We are doing something a tad different for Style File Friday this week, in honour of the last two episodes of Maisel airing! As I’ve said numerous times (see: here and here for a start), The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is one of my favourite period dramas ever. Rachel Brosnahan’s performance as Midge Maisel is one of the best I’ve seen on television (or streaming), and she has made her mark on the zeitgeist. However, unsurprisingly, my favourite aspect of the show is the fashion. The costuming is a snapshot of 1950s fashion -for both women and men- and they have nailed it. When I spotted this book available for my Kobo, I knew I had to buy it immediately. Donna Zakowska’s Madly Marvelous: The Costumes of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is a must-read for any fan of the show!
Madly Marvelous: The Costumes of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Donna Zakowska
Step into the wardrobe of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, the Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning series from Amazon Prime Video set in the late 1950s about a young Manhattan housewife whose life taken an unexpected turn when she discovers she has a gift for stand-up comedy. Costume designer Donna Zakowska reveals her early sketches, fitting photos, and finished costumes in this survey of spectacular looks from the show’s initial seasons. Explore the array of outfits that accompany the marvelous “Midge” on her journey from a seemingly perfect life on the Upper West Side to Paris to summer in the Catskills, and from her first performances in Greenwich Village to a glamorous tour with stops in Las Vegas, Miami, and New York’s Apollo Theater. With a nuanced color palette and bold style, Zakowska’s award-winning costumes pop onscreen and off the page, and set a fashionable tone for this witty, brash, and poignant comedy.
Why You Should Read This…
Donna Zakowska is the incredibly talented costume designer behind TMMM. She has done work in film, theatre, television, opera, circus, and even puppet theatre- she has one of the most impeccable eyes for design I’ve come across. And Madly Marvelous explains her entire process and motivation behind the Maisel costumes that we have all come to love so much. And in case you were wondering, she has won both an Emmy Award and a Costume Designers Guild Award for her work on Maisel.
What to Expect…
Sections include: “Made to Marvel”, “Uptown/ Downtown”, “Work & Play”, and “Red, White, Pink & Blue”. As you can tell from the last section, we do get a specific look at pink and the role that it plays on the show. However, I love that Zakowska broke the clothing down into where the characters were wearing them because at that time, they very much would have changed their clothing to go to a different place or do a different activity. She explains the clothing that they would have worn, but also how she recreated it and what specific designers and garments served as her inspiration! (We have both Fath and Dior shoutouts in the first season alone.)
Very unsurprisingly, my favourite section was the one looking at the Catskills costuming. I think that the Catskills episodes were some of the most inspired of the entire show, and the costuming played a massive role in that. However, I also loved the section on the Garment District, as well. We get to see it through Moishe’s eyes (and anyone who goes to visit him), but I’m not as well versed in US fashion history; I learned a lot.
This is a hugely visual book, as you would expect. She includes countless photos of all of the actors in costume fittings. It is a tad jarring to see Rachel Brosnahan in one of Midge’s outfits in her natural blonde hair, but gives incredible insight into how costume fittings actually work and how they developed in conjunction with the actor themselves. On a lot of period dramas, the costumes are rented and tweaked for the actor wearing them. (You can find websites that track garments across shows.) It is clear on Maisel though that these garments are made specifically for the actors and it more than pays off.
All in all, this is the perfect book for any fan of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel!
If you want more of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel now that the fourth season has aired, these are my favourite Maisel-esque books: https://anhistorianabouttown.com/books-if-you-love-the-marvelous-mrs-maisel/!
Are you picking up Madly Marvelous: The Costumes of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel?
Cheers,
The Historian
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