inspiration

The Costumes Of Testament of Youth: Film Fashion Inspiration

Vera Brittain and Roland Leighton embracing in Testament of Youth

Today I am sharing the costumes of Testament of Youth, one of my favourite period films, in part three of my series of film fashion inspiration! You can read the first two posts, about Miss Potter here and Jane Eyre here. Have you ever seen the 2014 film Testament of Youth starring Alicia Vikander, Kit Harington, Taron Egerton and Colin Morgan? It is set during the Great War of 1914-1918, and based on the memoir by Vera Brittain the British writer, feminist and pacifist who lived from 1893 to 1970. Her memoir chronicles her early adulthood during WWI and the interwar years, capturing the experiences of her generation. While it is an extremely heart wrenching story, it is also beautifully told. The costumes in the film were designed by Consolata Boyle, and I love how they give such an insight into Vera’s character. Here are some of my favourite fashion inspirations from her costumes which span the pre-war to post-war years.

Vera Brittain wearing a blue coat with an embroidered lapel and a matching beret

In her memoir, Vera Brittain speaks of her love for stylish clothing and beautiful fabrics, and she includes passages about her garments and accessories. In this film, unlike the other historical films I’ve shared, the main character has an extensive wardrobe filled with many beautiful pieces, and she doesn’t repeat outfits throughout the film.

Vera’s colour palette consists mainly of blues and pinks, with some adjacent colours of purple and mint. She wears mostly pastel shades before the war, and then those colours darken into navy and burgundy during and after the war.

Vera Brittain wearing an embroidered blouse with intricate details

While Vera wears the more simple and streamlined silhouettes of the early 1910’s (streamlined compared to the decade before) the pieces she wears are extremely intricate, and require a closer look to take in all of the details. Many of her outfits contain embellishments to set them apart, whether it’s embroidery at the neckline or lapel, button placement, bias and straight cut pieced stripes, pin tucks or insets of lace.

Vera Brittain wearing pintucked and pieced blouses

Many of the costumes are extant pieces, which really does give a feeling of historicity to the film. However, her costumes are not stuffy at all, and the elegant silhouettes make the outfits much more “wearable”;  I would love to add pieces like these into my wardrobe!

Vera Brittain wearing a blue skirt, white blouse and periwinkle blue cardigan to write her exam at Oxford

While Vera has chosen the path of academia and a serious career in writing (despite her family’s fears that she will become a “bluestocking”) she does not choose this at the expense of her own personal style. She decries the frumpy and ugly clothing of so many of her fellow students and despite the headmistress scornfully asking a fellow professor, after seeing Vera, whether they are hosting an examination or “a debutante’s ball”, she doesn’t give up her enjoyment of clothing to wear what is deemed serious attire. She is definitely what we would call a fashionista, but proves that you don’t have to stop wearing feminine clothing in order to be smart and ambitious.

Vera Brittain wearing a cardigan and a jumper

That being said, Vera does change to some extent what she wears depending on the season and where she is. She wears darker clothing for the city, the original tailored “academia” aesthetic when she’s in Oxford (with her own fashionable twist) and chooses lightweight and less structured pieces for the country.

Vera Brittain layering knitwear and wool for her outfit at Oxford college

Vera’s outfits also contain a great mix of textures with a wide range of fabrics. She wears a lot of layers, often pairing lighter blouses with interesting knitwear and tailored coats on top. She wears a lot of lovely sweaters, or jumpers as they’d be called in England, and unifies these separates through her choice of accessories and colours to create cohesive ensembles.

Vera trying on several different hats before choosing the one to pair with her pink and lace dress

Vera also loves a good hat, and knows the power of a hat to either make or break your outfit. There is one scene in the film where she tries on several different hats before finally selecting one as the perfect finishing touch to her outfit.

Vera Brittain played by Alicia Vikander wearing two great 1910's hats

A good topper can either complete your outfit, or take centre stage and stand out on it’s own as a statement. She wears both statement hats and more restrained hats throughout the film, depending on the occasion.

Vera wearing a light pink and cream lace dress with a matching hat and shawl at the school graduation

Vera also knows that dressing up for an occasion can make it even more special. During one scene, Vera wears a rather too fancy outfit to an event, raising her mother’s eyebrows, but it elevates the mood and sets the tone for what happens. She knows that it’s better to be overdressed than underdressed, and she’ll never be accused of not being dressed for the occasion. I love this idea; even if there isn’t an occasion to wear your fancy clothes, you can make one!

