JOANNE Watkinson
A PEAKY INSIDE A HIT SHOW’S WARDROBE
I DON’T recall having ever written about Peaky Blinders before. I have usually been too distracted by Cillian Murphy’s Irish-Brummie accent and razor-sharp cheekbones to discuss the clothes in the BBC hit.
But, with the sixth and final series now airing, it’s time.
For those who have a Sunday night social life and have managed to avoid the Peaky phenomenon, the show is set in post-First/ pre-Second World War Birmingham and centres around the Shelby family who are gypsies, gangsters and business owners in that order.
It is at times blisteringly violent but always visually exquisite.
As it is awards season, I wondered what accolades the critically acclaimed series has picked up.
They include a smattering of NTAs and a BAFTA in 2018.
No heavyweight American awards, but the costume department has been acknowledged with a gong or two for the wardrobe which, in my opinion,is the star of the show.
When Peaky Blinders began, the family was just coming up in the world. The men’s costumes served to identify them as a gang, a street army, their peaked caps concealing their bladed weapons.
Scenes were often stolen by the show’s matriarch Polly Gray, played by the late Helen McCrory. The image of her leaning against a vintage car wearing a grey three-piece suit, fedora and sunglasses will live long in the memory.
As the series progresses, the family’s wealth grows and we are treated to the fashion delights of the Roaring Twenties and Thirties.
The Shelbys’ suits get sharper, their tweed switched for pinstripes as their social standing increases along with their bank balance.
Despite the gritty masculine storylines involving fascists and the IRA, the costumes on the women – Ada, the communist young widow Shelby sister and the statuesque Lizzie Shelby – Tommy’s second wife – really take your breath away. Fur stoles and trims on coats (all vintage, the show’s stylist has confirmed), drop-waist dresses, Mary-Jane shoes, pearls and diamond earrings, it is a visual feast.
You have to watch it... by order of the Peaky Blinders.