BBC Jeeves and Wooster -- Bertie's suits are authentic?

[Guest]

I'm working my way through the DVDs for the BBC Jeeves and Wooster series; the one with Hugh Laurie as Bertie Wooster and Stephen Fry as Jeeves.

Bertie and his dandy pals from the Drones Club are impeccably turned out onscreen. I'm curious about what people think of the clothes. Are the clothes accurate for the period? I noticed that the pleated trousers are high and have very small pleats, unlike the pleated fat pants that one can buy RTW.

Fun moment: Jeeves is horrified to discover that Bertie has had his handkerchiefs monogrammed, and then calls them "novelty handkerchiefs" and says that only people prone to forget their names get monogramming. They fight over some item of clothing in almost every episode.

[Guest]

I was going to post something on this myself when my copies arrived. Looking again at the first few episodes after 14 years, I was also struck by the high quality of the period clothing design, though not always the tailoring. Costume designer Dany Everett won a BAFTA - TV award for this series (1990-93). Bertie has some wonderful ensembles, including a dove-gray SB walking suit with DB waistcoat, and is aptly accessorized. Here, for example, is a shot at a slightly awkward angle of a 3-piece DB gray check with excellent brown hat, gloves, shoes, and and stick. Here as elsewhere the coat collar looks like it could be raised and shortened a little, and to my eye the "drape" at the outer chest looks a little hard for the period:

http://www.answers.com/topic/jeeves-n-wooster-jpg

Perhaps this last point, as with the pleats you mention, reflects early '90s English tailoring practice rather than '30s practice. In my limited experience SR tailors still cut skimpy pleats unless specifically requested to do otherwise. Maybe they did in the thirties too, but this suggests otherwise:

http://www.fashion-era.com/images/1914- ... 468x30.jpg

But those quibbles aside, the production team did its homework, and some great outfits and materials are on display (including those in questionable taste, used for characterization). The minor characters should not be overlooked in this regard. I especially noticed some wonderful tweeds in the country-house scenes, Possibly some of these actors were wearing their own clothes; who knows? Care was also clearly lavished on domestic details, and Fry is reasonably convincing in the scenes where he's about his valet's 'business.'