Vera Brittain VAD uniform

Now that I’ve discussed a lot of the beautiful 1910’s fashions, we come to what Vera wears for the majority of the film: her VAD uniform. Vera left Oxford in 1915 to join the British Voluntary Aid Detachment as a nurse. While we might look at her uniform today and think it looks rather nice compared with modern uniforms, she hated wearing it! Which I can actually understand, as I’ve hated wearing a uniform at past jobs as well, no matter what they were like. Some Volunteers tried to customize their uniforms, which was frowned upon, but there wasn’t really much they could do to personalize it. (Here is an in depth video about the components of the VAD uniforms, by Crows Eye Productions.)

Vera Brittain wearing her VAD uniform on the ward, as well as her outerwear and hat

During this section of the film, Vera leaves most of her personal style to the side, though she still continues to wear some great outerwear and hats; she is able to inject some interest into her outerwear with her berets! The beret is a classic piece for Vera, and she wears them often throughout the film, but I especially love this interesting pleated beret she wears with her VAD outerwear. I’d love to make something like it.

I actually take some inspiration from her wartime costumes too, as keeping separate wardrobes for work and personal time is a great idea.  Even if you aren’t wearing an actual uniform to your job, after a while the clothes you wear to work can start to feel like a uniform, and you won’t really feel like wearing them outside of work. Keeping a small selection of mix and match pieces specifically for your job can make it easier to get dressed in the morning without stress, as well as giving you the chance to save your favourite pieces for when you’re out having fun. Choosing a “uniform” of your own for work can keep the rest of your closet from feeling stagnant, as well as ensuring that you always have a work appropriate outfit ready to go.   

vera brittain wearing her burgundy coat and beret

The latter part of the film, spanning the war and post-war years are understandably a more serious and sombre period, and the costumes are much more subdued. There are a lot of darker colours and pared back ensembles, which reflect the hardships Vera has gone through. Society as a whole, and women’s fashion in particular, changed greatly through the war years, with war jobs and rationing drastically transforming the kinds of clothing that women wore. This film did a great job of capturing that zeitgeist and the film ends right as women’s clothing is heading for even more change in the 1920’s, never to return to what it was before. (For more about how the Great War sparked the Roaring Twenties, this is a really great video, again by CrowsEye Productions.)

Well, this isn’t an exhaustive list of all of the costumes of Testament of Youth, but these are some of my favourites from this film. Have you seen this film, and what did you think of it? What parts of Vera’s wardrobe do you like? Do you wish you could steal any of the pieces to add to your closet?

Vera Brittain as played by Alicia Vikander in the train on her way to her Oxford exams, wearing a light aqua blouse and straw hat with matching ribbon

All Manner of Hats, From My Fashion Scrapbook

large white hat with a rolled up brim in the front

Along with the warm weather, comes the time to wear summer hats, starting with the Easter bonnet, of course. While I did wear a hat for Easter this year, it’s been featured on the blog before, so I didn’t post it again. Instead, how about we take a look at some of the hats and hair accessories I have saved in my fashion scrapbook? Many of these are from wedding magazines, but could be easily worn for other occasions. I was so inspired when looking through these: now I want to go and make some flower hats! In the past I have made flowers and headbands, but they’ve always been a bit smaller…I really think it’s time to make some large statement flowers!

Above- one of my favourite hats featured in a UK wedding magazine, wouldn’t this be so perfect for an outdoor wedding?

Speaking of oversized flowers, here are two lovely ones. I think these would be fairly straightforward to make. I should try…

large chiffon flower hair accessory

oversized chiffon flower fascinator

These pink hats, below, were probably the first pictures to start me on my vintage fashion journey. I think they were by Lilliput Hats from about 15 years ago. I’ve always been so in love with the colour and shape of them. So perfect for Spring!

pink floral and velvet and netting cap hats with veils

pink cap hats with tulle and netting veils

I love these polka dots flowers; these images were from about 12 years ago. That shape of hat was super popular back then, wasn’t it? I think one of the first hats I ever bought was a tan wool hat very similar to this.white house black market hat and floral hair accessory

large statement hats for a wedding

Here are a few wedding hats and accessories, that could definitely be worn elsewhere. Again, with the oversized flowers, the left one above is so fun! And on the right, I love the exaggerated tilt shape.

wedding hats for outdoors

wedding hats

I really like the tilt on this one, above right, too.

60's inspired wedding with little fascinator hat

Here is a fabulous hair accessory/hat/fascinator worn by Oprah in Vogue 1998, featuring flowers and feathers for an amazing theatrical look!

dramatic theatrical hat oprah vogue 1998

flower crown by Free People

And finally, no round up of hats is complete without the classic, but nevertheless fabulous, oversized straw hat.

two large oversized natural straw hats

What kinds of hats do you like to wear in the Spring and Summer? Which one of these is your favourite? Are you inspired to try creating some large flowers to dress up some hats and headbands?

