Costuming in "The Tudors": Jane Seymour

Sigh.

I find myself with a touch of sadness as I write this post. It's not because of Jane Seymour's story or anything. It's tragic, sure, but so is Anne Boleyn's. So is Catherine of Aragon's. So is Mary Tudor's. Hell, so is Catherine Howard's (and I hated her). It's because I feel like my best posts are behind me. The last four of Henry's wives only get half a season at most so most of their clothing choices are made based purely on establishing the character. None of them really go through any character development (except maybe Anne of Cleves) and none of them really have specific dresses with specific meaning.

On the personal side of things, I have already covered my favorite characters with the exception of Anne of Cleves and she has the least amount of pictures of anyone. Also, I'm not a big fan of any of the last four wives styles. It was all about Anne Boleyn and Mary Tudor's clothes for me.

Jane Seymour's style is . . . dull. It's pretty in the traditional sense but just not very exciting at all. Season two is a lot of sea foam green, season three is all about pinks and creams. Lots of flowery patterns. Puffed sleeves. Lace collars.

Eh. Not my thing, I guess.

Let's see if I can find something to say.


Season 2, Episode 7

Henry's first meeting with Jane Seymour at her father's place. Not much happens outside of her entering and greeting him respectfully and him being obviously captivated by her.

Jane is very intentionally dressed like an angel with these big flowing sleeves and the train and the fact that the dress is white with little gold detailing that matches her blonde hair. At this point Henry has decided to take a break from his life and especially, his wife, after the night when he and Anne had violent sex and she suggested that he kill off his daughter. The sexual element that drove Henry towards Anne in the first place (because let's be honest, he was charmed by her words but never really interested in her brain), is kind of absent in Jane (as is the brain, really; Jane was historically less educated than Henry's other wives particularly her predecessors). Henry generally finds in his next wife what his current one lacks. Jane is docile and virtuous and sweet where Anne is not and the clothes emphasize this.


Season 2, Episode8

 Henry invited Jane to be one of Anne's ladies-in-waiting (although she should have been one to Catherine as well but whatever).

She looks more normal here than she did in her introduction. The dress is very simple but it is clear she was trying to look nice. I'm not positive here but I think Jane's family comes from a lower standing than Anne's so her clothes are a lot more basic for that reason, most likely. The giant cross certainly sends a message of her innocence, a good protective element if she has heard anything about the queen or if she has speculations why she got this position in the first place.

Jane spends most of the time in season two in her uniform since Anne makes all her ladies dress exactly alike. The veil addition in the first shot is just because she's in church. What these scenes made me think is how Anne probably made this rule so that in some way her ladies would not stick out too much and potentially tempt the king away from her. Of course, here it doesn't matter because Henry is already interested in Jane. He even respects her innocence. It is appropriate how she is in cream.

Henry sees Jane before the jousting match where he hurts himself and asks for her favors.

Same dress and cross as before but with a matching cape instead of the blue sleeves (or whatever that was). The outfit choice is really only important for one reason that will arrive later.


Season 2, Episode 9

 Jane's family is given Thomas Cromwell's rooms in the castle so that Henry can court her in secret and her brother is given a promotion.

Jane is putting on her nicest dress to meet with Henry, that is clear. She wears a lot of shades of green in season two (perhaps a comment on her greenness? Har har) and here she has a grey-green shade.  Again, it's fairly unremarkable and clearly one of her own garments as it seems to fit in the same price bracket as her other clothes. Henry hasn't gifted her with clothes yet.

Anne discovers the locket Henry gave Jane and throws is on the floor in disgust.

Again, lady-in-waiting dress. She still has her position as of right now even though it is clear it won't be for long.

Try not to fall asleep on me, reader.


Season 2, Episode 10

Ah! Something interesting! Henry gifts Jane with new clothes and shoes and decides to marry her. After this, they take a walk and talk about how Jane would like to see Mary back in the line of succession because she thinks it would be best for the tranquility of the kingdom. Henry doesn't want the past to affect her purity or some silly logic.

Oh hi, sea foam green. How funny that you appear again when you arrived to give Henry your favors at what was presumably the first meeting you had with him after arriving at court that wasn't in your uniform. Henry must have liked that color on her or associates it with her favors that he may superstitiously believe saved his life. Of course, since these clothes were a gift from Henry, they are way more detailed and expensive with a paisley print and the interesting bodice. Was paisley a thing? If there is a modern connection here it would be that Jane is a hippy with her "peace and love" attitude towards politics and family.

