#phryne costumes

The seventh outfit of “The Blood of Juana the Mad” (Season 2, Episode 8) is a reappearance of her black crochet cardigan over a black shirt and pants worn briefly while she and Jack are deciphering the code hidden in the manuscript.

Her long-sleeved black cardigan is made of a variety of lace and rosette patterns, with a single button loop on the right side. It has wide sleeves, with solid knit bands along the hem and continuing up along the neckline. This is the third use of this sweater, appearing in 2x05 and also earlier in this episode when she welcomes Beatrice into her home.

Phryne wears a black sleeveless blouse with a sloping v-neck underneath, paired with her classic black silk faille wide-leg pants. This blouse can be seen previously in both 1x13 and 2x03 before showing up here.

She accessorizes with her long teardrop amber earrings, suspended below matching round beads at the post. One of her favorite bits of jewelry, we can see these earrings a number of times in the series, including 1x08, twicein 2x06, and earlier in 2x08.

Season 2, Episode 8 - “The Blood of Juana the Mad”

Screencaps from here,earring photo from the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) Facebook, photo compilation by me.

Miss Fisher’s sixth outfit worn in “Blood of Juana the Mad” (Season 2, Episode 8) is a rich brown tweed coat, a black blouse with necktie underneath, and paired with her classic black pants, a silk scarf and a beautiful felt cloche.

Dressed for both business and action, Phryne sports an elegant full-length tweed coat made with an array of various threads in shades of brown, tan, and russet colors. It has a single wooden button at the waistline, with long lapels and a standing collar, as well as two lines of dark pink piping going down the back, and along the sides as well as lining the short belt and decorative buttons in the back as well.

Underneath she wears a v-neck black blouse with a long tie in the front, seen previously in 2x06 and in the same style as her white blouse in 2x07, as well as her silk faille black pants. She accessorizes with a pair of amber teardrop earrings, worn previously in 2x06, black gloves, dark heels, and a silk scarf with orange on one side and a matte red on the other, with long fringe on the ends.

The scarf picks up the beautiful colors of the feathered adornment on her deep pink felt cloche. The hat itself was sourced from America and features a combination of antique and modern feathers in a variety of pink, orange, and purple colors. It is decorated with a pink ribbon hatband and a gold hatpin as well.

Season 2, Episode 8 - “The Blood of Juana the Mad”

Screencaps from here, promotional photos from the official Miss Fisher Facebook (x,x,x), hat photo anddetail photo from the official PinterestandLoran’s World.

The fourth outfit we see Phryne wear in “The Blood of Juana the Mad” (Season 2, Episode 8) is her classic rooster kimono, thrown over her pink lacey nightgown as she fights off Beatrice’s attacker.

Her kimono is made of black silk with a pink blush lining. It’s decorated with a variety of red blossoms and branches, along with a main tapestry of two roosters fighting each other. This is another item from costume designer Marion Boyce’s personal collection, and according to the Costume Exhibition Catalogue was “one of the last pieces that came out of China before they closed their trading borders in the 1920s”.

“I bought this years and years ago from a retro store, Gollyester in Los Angeles when I was doing Crocodile Dundee 3… it was the most beautiful thing I had seen. I’ve got a passion for Chinoiserie.” - Marion Boyce in the Series One Costume Exhibition Catalogue.

While this is its first appearance in season two, the kimono was regularly seen in season one, showing up in 1x01,1x04,1x06, and 1x10 before this episode.

Season 2, Episode 8 - “The Blood of the Juana the Mad”

Screencaps from here, promotional photos from the ABC Entertains Me Facebook(x,x), and a variety of sources (x,x),costume exhibition photofromBobbin & Baste’s Facebook.

The third outfit of “Blood of Juana the Mad” (Season 2, Episode 8) is Phryne’s pink nightgown, though only seen briefly, and later worn under her distinct fighting rooster kimono.

While Miss Fisher has worn a variety of pajamas and negligees, this particular nightgown is a soft blush pink with lace detailing inset into the shoulders that comes together in a flattering v-neckline. As we can see from the Costume Exhibition, it looks to be made of silk and falls nearly to the floor, with princess seams creating a beautiful silhouette along the front. 

