergarments, never skin. This 2006 show, set in the Middle Ages, features tons of unnecessary lacing, often with metal grommets too, which weren’t invented until the 19th century. What purpose would grommets serve along the neckline?
#4: The Brown Floral Dress “Outlander” (2014-)
Top 10 Craziest Masked Singer Costumes
The Starz time-travel romance is known for its exquisite costumes, but no show can be totally accurate all the time. One of the striking inaccuracies is Claire’s gorgeous brown floral dress in season 2, episode 5, set in 18th-century France. While costume designer Terry Dresbach added panniers to it to make it more 1740s, there is no way a bright floral print like this would exist in that era. The fabric is in fact a 1940s chintz from a store in San Francisco, and the dress is designed more in line with a Christian Dior bar suit. But considering Claire is actually a 1940s woman, it makes sense that she infused her modern sensibilities into her 18th-century clothing.
#3: Dresses That Are Backless, Shoulderless or Lacked Symmetry “War & Peace” (2016)
While fashion forward ladies of the 18-aughts wore sexy, sometimes revealing gowns because of low necklines, soft diaphanous fabrics, and the occasional shoulder, you would never see bare backs, ribbon straps, or sleeveless gowns in this period. Yet the party scenes in episode one of the frequently well-done BBC miniseries based on Tolstoy’s novel features all of these atrocities. From backless frocks to spaghetti sleeves and cross-over straps, the dresses run the gamut, but rarely match what would actually have existed in this period. Gillian Anderson’s asymmetrical gown, with one side a period-correct puff sleeve and the other just a bust, takes the cake for historical inaccuracies. Not to mention, that’s daywear? No. Just, no.
#2: Haute Couture Is Not Historical “Reign” (2013-17)
There’s no question The CW show following young Mary Queen of Scots is not even trying to be historically accurate, and still it developed a following for its beautiful costumes. That would make sense, considering the gowns were the height of fashionable designers—modern day fashion designers. Costumer Meredith Markworth-Pollack chose dresses from Alexander McQueen, Oscar de la Renta, Rudolph Valentino, and Isabel Marant, among others, to clothe Mary and her ladies in waiting. She gave each of them their own style: Lola, soft and romantic; Greer, structural and overly dressy; Kenna, the billowy bohemian, and Mary, a “warrior princess” at the height of fashion. But that tight-fitting black McQueen gown with the peekaboo cutout cleavage would never be seen in the 16th century. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions. Too Much Leather, “Vikings” (2013-) Leather Is Animal Skin & Historically Accurate, But Not When You Look Like a Biker Gang A Ruff That Floats, “Elizabeth I” (2005) A Ruff Is Not a Necklace; It Attaches to the Dress
#1: The Right to Bare Arms “The Tudors” (2007-10)
Top 10 Most Historically Accurate TV Biopic Series
This Showtime cable hit is definitely not known for its historical accuracy, either in plot, characters, or costumes. In fact, they often tried to avoid it, going instead for a modernized reinterpretation, in order to be more relatable. In their effort to show the protagonist, King Henry VIII, as a sexy rock star, costume designer Joan Bergin frequently clad Jonathan Rhys Meyers in sleeveless black leather vests. The ladies surrounding him also expose their arms frequently, wearing off the shoulder or completely sleeveless gowns—even corsets with nothing under or over them. Showing this much skin would have been unheard of in the 1500s. The scandal!
