It seems that costume dramas are becoming more and more a mainstay this day in age. These days some of the most popular shows on TV – Downton Abbey, Mad Men, Game of Thrones, and Masters of Sex, to name a few – are all known for their lush, period-perfect costuming. But out of this costume drama renaissance is coming a new conceit: a freedom to be more than a little anachronistic.
Reign‘s utterly gorgeous costuming has been the subject to its fair share of controversy for just this reason – its costumes play with what we would traditionally expect from a drama about Mary Queen of Scots. Instead of carefully constructed whalebone corsets with hand-sewn pearl trims, Mary and her ladies in waiting tend to prefer the stylings of Reem Acra and Free People.
History buffs take umbrage at what seems like disregard to detail, but I like to think of it as liberating. Without the constraints (literal and figurative) of period costuming, Reign’s costume department (helmed by Meredith Markworth-Pollack) is free to concoct even more creative looks that both reflect their characters and appeal to their young audience (hopefully, we’ll be seeing a lot of Reign-inspired looks at this year’s proms). Personally, I’m a huge fan of Shakespeare, and have seen dozens of productions of his plays. Rarely is the period accurate costuming as enjoyable as the thrown-together creativity of lower-budget productions that source their costumes from the local thrift stores – not that Reign is on a budget; their girls dress in high-end designers that most of us could only dream of – but therein lies part of Reign’s charm.
Here, Mary Queen of Scots (portrayed by Adelaide Kane) wears three outfits – on the far left, her vintage Alexander McQueen was reportedly chosen for its armor-like yet romantic appearance; a metaphor for Mary’s character. In the center, she wears a lovely ball gown by Basil Soda, accessorized with a jeweled headband which reads just as regally as it needs to. And on the right, she wears an unstructured cream lace long-sleeved dress (J. Mendel), accessorized with a suitably romantic crown of miniature red roses.
It may not be historically accurate, but damn if it isn’t gorgeous.