Also, I just want to point out that prior to her marriage, Jane is really not a headdress person unlike Henry's other wives. She usually just has a simple string of beads or a little netted thing. No French hoods for her. Actually none ever. After she is married she just has crowns, headpieces or things like she already wears.


Season 3, Episode 1  

Ladies and gentlemen, your new Jane Seymour! . . . I mean queen.

Although Jane's clothes are kind of boring and standard pretty, this works in her favor as a wedding dress. This is a lot nicer than Anne's stripper wedding dress: simple, clean lines, lots of shiny white, a little bit of pattern on the bodice, nice but not showy jewels. The same white with gold detail that she was wearing when they met. Symbolically, she is ushering in a new, brighter era.

And for her wedding night we have a peasant blouse nightgown that makes her look like a doll. Purity!
I think I should just roll with this "Jane is a hippy" theory. Somehow her clothes manage to keep bringing me back to that thought even though they are in medieval times.

Jane meets Eustace who sings her praises including how he is happy that she is trying to restore Mary to the line of succession and calls her a "peacemaker". Henry watches from a hidden place kind of displeased.

Jane wears a lot of pink in this episode, and not really again after this. Specifically, she wears in whenever the topic of Mary becoming a part of Henry's life comes up and when she is having issues or disagreements with Henry.

 Jane meets her ladies who are also uniformed like Anne's were but in less flashy outfits and she whips out her family motto in a way Anne used to do. Then she pulls aside Lady Rochford and offers condolences for the death of her husband and the treatment she now receives because of it, appointing her principle lady-in-waiting.

This is the only time Jane has on a large headpiece as she usually favors small crowns or her old bead detail things. I guess she wanted to look notable for her first meeting with her ladies since she would have to be giving orders. She is in this burnt orange/yellow when talking to Lady Rochford on a personal level.

Also, while Anne seemed to dress her ladies alike because it would make them less noticeable, Jane seems to do it without any sort of plan and instructs them in a much more friendly and less strict manner than Anne did. She probably has them in uniform so as not to rock the boat with change and/or to make sure they are all looking nice and identifiable.

Henry tells Jane about the ship he plans to build for Jane's coronation. Then Jane begs Henry to not take action against his daughter and he pretty much tells her to not talk about such things and then changes the subject by giving her a puppy. He really hates when his wives talk politics.

Mary came up and Henry is in conflict with Jane so she's in pink. The style of the dress looks just like her wedding dress so I guess it makes sense that they are talking about her coronation since the two events go hand in hand. I'm also really amused by her neck thing here. It looks like a shirt collar. Or maybe it's actually the collar Henry has on her since this is the one time he almost threatens her for thinking of court systems and politics instead of just being a good little wife. Appropriately, he gives her a dog (dog, collar, get it?).

Jane gives Lady Rochford some of her jewels to deliver to Elizabeth's lady so that she can sell it and buy clothes for her. Then she again apologizes for Lady Rochford's misfortune and says it is no more her fault than Mary and Elizabeth's current situations.

I don't know. She wears a lot of off-white shades. It's kind of her default. I got nothing.

 Jane meets Mary and gives her a gift saying that she will be most pleased to see her reconciled with her father who then enters and gives her money and says that if she needs anything, she can just ask. 

Still off white shades but this gives me something more to go off. This is a very matronly, mature looking outfit and it is clearly meant to contrast with Mary's more youthful style of dress because Jane is trying to be like a mother to Mary. Also she is in a white shade while Mary is in black. She's trying to shine light into Mary's grim life or alternatively, Jane is hopeful for this meeting and Mary, after having to sign that contract, is not.

Jane talks about how she really likes Mary and says that Henry should invite her to court. Henry doesn't want to talk because he is disappointed that she isn't pregnant yet.

Mary plus conflict from Henry so she's in pink, the same dress she met Eustace in.


Season 3, Episode 2

Jane asks Lady Rochford how Henry is doing. Rochford expresses her hatred of the rebels which makes Jane uncomfortable and then asks her to arrange something.

This kind of burnt orangey yelllow comes up with Lady Rochford has a lot to say about herself and here her mini-rant about religion certainly has an impact on Jane. While it is never outright stated what Jane's religion really is, in the last season she was suspected of being a secret Catholic so Lady Rochford's words would probably really hurt her. Of course, Jane hates war in any form.

 Jane meets Henry in court after he has recovered from his injury and introduces Mary into court as the surprise present to Henry.

