Hi, thanks for the question. I will make a list of period dramas I find accurate or have heard good reviews about. I will be going in reverse chronological order of the time setting. Just to clarify, the accuracy of costuming has nothing to do with whether a drama/film is good or bad, I’m just being pedantic.
Feel free to add to this list!
In the Mood for Love (2000) 花样年华
Movie | dir. Wong Kar-wai, costume design Zhang Shuping
Set in 1962 Hong Kong. In this classic Wong Kai-wai movie, Maggie Cheung wears a whole wardrobe of 60s Hong Kong cheongsam that are both accurate and stunning. I could find very few problems with the costuming in this movie.
Set in 1937-42. Display of late 30s and early 40s cheongsam on actress Tang Wei. The costuming in this movie is not without its problems (especially with accessories) but overall it’s pretty solid.
Set in the early 30s. Story about the life and death of iconic 30s silent movie actress Ruan Lingyu, featuring Maggie Cheung in cheongsam that were mostly accurate to the time and Ruan’s personal style.
Set in 1884. A fairly accurate representation of 1880s Han women’s fashion, though I don’t know if that was because the costume designer actually knew what they were doing or just owing to the fact that most surviving antique garments from the Qing are from the late 19th century and the 1880s was the decade of stereotypical Qing fashion.
Set in the 1740s, also known as the 1850s, in the Qing Dynasty. The costume design got the era entirely wrong and recreated the mid 19th century instead, but if you pretend that the story is set in the mid 19th century it would be very accurate. Because the story takes place in the court, most of the costumes are Manchu court dress with occasional elements of Han fashion thrown in (sometimes incorrectly). Still infinitely better than most other Qing court dramas that dress their court ladies in republican era Manchu fashion :3 The materials and fabrics used for the costumes are also very cool and realistic looking.
I will be writing a review of the costuming in this show soon and I will link it once I’m finished :)
Song of Youth (2021) 玉楼春
Drama | dir. Gao Han
From @remo-ny on Tumblr
Set in the Longqing era (1567-72) in the late Ming Dynasty. The costuming here does have a ton of problems, but it’s still the best Ming Dynasty costuming I’ve seen in a long time, perhaps since forever. At least you can tell that it’s the Ming Dynasty, I’m not asking for more. I have to mention that the creator/writer for both this drama and The Story of Yanxi Palace are Yu Zheng, who is infamous for using costuming to promote his shows. While the fact that he is paying more attention to costuming in recent years is great, the way he markets the costuming is highly questionable and ignorant. He made bots or something pretending to be Koreans making claims on social media about Ming Dynasty clothing “plagiarizing” Korea (which is a bogus and Orientalist idea) so he could get back at them to gain publicity. Not a good look baby.
Set in the Renzong era (1022-63) in the Song Dynasty. Apparently the plot isn’t great, but the costumes are relatively solid. In fact, the costuming is pretty groundbreaking in terms of historical accuracy, especially the menswear. I heard that they consulted a popular fashion historian for the accuracy, and for once the costumes actually attempt to resemble the Song Dynasty. The womenswear seems like a miss though. I’m not an expert on anything before the Ming Dynasty so I can’t comment on exactly how accurate the costumes in this drama are but they sure look satisfying.
Set in the Xuanzong era (713-56) in the Tang Dynasty. I read that the costumes are more accurate to a different era within the Tang Dynasty but overall the materials, patterns and cut look very authentic and beat 99% of Tang Dynasty dramas that came before it. I, for one, really enjoyed the Central Asian patterns and men’s headwear representation. The show itself is also very well written and entertaining in my opinion so I will highly recommend this drama.
The costumes for Court Lady 骊歌行 are divine and largely considered pretty accurate from what we’ve heard. Being also a Yu Zheng drama, its actual story quality is…er, questionable, let’s say.
Yu Zheng also has another drama slated to come out some time in the future called 当家主母 / The Matriarch (not official translated title) set in some as yet undetermined time during the Qing dynasty that is not based on the imperial court. It looks like the costumes are of similar style of Yanxi so let’s hope the setting is a little later than Qianlong era.
We both have a lot of hopes for this drama, despite it also being a Yu Zheng production, and being majorly disappointed by both Court Lady and Song of Youth recently, so maybe the hope is a little thin at the moment. But here’s to maybe a miracle this drama turns out good, because the cast is great.
Hi, I think you’re referring to the show Ming Dynasty 大明风华 from 2019? I included a picture of their costumes in my review of Song of Youth as a negative example for Ming Dynasty costuming😅 I haven’t watched the show but from the photos of it I’ve seen they pulled some… weird, looks that were neither historically accurate nor from the 古装 guzhuang/“historical costumes” canon. The most notable things from that show were the stiff shoulder pads that resemble a type of Japanese men’s garment (the kind from the gif you included), the 海水江崖 waves and cliffs motifs on the emperor’s clothes and golden hats for the emperor etc., all of which are Ming Dynasty costuming no no’s. If you would like, I could write a full length review of the costumes in Ming Dynasty as well.
By the way this isn’t to say that the costumes don’t look good or people can’t find them aesthetically pleasing, historical accuracy is just one aspect of what makes the costuming of a show great.
