Costume Design: The White Queen (2013)

The White Queen (2013 TV Series)

Telegraph Interview: http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/article/TMG10146930/The-White-Queen-Zips-Of-course-we-didnt-use-them.html

Daily Mail Article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2346670/This-White-Queen-travesty-Your-Majesty-Why-howlers-like-concrete-steps-metal-railings-rubber-boots-turning-TVs-new-period-drama-laughing-stock.html

For the costume design for The White Queen, there was a lot more controversy on the accuracy and authenticity as shown in the Daily Mail article where zips were shown on the costumes, which weren't invented until the 19th Century, corduroy for some of the male characters clothing (e.g. jacket worn by Robert Pugh who played Baron Rivers) was not around until the 18th Century, and, the rubber soles on the shoes worn by actors such as Max Irons, who played King Edward IV. There was a lot of controversy because the production cost £10 million, but the Daily Mail wrote, 'A BBC spokeswoman said the series aimed to ‘reimagine history’ and was not a ‘slavishly accurate historical account of medieval England’.

In response to the costume controversy, the costume designer for The White Queen, Nic Ede, said about the zips that 'there aren't any' 'Of course we wouldn't use zips. There are hooks and eyes, which are historically correct. But there's a lot of sex in the first episode and if the cameras had honed in on the hooks and eyes it would have taken poor Edward 10 minutes to get Elizabeth Woodville's clothes off.' This means that the Ede has tried to keep the authenticity of the clothing to how it was in the time of the Wars of the Roses, but only used zips for the sex scenes so that the undressing part of the scene could be done fast. 

For female dressing, Elizabeth Woodville's gown she wears when she is made Queen of England is authentic with 10m of brocade which weighed heavy (so heavy that Rebecca Ferguson (Elizabeth Woodville) had to see medical attention, so Ede made a lighter version of the dress), but stayed away from head pieces such as wimples and henins because 'Directors hate any kind of head pieces because they obscure the face and block light'.

For male dressing, the actors were dressed in long tunics, padded trousers and long boots as oppose to the more accurate short tunics, big breeches and curl-toe shoes because the accurate and authentic portrayal 'wouldn't have provided the same Mr Darcy moment'.

Here are some photos of the costumes used in the drama and some of the inaccuracies with the design: