Ripper Street...

Ripper Street is a BBC mini-series set in Whitechapel. The series stars Matthew Macfadyen, Jerome Flynn and Adam Rothenberg. The first episode was broadcast on 30 December 2012 as part of BBC One's Christmas 2012 package. In the U.S. it began airing on BBC America on 19 January 2013. It was confirmed on 29 January 2013 that Ripper Street will return for a second 8-part series to be aired in early 2014.The story is set in April 1889, six months since the last Jack the Ripper killing, and in Whitechapel H Division is responsible for policing one and a quarter square miles of East London: a district with a population of 67,000 poor and dispossessed. The men of H Division had hunted the Ripper and failed to find him. When more women are murdered on the streets of Whitechapel, the police begin to wonder if the killer has returned. Among the factories, rookeries, chop shops, brothels and pubs, Detective Inspector Edmund Reid (Matthew Macfadyen) and Detective Sergeant Bennett Drake (Jerome Flynn) team with US Army surgeon and former Pinkerton agent Captain Homer Jackson (Adam Rothenberg) to investigate the killings. They frequently cross paths with Tenter Street brothel madam Long Susan (MyAnna Buring), who came to London with Jackson from America and lets him reside at the brothel. Their relationship becomes strained due to Jackson's attraction to one of her most profitable girls, Rose Erskine (Charlene McKenna), and because of his close involvement with H Division and Reid. The costumes were designed by Lorna Marie Mugan.

Red Riding Hood...

I found an interesting article on the costumes for Red Riding Hood including some great illustrations, you will find it below...

Like the name of the film suggests, the key sartorial piece was the storied red cloak that the lead character Valerie, played by Amanda Seyfried, dons when hiking through the snow to her grandmother's house and coming face-to-face with the werewolf that's been terrorizing the town.

To achieve the perfect rendition of the garment, Hardwicke worked with illustrator Kit Stolen on a series of illustrations before adding Evans (with whom Hardwicke worked on "The Lords of Dogtown" and "Thirteen") into the mix.

"Cindy began working on the cloak design, researching styles and fabrics from around the world," says Hardwicke. "We did a broad fabric search and even contemplated weaving our own cloth until I happened upon a heavy-woven, two-tone silk matka -- better known as raw silk -- which was perfect. I had a whimsical swirling pattern silk-screened about ten inches around the border and then had the pattern hand-embroidered over it using six different tones of red. It all turned out quite lovely."

In the end, the team decided on two cloaks: a shorter version worn in several scenes, and a longer and much more dramatic 20-foot cloak made entirely of velvet, which is beautifully displayed in a dream-like overhead shot showing Seyfried's character walking across the snow-covered mountains with the billowing cloak trailing behind her and whipping around in the wind.

Personally, Seyfried couldn't get enough of the crimson garment.

"It was beautiful," she says. "Wearing it did make me feel like a fair maiden in a storybook."

Of course, it's not just Seyfried's costumes (which also included a pale blue corset dress with removable leather sleeves) that made her perfect for the role.

"The way she looks is straight out of a fairy tale. She has an ethereal quality, with the most amazing eyes that just draw you in," says Hardwicke. "She had everything we needed for the character, especially because Valerie is not a classic damsel in distress. Amanda is tough, she's sexy, she's funny, she's vulnerable -- she has it all."

To add to the above, the costumes of not just Valerie but the entire population of Daggerhorn have the essence of fariytale, in the colour combinations and textures. But they are mixed in with a sense of practicality in the layering and choice of fabrics, something that makes the characters lives true, believable.