As one of the staples of Phryne’s wardrobe, and a great example of luxurious fabrics as part of even her sleepwear. We’ve seen this nightgown three separate times in season one: 1x01,1x02, 1x04 and1x06 before appearing here in 2x08.

Season 2, Episode 8 - “Blood of Juana the Mad”

Screencaps from here, Costume Exhibition photos from Dayna’s Blog and the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) Facebook.

The second outfit of “Blood of Juana the Mad” is one of Phryne’s casual yet elegant at-home ensembles, with a crocheted black sweater over a soft white blouse and silk faille pants, complete with a slim scarf and accented with a white and black carved brooch.

Her soft, possibly crepe blouse has a gentle u-neckline, with the accompanying tie looped around her throat, rather than attached and loosely knotted as seen twice in2x07. The long scarf-like strip of fabric is held together with a beautiful black and white carved floral brooch, with wide scalloped detailing along the edge.

Miss Fisher pairs this with her classic white silk faille wide-leg pants, accentuated with a dark belt buckle made of two connected circles, and wears a black detailed cardigan with crochet rosettes on top. While the belt buckle and the floral brooch are new, the rest of her outfit has appeared in some form or another earlier in the series, with her blouse showing up twicein2x07, the silk faille pants being worn in multiple episodes (twicein1x01,threetimesin1x02,twice in1x04,twicein1x05,1x08,twicein1x12,twicein2x04, and twicein2x07), and this exact sweater seen in 2x05.

A comfortable, elegant sweater is one of Phryne’s hallmarks when at home, as we’ve seen multiple black loosely knit sweaters throughout the series (1x10,2x02,2x05,2x07, here in 2x08) and a navy one in 1x13, not to mention the multiple appearances of her cream cardigan.

She finishes the look with a pair of frosted teardrop earrings, and pointed black strapped heels.

Season 2, Episode 8 - “Blood of Juana the Mad”

Screencaps from here, Costume Exhibition photo from Dayna’s Blog.

The final outfit of “Blood at the Wheel” (Season 2, Episode 7) features the reappearance of Miss Fisher’s sophisticated home ensemble of her gold beaded cocktail bolero with a wide black band of silk tying it together over her black camisole and paired with her silk faille pants and gold heels.

Her beautiful lace bolero is crafted from gold beads on a black net worked onto  a floral design and is actually made of leftover fabric from Costume Designer Marion Boyce’s wedding dress. She’d always held onto the scraps and had just enough to create this cocktail bolero. Underneath, she wears her black camisole with small scalloped edging. We’ve seen this near exact outfit before in 2x02, with the addition of her banded sheer illusion blouse.

Phryne pairs this with her classic black silk faille pants, gold heels, and elegant jewelry as well. The large silver filigree necklace is an original 1920′s piece also owned by Marion Boyce, with a crystal drop pendant and small crystals in the chain of the necklace as well. It’s been seen three times so far, in 1x03and twice in1x12. Her brass swing earrings have been worn multiple times, and pick up on the metallic colors in her bolero and necklace beautifully.

Season 2, Episode 7 - “Blood at the Wheel”

Screencaps from here, promotional photo from Costume Exhibition photos from the official Pinterest, Bobbin & Baste,Lavender and Twill, and the 2014 Costume Exhibition Catalogue.

The eighth and penultimate ensemble of “Blood at the Wheel” (Season 2, Episode 7) is Phryne’s white driving jumpsuit, worn with a cream scarf, embroidered with an ‘H’ in honor of her friend Gertrude Haynes, crochet driving gloves, and a cap with driving goggles.

Her racing clothes are accurate for the time, designed primarily to protect the driver from dust and grit from the road. Open air automobiles often required scarves and special gloves to keep the motorists warm while their car was at speed, with advertisers specifically pushing car owners to have pairs of  “gloves for driving, gloves for wear when not driving, [and] gloves for working around the car.”

TheUltimate History Projectnotes: “Advertisers also recommended that women, who wore gloves on most occasions, adopt special driving gloves when riding in or driving a car. They were not, needless to say, told to buy gloves “for working around the car,” although many young women did know how to repair their own cars, simply because early automobiles were so unreliable.”

