I want to do a big long post about my thoughts on the costumes in this show. So I'm going to.
(Prefaced with this: I am an enthusiastic costumier with no formal training. I read a lot of books and talk to a lot of experts but its entirely possible -perhaps even probable!- that there is incorrect information in the following. Though I have tried to verify info where I can. Also where I am perplexed or put-off by a costume this is in no-way a diss to Phoebe de Gaye or any of the other amazing costume designers and team responsible.)
But firstIy, I do feel so conflicted about the costumes in this show: I am no way a purist when it comes to things being historically accurate but the female characters’ hair and costumes are so baffling to me, as choices, that they sort of hurt my head to think about?
Exhibit A:
I know what they're trying to say about her character and in that sense I think it's quite successful, but I just...I just don't know, you guys.
- but the male character costumes. THE MALE CHARACTER COSTUMES MY GOD.
Again, not always completely accurate but I think for the modern viewers we would accept historically accurate female fashion (ruffs, lace, bows etc) far easier than we would accept historically accurate men’s fashion (ruffs, lace, bows etc).
For context, this is the sort of thing actual Musketeers or men in early 17th C Europe were wearing (from 'Historic Costume In Pictures' by Braun & Schneider.)
Batshit insane silhouettes, is my main takeaway from this image. And square-toed boots, but we do actually get that in the show:
In the book, the four Inseparables are just soldiers who are not currently being asked to soldier, and so spend most of their free time whoring around Paris and losing all of their money until they get bored and challenge someone to a duel. Occasionally they are asked to take part in An Intrigue! but in the BBC Musketeers they are essentially some version of law enforcement/detectives/spies, and they are dressed accordingly. They have the 17th century version of leather jackets on, and though, again, not completely accurate it reads close enough to satisfy both history and characterisation in my mind.
See Aramis’ chemise/shirt? His suspenders? His costume is just a touch more flamboyant than the others. He has a little lace at the cuffs and the collar, a little extra decoration. His doublet has that lovely scalloped edging to it around the shoulders, his hat is feathered, he wears a sash under his (many) belts, and his pauldron is tooled with lovely swirling vines and leaves.
He is a lover of beautiful things, but at the end of the day, none of this decoration gets in the way of him doing his job, of his outfit being practical (he could even use that sash for a tourniquet or a bandage if he needed to).
For me this is absolutely A+ costuming for a man who is the contradiction of a lover, a man of (Catholic) faith, and a stone-cold killer. (I believe he is the only one of the four of them who is canonically mentioned to have been a career solider before he joined the Musketeers, so he knows more than anyone what works in a fight and what might just get in the way.)
Just…no notes, chef’s kiss, all of that.
Can I also please point out something I only just noticed, that Aramis appears to have tied the ties on his cuffs of his shirt somehow up and over his back to hold them up while tending to Treville when wounded.
Meanwhile, on the complete opposite end of things we have (dainty waist) Athos:
Now, I believe that this doublet may actually be more of a grey/black than the beautiful rich saturated blue that it comes across in the colour-graded shots of the show, but I am choosing to I believe that it is blue since the colour has a perfect aristocratic note to it. It is not showy - none of his costume is - but it speaks to a man who knows about nice clothing. This is a well-made doublet, with thick, smooth--grained costly leather. It is probably more expensive than the others’ clothing, because while Athos has turned his back on his title and his status he undoubtedly knows the value of paying upfront for a well-made and tailored piece of clothing that will last him for years (please see the Sam Vimes Boots Theory of Socio-Economics for further reading).
Here is a man who has renounced all worldly belongings but will never renounce good taste. The only things he cares about (other than wine, and he has taste there too, though his need will often see him partaking in the cheap and sour variety if it’s all that’s around), are those he needs to keep him warm and dry and safe: his doublet, his hat, his boots, his weapons, his horse. He pays properly for good quality things and he cares for them so that they will see him through, probably into his dying day. Like everything else about him, to a casual observer there is nothing out of the ordinary, but look a little closer and you’ll see the craftsmanship, the quiet style that speaks of a wealthy background.
Another shot of the lovely doublet - especially OBSESSED with those domed brass buttons and the beautiful buttonholes. He's got some great high-waisted breeches situation going on there. I can't speak to the historical accuracy here but he does wear them rather well.
Also note his natty little scarf. Again: it's not showy. It could probably do with a wash. It's very practical, and probably nicely made.
From the first photo you can sort of see a hint of that pointed front to the doublet which was a Thing in the 17th century, as shown in this image, from the same book as mentioned previously:
You can see in this image that he has a little lace at his collar and most likely at his cuffs too, which would have been commonplace at the time, but the very fact that he keeps his collar tucked underneath his doublet - unlike Aramis - feels telling: lace would have been totally handmade in this era and therefore could be quite expensive (I believe it started to become mechanised in the late 18th century). To my untrained eye it looks like linen bobbin lace (I have had a go at making this and it is NOT easy. Lace has a fascinating history!)
