'Wolf Hall' Costume Notes: Tudor-wear Fit for Royalty & Relations

Mirrors! Lights! Camera! Action! It’s time for another spin through the lookbooks of Wolf Hall's second season, The Mirror and The Light, in search of the most remarkable costumes. This week's column will cover Episodes 2 through 4 ("Obedience," "Defiance," and "Jenneke") of everyone’s deservedly favorite costume drama, taking us through several pivotal moments on Thomes Cromwell’s (Mark Rylance) way all the way down.

Funnily enough, Cromwell isn’t anywhere close to being included in this round-up, but he doesn’t dress to be noticed.

My pick for Episode 2’s Costume of the Week can only be Henry VIII’s quasi-Turkish masquerade costume, which I think of as Orientalist, But Make It Fashion. From the turned-up toes of the slippers to the voluminous turban, these are luxury pajamas for the man who might, at a moment’s notice, need to perform at the center of a saucy little dance ensemble. Henry Tudor (Damian Lewis) stands ready to serve! The yardage alone is extravagant, and the yardage of this particular fabric is almost shocking. The theatre kid energy emanating from this ensemble could power the electrical grid for Hampton Court Palace and the entire City of Westminster. It’s so intense that I’ve wondered for days if some of Henry’s general malaise could have been alleviated by being permitted to pursue a career on the stage. We’ll never know about that, but what we do know is that this getup is, as the kids say, a serve.