Caps and goggles with metal frames and glass lenses were used to protect the driver from flying pebbles, insects and other debris, with many racing caps designed with goggles built in. 

Although uncommon, women racers certainly did exist in the early age of automobiles. Violette Morris was a national champion boxer who often defeated men, competed in a multitude of sports, include cycling and auto racing in the 1920s, where she won the 1927 Bol d'Or 24 hour car race. Hellé Nice was a French model, dancer, and competed in multiple Grands Prix and other races, won the Grand Prix Féminin in 1929 and earned herself the nickname “the Queen of Speed” and a bright-blue Bugatti that she competed in.

In short, Phryne’s outfit and participation in the car racing is period accurate and a nod to several extraordinary female motorcar racers.

Season 2, Episode 7 - “Blood at the Wheel”

Screencaps from here, promotional photos from the official Facebook (x,x,x,x) and various sources, research photos from the Old Classic Car archives and Fast Women in History, with additional research from the Ultimate History ProjectandRacked.com.

The seventh ensemble Miss Fisher wears in “Blood at the Wheel” (Season 2, Episode 7) is her classic red plaid tweed jacket and skirt, along with two different red hats, and red leather gloves and purse.

Phryne’s luxurious red plaid jacket and skirt is a great example of 1920′s tailored suits for women. The fur-trimmed jacket is cut in straight lines with double-breasted buttons and a matching belt across the hips. The belt buckle itself is a brass imprint of a Pharaoh’s head set against a black background. Her knee-length plaid skirt is made of the same fabric and has two box pleats in the front.

We’ve seen this suit jacket and skirt combination twice before, in both 1x04and1x05, both worn with the red felt flower cloche she first wears in Jack’s office.

Interestingly, Miss Fisher wears two different red hats with this outfit. The first one is her red cloche with flower detailing created with both feathers and felt worn as she consults with Jack about the Adventuress’ Club records. This cloche is one of Phryne’s favorites, appearing in twicein 1x01,1x02,twice in 1x04,1x05,1x06,1x09, and here. 

Her second hat, also made of a red felt, is a cloche with a bonnet-like brim that frames her face well and has three ribbons in cream, red, and black wrapping around the top of the hat, complementing the three interlocking cream, red, and black felt circles. It was worn in the opening scene of 1x05, but has changed a bit since then. In 1x05 and on Mandy Murphy Millinery’s website, it has one set of plain circles on each side of the hat. Here in 2x07, the ribbons are closer together and the ends are flared at the edges, and both sets of circles have been moved to the right side and decorated with a series of black beads across the interconnecting lines.

She accessorizes with matching red leather driving gloves and a red leather handbag, as well as her bronze triangular earrings, seen on the right side of the Costume Exhibition photo.

Screencaps from here, promotional photos from the official Facebook(x,x,x), hat and jewelry photos from the official Pinterest(x,x,x) and Mandy Murphy Millinery website.

Miss Fisher’s sixth outfit of “Blood at the Wheel” (Season 2, Episode 7), features her classic silk cardigan with green brooch, her button-up white blouse, white pocketed pants, and black double strap heels.

When she confronts Pepper in her home again, we see Phryne still wearing her white button-up blouse with standing collar and high waisted silk faille white pants. The blouse has fitted cuffs and self-covered buttons, along with a white camisole underneath. She adds her familiar cream cardigan to transform it to a comfortable at-home outfit. This elegant cardigan was created from a length of silk rayon fabric costume designer Marion Boyce had owned for years, and only decided to cut it up when she began to design for Miss Fisher. The cream cardigan has appeared ten times so far in the series; 1x01,1x02,1x03,1x04,1x05,1x06,1x08,1x10, and twice here in 2x07.

She accessorizes with her black double-strapped heels, clear teardrop earrings, and her distinctive green sea anemone brooch. The brooch is made with tubes of ombre chiffon that allow it to float and move freely. She’s worn this eyecatching brooch four times, once before in 1x02, where she has the exact same outfit, and then twice with a silk scarf in 2x04and2x05.

Season 2, Episode 7 - “Blood at the Wheel” 

Screencaps from here, compilation photos by me.