Dressing The Borgias: The Ladies

Well, we’ve come to the end, folks. This shall be the last Borgias-related post ever (unless these people succeed, which would be great). Sigh. I shall miss it. I loved these crazy kids. Ah well, life goes on.

Naturally, the show’s focus was mostly on the Borgias themselves, and those closest to them, but, admirably, there were quite a few very interesting peripheral characters, both male and female, who were permitted to be interesting and complex. On the ladies’ side, we had a guilt-ridden wife who became a nun, a rather sad lady who went completely insane, and an adversary so badass, she actually won the respect of the men whose asses she was kicking. And they all did it while beautifully dressed, of course. Let’s have a look.

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EditorBeeJuly 5, 2013September 29, 20137 Comments

Awards & Extras, Costumes, Renaissance, Series, The Borgias

Dressing The Borgias: The Men

Unlike the lucky ladies, the men of The Borgias tend to have a fairly set uniform, and you only really sit up and take notice when they change out of it. But, that doesn’t mean there aren’t still some interesting things going on, costume-wise.

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EditorBeeJune 29, 2013September 29, 20138 Comments

Awards & Extras, Costumes, The Borgias

Dressing the Borgias: Giulia and Vannozza

One of the things I loved about The Borgias is that the women weren’t relegated to a second-class status on the show. They weren’t mindless sex objects, helpless creatures, or characters whose stories relied entirely on the male characters. They were strong, intelligent, and forceful. They used the weapons at their disposal (not just their beauty or their sexuality, either) to forward their own goals, largely managed to retain their agency within the sexual constraints of the time, and won the respect of the men because of it. They were complicated–even the more minor roles had some interesting shades of grey–and they made the show that much richer.

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EditorBeeJune 23, 2013September 29, 20132 Comments

Awards & Extras, Costumes, The Borgias

Dressing The Borgias: Lucrezia

It may be that I’ve been spending way too much time on Tom and Lorenzo reading their Mad Style recaps, but I couldn’t help but think, while watching The Borgias over the past three years, ‘wow, there seem to be some interesting things happening with the costumes here’. I considered the fact that it was all in my head, but then I learned that the costume designer was Gabriella Pescucci who, among other things, did the costumes for The Age of Innocence. In that film, a lot of story is being told through costumes and colours. This woman knew what she was doing, and the stories being told were no accident. So, as a way of saying a final farewell to The Borgias, I thought I’d do a little costume roundup. Ready for this? Let’s start with Lucrezia.

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