Looking Forward to Fall, From My Fashion Scrapbook

Vogue 1998 photo of a girl wearing a fur coat and a flower crown looking out a window

On a cold, blustery Fall day like today, it’s the perfect time to look through my fashion scrapbook for some seasonal inspiration! It’s still technically Summer, but it’s time to start phasing out the summer dresses and straw hats, and replacing them with wool layers and berets. In this in-between stage of seasons, I like to merge and slowly transition to the next season of clothing. Here are some of my favourite fashion photos from the past that I’ve saved in my scrapbook!

vogue october 1998 photo spread of a girl wearing a tan skirt suit, an oversized fur collar lying in the grass looking at a building

This is one of my favourite photo shoots of all time! (It includes both of these photos above) By Angela Lindvall for the Vogue October 1998 issue, this picture, above, is inspired by the Andrew Wyeth painting “Christina’s World” and it’s beautiful!

smokey eye makeup and a wool camel coat

I really like this bold yet soft makeup look for Fall and Winter. I’m not sure if it would suit me very well, personally, but I really like that 20’s inspired smudged look!

two women walking in the woods wearing pink and yellow fur coats and dresses

I know that people have conflicting feelings about fur, but I personally love the look. If it is ethically sourced or vintage, I have no problem with it, though I do understand why some people don’t. Gorgeous fur coats and collars are beautiful for cool weather!

fur collars and dramatic wool coats

paris inspired vogue 1998 photoshoot

Again, from that same 1998 Vogue magazine (so many good photos in that one!) is this lovely European inspired photo shoot. Again a lovely fur stole, this time paired with a fabulous feathered hat.

elegant winter wool coats

If fur isn’t your thing, though, there are so many beautiful wool coats for cool weather. I love my vintage cashmere coat, and will treasure it forever!

walking down a lane wearing burberry

And here’s another from Burberry in 1998; again such a classic coat for cooler days.

checked blouse and wool skirt in a grassy field

velvet and wool coat with a dramatic feel

bold octaganal sunglasses

I don’t think this is technically a Fall image, but I love the colours and patterns of these bold sunglasses and zebra collar combination.

retro inspired fall layered look

The socks and shoes pairing was definitely a trend a few years ago, but I actually don’t mind it as far as trends go, because it’s inspired by the even older trend of bobby socks and saddle shoes!

ralph lauren ad

I’ll end with this gaucho and blazer look from Armani, below, in 1998- it’s so classic that you could wear this today and look just as fresh.

Armani gaucho layered outfit

If you come across vintage fashion magazines in the thrift stores, buy them! They have so much good fashion inspiration and, because they are no longer trendy, you can really sift through the looks and determine which pieces were trendy and which pieces are classics. If you can look at a fashion spread from years ago and pick out pieces that you’d wear today, then you know you’ve hit on a Classic!

Which are your favourite looks of these? Do you like to page through old fashion magazines? It’s not as popular today, in the days of Pinterest, but do you save magazine clippings?

The Costumes of Miss Potter: Film Fashion Inspiration

miss potter standing by the lake

When I published this post about personal style a few months ago, one of the inspirations I listed was Beatrix Potter from the 2006 film Miss Potter. Not only are the costumes of Miss Potter some of my favourites, but the movie itself is also high on my list of favourite period films. Starring Renee Zellweger, Ewan McGregor, Emily Watson and others, with costumes by Anthony Powell, this movie tells the story of Beatrix Potter, the author of Peter Rabbit and other children’s books. I shan’t spoil the story it if you don’t know it, but definitely recommend that you watch it yourself, not only for the story, but also for the cinematography, the beautiful English scenery and of course the costumes!

When I watch historical films, I don’t usually mind if things aren’t “100% historically accurate” down to the very last buttonhole, as long as the costumes fit the story, are well researched and they don’t jolt you out of the timeline. If the costume designer displays expertise of the era that the film was set in, I’m not too picky if they have chosen to interpret and tweak history in a creative way for the purpose of story telling- please just don’t use any zippers or incorrect underpinnings! Thus, today, I’m not going to go over whether this film is historically accurate, or even accurate to Beatrix Potter’s real life, but rather, I’m sharing what some of my favourite inspirations are from the costumes in this film and how I have integrated those into my own personal wardrobe.