Okay! Porthos!
....has the most ostentatious lace of the lot of them! As I said earlier, lace would not have been cheap. He also has a doublet that somehow manages to be both highly decorative/would undoubtedly have taken the longest to construct (all those tiny "scales" and their studs) and yet also look the most like armour (those scales again, look like a gorget on a suit of armour, and his pauldron is arguably the most armour-esque of the lot)
The frustrated costume designer in me loves this, LOVES this for him. In the books we are first introduced to Porthos as a man who cares very deeply about how people see him, and that he is regarded as having money and class (he is seen boasting about his new beautiful embroidered sash and literally stars a duel with d'Artagnan, whom he is only just met, when the boy lets everyone know that it is plain on the side hidden behind his cloak - ie. he could not afford a fully embroidered sash).
So firstly, to have this version of his character be a man who grew up in poverty in the slums of Paris is such a stroke of genius IMO. Here is a man who has never been handed anything, and has literally had to build himself from the boots upwards. He knows intimately what poverty does to a person and he will do whatever he can to raise himself from it. He appreciates and aims for the safety and comfort that being seen to be wealthy offers.
Look at all that slashing/decoration on his doublet. People has slashes in their clothing literally to show how wealthy they were, and to show the costly fabric of undershirts, doublets or chemises beneath. (interestingly, here Porthos' slashing is all show: there is nothing showing through underneath it.)
Porthos knows he will never be as effortlessly beautiful - or regarded as such at least - as Aramis. But he is trying, very hard. And yet, his doublet is armour: he is a big man and he knows the world is cruel and violent. Not only is his outfit in no way impractical despite its decorative nods, it is also defensive. He is holding himself in, upwards, and keeping others away.
His gloves are big, gauntlet style to protect him when he fights. His sword is HUGE compared to the rapiers wielding by the others. He has the strength to wield it, but it's also about the look of it, the intimidation of it.
It has a lovely basket hilt which is decorative as well as protective. (Note the size difference in the blade compared to the other swords).
Finally, d'Artagnan.
I can't get a great image of this costume, and he only seems to wear it at the very beginning of the first episode, in the scene where he and his father come to the tavern and are attacked. It looks like some sort of shearling-lined waistcoat, and I love how weathered and used it looks. This is a country-boy, and not only that but more than likely a sheep farmer, since Gascony is I believe historically a sheep farming area. I'm guessing that he changes - somehow - into the following outfit to visually show his becoming more of a Musketeer man-about-Paris and less of a bumpkin:
Lovely suede doublet there. One of the things I love about these costumes is how lived-in they look. They really feel like they've been slept in and mended and used. However, I find it deeply troubling that the grain on his sleeve there looks...almost...like alligator leather? And I'm pretty sure they don't farm those in Gascony.
Shout-out to Constance's lovely bodice and collar, which appears to my amateur eye like the most period-accurate women's costume of the entire show and barely appears for more than a scene or two.
I mean look at that! Those lovely "bow" tabs on the bodice! Don't look at the shoulders because I have never ever seen a shoulder like that before but maybe I'm wrong I dunno but also DON'T LOOK AT THE SKIRT or whatever the hell is going on there. Also don't look at her stays poking out at the bottom. Just don't. Please don't. The bodice. The bodice is nice. It has that lovely high-waist and the godets in the peplum section (I just made this bodice which is quite similar to Constance’s here, except with a stomacher and front lacing:)
WAIT back to d'Artagnan:
Even when the show is up and running and he has this same sort of signature doublet in this beautiful cognac leather. Part of me thinks he's trying to emulate Athos a little here, with the sleek, simple and well-cut doublet that will see him through anything.
Oh look, this picture if great because you can really see its the weird alligator suede sleeves again but he has some lovely slashing/punching on the doublet which here feels reminiscent of Porthos' doublet.
His costume definitely feels like it's the youngest of the lot of them. He doesn't care for much for fashion but likely wants to be respected by the others. His costume doesn't draw much attention to itself but is extremely sleek and practical. In the books d'Artagnan's father was a friend of Treville's and I think the assumption is that they are not necessarily the lowest of classes, though certainly don't have a great deal of wealth. And the impression I got from the show, especially when d'Artagnan's farm was raided and burned by Lebarge, is that it is a sizeable farm and not some subsistence farm or a tenant farm that's rented from a local comte or other wealthy landowner.
So d'Artagnan's family are kind of doing okay - enough to be able to afford some good quality clothing - while it not being in their character or desire to be beautiful or decorative in particular.
The suede and the green gloves also give much more of a rural feel to his costume than the others.
Note of appreciation for the bandy-legs.
I could say a lot more (the women's costumes, the minor characters' costumes, the extra bits like cloaks or disguises, SYLVIE, for instance) but maybe I'll save that for another day!
