The complete Gentleman

As Gentleman Jack prepares to return to TV, an exhibition in Halifax explores the remarkable fashions of Anne Lister and her neighbours. Stephanie Smith looks at 1830s style.

As she strode out across her fields and through the streets of Halifax, Anne Lister must have cut a striking figure. The nickname “Gentleman Jack” was coined as an insult, to mock her independence, her sexuality and her style, dressing in clothes considered to be men-only as she audaciously went about earning her own money.

Thanks to BBC/HBO drama series Gentleman Jack, her story is famous the world over and it has given us a fascinating insight not only into the style of trendsetter Anne, but also of her contemporaries, welldressed Yorkshire women at the forefront of fashion in early 19th century England, because they lived at the heart of the textile industry.

“We know that Anne Lister had a unique look and style. She chose to wear all black but that wasn’t common for the time,” says Elinor Camille-Wood, curator of Bankfield Museum in Halifax, where an exhibition opens today to tie in with the launch of series two of Gentleman Jack.

Fashion in Anne Lister’s Time (17911840) explores the clothes worn during Anne’s lifetime, and shows how her style contrasted starkly with what her female peers wore. There are costumes from the first series of Gentleman Jack ,in anticipation of another larger exhibition later in the year when there will be a worldexclusive presentation of the series two costumes created by Tom Pye.

Stylish Halifax folk would have been among the first to see and wear the latest trends. Elinor says: “This was a time when fashion plates were coming into their own. France was leading the way in what fashionable ladies would have. We were importing fabrics, but also exporting as well, so able to get some of the latest fashions into this area. They had access to all the textiles and cloth that was making these fashionable dresses.”

One exhibit looks at where Anne would have shopped, with dressmaking and hairdressing shops on the high street. “Dressmakers ranged from the local lady who would take in things to bigger shops where you would have a whole group of dressmakers creating outfits,”

PICTURE: JIM VARNEY/ABERRATION FILMS. FASHION FINERY: Bankfield Museum offers a glimpse in what the good ladies of Halifax wore 200 years ago.

BLURRED LINES: Main picture, costume designer Tom Pye has created new outfits for Anne Lister, played by Suranne Jones, in series two; below left, Sophie Rundle as Ann Walker; below right, Joanna Scalan, right, wears a flamboyant yellow and black gown designed by Pye – in the 1820s and ’30s, hairstyles were becoming increasingly elaborate. PICTURES; BBC/LOOKOUT POINT/ HBO/AIMEE SPINKS/ SAM TAYLOR.

PICTURES: JIM VARNEY. CATWALK OF OLD: The museum exhibition includes an 1830s dress, top, 1830s accessories, middle, and an 1820s dress, above, with Pye’s new costumes going on show later this year.