Costumes are such an important part of a movie, as clothing gives insight into how people present themselves and interact with the world and what message they are sending. Even in fictional movies, costumes can still demonstrate how people wear and move in their clothing and can give more understanding than a static photograph can.

miss potter reviewing her book in London

The film is set in the early years of the Edwardian era, from 1902- 1906, and is full of high collared blouses, peplum jackets with puffed sleeves and elegant walking skirts, but one thing I love is how wearable the costumes look.

miss potter sketching in the woods wearing a blue shirtwaist and brown skirt

One key feature of Beatrix’s wardrobe is her subdued, earthy colour palette. My own wardrobe consists of these colours- shades of brown and tan, earthy greens, smoky blues and creams. I think that these colours are specifically used to show Beatrix’s love of the countryside and connection to nature, especially the Lake District, which is reflected in her oft repeated colour blue. These colours all blend together extremely well too.

miss potter wearing a striped shirtwaist blouse

Beatrix’s costumes in this film are tiny bit Victorian, (mainly her small London hats) which I think reflects that her character doesn’t chase the latest trends, but is instead absorbed with her work. She also wears a very plain style of clothing, which is used to juxtapose her style against her mother’s which is a much fussier, ornate style. Other ladies are also shown wearing much more glamorous pieces, yet Beatrix is always bit pared back. Her clothing choices are far from boring though! There are so many subtle details that you miss upon first glance, but stand out with a second look.

miss potter in london wearing a jacket with contrast cuffs and collar and a bowler hat

I have realized, over time, that my favourite looks from the past are ones that are more traditional and classic, rather than the opulent, “fashionable” ones and I often find myself wanting to pare things back in my own wardrobe too. I am always drawn to classic styles over trends. Beatrix’s costumes are a great example of a character whose clothing has intricacy and detail, but is still rather minimal in ornamentation compared to the popular fashions of the time period.

cuff and sleeve details

Her clothing choices display many details; from extra long shirt cuffs, to contrast collars, to shaped waistbands, to unique buttons- there’s so much to take note of when you take a closer look. There’s so much inspiration for future sewing projects too! Using details like this adds interest and depth to your wardrobe.

I also appreciate that Beatrix has what would today be considered a “capsule wardrobe”; which is what a standard wardrobe for any time period before the modern era would have been. She is consistently seen repeating key pieces and mixing and matching them to create new looks. Her blue shirtwaist is a common repeat, as well as her brown blazer and walking skirt. Because each of her pieces coordinate with each other, she is able to create an infinite amount of combinations. This is such a useful way to curate your own wardrobe- one I am still perfecting myself!

miss potter wearing a pleated white blouse

Almost every outfit she wears consists of the tried and true skirt + shirt combination. She has a couple beautiful wool A-line skirts that coordinate well with her blouses. While I probably wouldn’t personally wear a floor length wool skirt like this, shortening this style to knee length suddenly modernizes the look, while retaining that classic look.

miss potter wearing a cream embroidered blouse

She also proves the value and versatility of a good white or cream basic blouse. She has several that she rotates through- each slightly different- featuring lace insertion, embroidery or pleating. While each individual blouse is different, they all coordinate well with the other pieces in her wardrobe, as well as providing a background for brooches and jewelry.

miss potter movie film stills

Speaking of jewelry, I absolutely love this long necklace she wears. Is it a watch? A key? A locket? I can’t tell and haven’t found any answers…what do you think it is?

miss potter reviewing her book

I really like how it clasps to her waist almost like a chatelaine or something. Long pendant necklaces are one item that I absolutely love to wear in my own wardrobe.

movie long necklace detail

There is just something so elegant about them, and I think they work quite well to add some jewelry without the flashiness of a statement necklace. Brooches are also an under utilized piece of jewelry today, I think. I have several vintage brooches, but don’t wear them nearly as often as I should!

miss potter in the lake district wearing her blue shirtwaist

Another wonderful part of Beatrix’s wardrobe are the straw hats that she wears while visiting the Lake District! This is the epitome of the cottagecore look- and I love it! I’m not a big fan of the tiny Victorian hats she wears in London, and I interpret the large informal sun hats that she wears while in the country as shedding the stuffy London rules and expectations and becoming her true self.

miss potter in london wearing a fitted wool jacket with a peplum

Her clothing evolves when she leaves London, becoming softer and more rugged. For example, she eschews her fitted, structured jackets for casual knitwear. I think this reflects her love of nature as a key component of her character, and shows that she has fully adopted the country as her own. She takes advantage of layering to create visual interest, as well as warmth!

miss potter in the country wearing knitted vests and sweaters

One final detail that I love from her costumes, are her aprons. You just can’t go wrong with a good apron when you’re doing some messy work around the house. I love historical aprons, because not only were they were designed to protect your clothing, but they look pretty at the same time!

miss potter wearing aprons over her daywear

Well, these are some of my favourite details from the costumes of Miss Potter. Have you seen Miss Potter? What are your favourite parts of her wardrobe? Are there any films that you draw fashion inspiration from?

miss potter unpacking her art supplies