Italian Renaissance

The Italian Renaissance. You might have read about it here and there, or maybe you are an avid lover of period dramas, and are familiar with its affluence (or shall we say affluent higher society). Regardless of film or fact, Italian Renaissance fashion is bright and different. Far more different than whatever was going on in the Dark Ages, what with the black plague and all. Basically, Europe was a cesspool of deterioration and it took all the spirits God could sanction to lift that blackened veil from the eyes of its people. But we are not here to talk about THAT. More so to talk about the Netflix TV show, The Borgias. As avid of all avid lovers of period dramas, I fell immediately in love. Let me tell you, Lucrezia Borgia and a couple of other female characters (and not to mention her Cardinal brother, Cesare) in the show had me yearning for a lifestyle and time period to wear the adorned artistry on their shoulders. As beautiful as the clothing is, we must ask if it is accurate at all. Did the nobility of the 14th and 15th centuries really have such tastes? Or is it a ploy by the costume designer to modernize the clothing to fit the tastes of the modern-day audience? Unfortunately, it is the latter.

I am going to focus on the costumes Lucrezia Borgia wears. She is representative of other women in the show. At the beginning (spoilers!), she is about fourteen and unmarried. She is a bright and innocent girl, and her wardrobe portrays just that. She wears a lot of pastel pinks, and blues. One large inaccuracy is this. In this time period (early 1490s), only dark dyes were worn by the rich to signify their status in society. Basically, darker dyes like reds, dark blues and purples displayed wealth. Lucrezia does wear these darker colors later in the show to symbolize her loss of innocence.

The colors of Lucrezia’s gowns are not all that correct in season one, but they do get better, unfortunately no thanks to a complete ravaging of innocence by her snarly husband, Giovanni Sforza. What about the rest of the gown? The details of the neckline and sleeves? Not too bad, but again not accurate. To really understand fashion of the time, you have to look at the timeline. If in the future (like 600 years in the future), they made a movie about 2019 fashion, the TikTokers of our time would not be happy dressed in frosty lip gloss, low rise jeans, and huge belts. Same thing here, timeline is important.

The Borgias’ costumes, while stunning, have a mix of details from the 1490s and the 1500s. Lucrezia’s historical timeline is compressed quite a bit, but for tracking dates – she married Giovanni Sforza in 1493, and it was annulled in 1497. She then married Alfonso d’Aragon in 1498. So the show takes place between 1490-1500. Late 1480s-90 clothing included straight necklines with minimal to no cleavage, and snug sleeves with underdress puffing. There was little to no brocades and patterned fabrics. The underdress puffing is spot-on in the show. No cleavage, no way. There is in fact an abundance of cleavage on the show, and no one is surprised.

The Borgias’ costumes are really pretty, almost too pretty. The costume designer, Gabriella Pesucci, was nominated for an Emmy for their design. But they are not truly accurate to one time, let alone the period the show takes place in. The costumes are not terrible, but if you’re a stickler for accurate historical garb, you might shed a tear or two. But like most period drama TV and film, the movie is more for the audience, than it is for academia and historians.