Jane is in her usual white but her sleeves and her skirt are a grey-green similar but not identical to Mary's court dress, connecting them in this plan. It's also interesting how her small crown is much smaller and less noticeable than Mary's silvery headpiece. I bet that was planned too so that Mary would be the star of the show. 


Season 3, Episode 3

 Jane has one of the least dreary church dresses so far. Instead of dressing in black, she wears a white fur robe and minimal head covering. Here she is contrasting with everyone. Her dress is the same color as Mary's but Mary's headdress is more covered. Also, Henry is wearing black fur. In religion she and Mary appear to be connected but Henry is not.

I already talked somewhat about Jane's Christmas dress in the Mary Tudor post. This is literally the only time we see her in a dark color and that seems very intentional when the scene is near its end. I think she is trying to sink behind the brighter reds of Mary and Elizabeth's dresses because it is a big moment for them when their father accepts them in the front of the room and calls them his family and she does not want to intrude on it. She is the darker red of the bunch with Elizabeth the lightest and Mary in between, allowing them to look like a color gradient and visually supporting Henry's statement.

 Jane is still contrasting Henry with black and white. In this scene Jane finds out that her father died and no one told her to try to keep her mind free while Henry is talking about the uprising. They are on totally different pages. Also, this hat is totally an "A lot on my mind" hat. She may not have had a lot before but she sure does now.

Jane is in pink talking about Henry's daughters and then she's also in pink because Lady Rochford tells her that Henry has taken a mistress. It's always both Henry's daughters and some other negative Henry situation when she's in pink.

Jane tells Henry that she's pregnant.

While pink is a bad color for Jane, green is a good one. She wears green through most of season two and now it seems to come up again whenever there is something for her to be particularly glad about. Before it was Mary's return to court and here it's her pregnancy.


Season 3, Episode 4

 Henry goes to see Jane and walks in on her washing her hair.

This is the only time she is ever in all blue, especially in a shade like this. I think it is just to make sure that this scene is memorable. This scene is completely free of conflict. It is a simple scene that should be forgettable but towards the end of the show, this is the main way Henry remembers Jane.

While in court, Jane hears about the payment practices Thomas Cromwell employs in the name of God and is horrified that the king allows it to go on. Later she wears this while Henry and Eustace discuss a potential match for Mary and Henry and Jane get a chuckle out of a sex joke that Eustace is unamused by.

This is Jane's court pregnancy dress. It looks like everything else she wears but accommodates for a belly. That's all I got.

This is Jane's more casual pregnancy dress but only more casual in a small sense. In comparison to Anne Boleyn's pregnancy clothes, Jane's look so much nicer. Maybe it's because she got pregnant so quickly so there was more money to invest in clothes? Or maybe Henry was more hopeful that she had a son? I don't know. The point is, Jane is still in off white colors with gold detail with some green peaking out underneath. All her best elements come together here.

 Here Jane says hi to her son with Mary and Henry around her bed as she is still bed bound.

This is the most regal she has ever looked and it's no surprise why. She gave the king a son. Now she is officially the queen by those ridiculous standards. She's got the whole nine yards: fur trimmed robe, red/purple dress, gold crown. This is her shining moment before the end.

And her dead body is presented in the peasant nightgown she wore on her wedding night, looking, as always, as innocent and angelic as possible.


Season 4, Episode 10    

This scene is incredibly problematic for me. Not because of the scene itself though. The scene follows the same structure as the other ones with his dead first wives where he sees her and she yells at him for not caring for their child well enough and she does so looking like a dark, ghost version of how she looked in life.

And it's true that this dress looks like something that is in line with the Jane Seymour style but in black with a blueish veil. There's the feminine detail around the neck and the fact that it's safe and not too strange . . . I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE. This is Catherine Howard's execution dress! Why, costume department?! What were you thinking?! This is one of two times that a wife wore another wives clothes and this is definitely the worse time. The Catherine Howard execution dress is a really important dress that I will explain when I get there. It is very memorable. It also happens in the same season as this scene. The same season! Did they really not have anything dark colored that could work as a Jane Seymour ghost dress that hadn't been used yet? Both Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn's ghosts were wearing entirely new clothes!

The point I'm making is: this is a fail. The dress itself is fine for the scene and everything but you cannot use the same dress for two scenes with different wives that are both memorable.


The end.


That was difficult. There's very little to go off here and there won't be too much more for Anne of Cleves. Things will get easier with Catherine's Howard and Parr I think though so stick with me.