Peaky Blinders Costume Stylist

Matt Squire / © Caryn Mandabach Productions Ltd. 2019

She also said she often finds antique accessories for Polly and adds them to the outfits. Is that unusual, for an actor to bring their own props? If an actor’s on their journey with the character, it’s sometimes important for them to find something they connect with. So I think it’s quite valuable actually; I’m not opposed to that. If there’s a piece that helps them connect with the character, then that’s fantastic.

She said you always used authentic vintage outfits. How does this compare to having costumes made from scratch? When you’re doing a period show, it’s important to capture as much period authenticity as possible. I find that today’s fabrics don’t tell the true story. So I find auction houses selling vintage clothes and fabrics, and then I’ll adapt from that. It ends up being a balance between vintage pieces and items made from vintage fabric. Sometimes we’ll have to re-weave a piece back together, but what you get is the right colour. What I’ve found is that when an actor walks into an authentic piece they really feel like they’re becoming the character, and that really helps them transition.

Do you try to make each female character stand out, with her own look?

It’s important to tell the story via the costumes, so there are a lot of conversations back and forth with each actor. Getting the emotions correct and whether they can move correctly in each costume. So Ada Thorne is a small-town girl who’s gone to America and done quite well. The clothing is a representation of who she now is. She collects art; she’s in a better social circle. So the choices in clothes make her feel like she belongs and she’s valuable and she’s worth it. It’s also reflected in her home styling.

And she wears lots of fur? Yes! Obviously it isn’t PC nowadays, so all the fur is vintage pieces. We were ambivalent at first but decided that fur was correct for the period.

For the male actors, how did you tackle taking over from the previous costume designer, with such an established, iconic look? The script really informed me where it should go. Because of Cillian’s character stepping up into the world and having more money, the clothes had to reflect that. So the script really lent itself to allowing me to move the costumes forward and make changes.

Is the men’s costume all tailored? Yes, all the male lead’s costumes are tailored, the shirts, suits, hats, ties, everything. At the end of

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