The bar has been set incredibly low when we’re impressed with “well he’s wearing pants!”

"This isn't the worst costuming I've ever seen for a Hollywood viking he's wearing pants" Thank you Hollywood for giving us such low standards that wearing pants is considered "not bad"

When you said that movie was filmed in Florida it all clicked. That longship is like one of those deep sea fish that dies if taken from its habitat. By trying to take remove the boat from Florida, it couldn’t survive. As a resident Floridian myself I can confirm we perish if removed from our terrible swamp waters.

Some insider track gossip on the costuming from the 13th warrior...I had friend making props. The first costume designer started making historically accurate Norse costumes but they did not pass muster and they decided to make the look more fantastic. All of the warriors are supposed to be from different parts of the Norse World, or were, in the original concept brief. I went to the after production sale of the costuming and purchased stunning turtle brooches, a great long pinned penabular brooch of Irish design and some to die for herring bone wools which were purchased for costuming but then never used. I got enough wool to make several outfits and spent only 5 dollars for my turtle brooches and Irish pin.

My guilty pleasure is soaking in the tub eating oatmeal and watching costubers actually ROAST the film industry. Bless.

If the costumers on set thought vikings should be portrayed without pants then they probably never been to Scandinavia in the wintertime 😂 IT’S SO COLD HERE!

If you haven't yet seen the Norwegian series "Norsemen" that is a completely superb parody of the "Vikings", please do. They are really doing a very number on "leather dressed warrior"-women and plunging necklines for the "sit at home"-women. 😂

I have spoken with a man that was prolific in both the theater the film industry of a different country. He said that one of the banes of historical accuracy is the director. The background extras are often reinactors, or people that already had their costumes, while the costumes for the actors are bound to be influenced by the director, who either is trying to convey a message, using the language of the medium, or aping tropes.

What I'm mostly baffled by is why Janet Leigh's braids are pinned to the wall when she's in the weird pillory thing. To stop her from moving her head around maybe? It looks really weird in any case 😂

"The horniest horny helmets". Your absolute NOPE faces in this are awesome.

Should I be studying for my medieval art history exam? Yes Am I watching this instead? Absolutely yes

100% enjoying your Antonio Banderas commentary. On a side note I'm also a theater costume designer. So glad I minored in history while I was doing drama school. So useful! I also had the best costuming professor ever, who was constantly challenging us to back up our designs with historical research. Learned tons!

There seems to be a "three longships" minimum for wearing pants, and I'm here for it.

You should keep an eye out for an upcoming film from Robert Eggers called "The Northman". The director has quite the love for historical accuracy, so the movie may buck the trend of inaccurate cinematic Vikings. There ought to be a trailer dropping sometime this year.

100% here for Jimmy in full fan-squee over a young Antonio Banderas. So adorable. And relatable. 😂

Oooooo know what'd be fun? If you reviewed the costumes in music videos of "viking metal" /norse folk bands like Skald, Amon Amarth, Tyr, Ensiferum, Wardruna etcetc

I was at one point pretty into the 1958 The Vikings, and I know that they did invest in decent research for the time. It always tickled me that the ships used in the film, built by copying ships in museums in Norway, were too small for the actors. I'm giggling that the one long boat you gave to The Norseman was the one that sank in Tampa Bay.

Hi all! If there's a TV show or film you'd like to see me do a "fixing the costumes" video for, here's the place to say which! It can be a specific character from a show as well! And yes, I know it’s not Janet Leigh.

*Grabs popcorn* oh, this should be good. Horned helmet galore!

In the Victorian Era: Costume designer: Shouldn't the actors be wearing trousers or at least pants? Person sewing the costume who hates creating trousers: The people want to see the legs! It'll fill the seats! Edit to add: and now all media vikings have bare legs and horned helmets from their trade agreements with North America

I cannot get over the fact that an attempt was made in The Long Ships to figure out what armor looked like in the Caliphates (no matter how badly executed) but then the same designers made the decision to just throw the ladies in belly dancer costumes and gave Sidney Poitier a white jacket and weird purple tie. Like excuse me? Have you SEEN the manuscripts from the Caliphates? Those clothes are SPECTACULAR! The silks! The swooshy pants! The adorable little backless shoes with pointy toes! (Fair caveat that of course literally everything we know about the medieval Near East is relatively recent and yes we need to give them some slack because it was the '60s and they didn't even translate the ibn Fadlan and ibn Battuta diaries until the '70s)..Anyways...awesome video! Loved it!

It's not a Hollywood film, but it would be interesting to know what you think about the Icelandic film The Raven Flies.

I'm in charge of costuming an outdoor passion drama set in 1st century Jerusalem each year & inherited a lot of "bad" costumes. Thanks to the information you (& others like you to whom I subscribe) provide, I am learning about what is historically authentic so that I can recreate it to the best of my ability. 💖

I am never ever going to complain about Tony Curtis with no shirt on (He was my idol when I was young) and I'd never notice the costume when he was on screen :D Loved your 'critques' and, as ever, learned a lot, especially the idea of theatrical costuming influencing film costuming.

In the 1964 movie the "metal" bits were probably balsa wood as plastic wasn't used very much. Could also be Bakelite. Love your rating. And much agree with your statements on Mr. Bandaras

"I have seen a lot more of Russ Tamblyn than I wanted to." ....is that even possible ? On another note, I find the reuse of costumes on stage and on film absolutely fascinating. The French Stage Costume Institute (CNCS, fascinating place, found in Moulins, dead in the middle of the country) has got at least two 18th century velvet suits that were acquired by la Comédie Française at some point in the early 19th century, and that have been worn on stage for productions of Marivaux and Beaumarchais well into the 20th century. The breeches are tattered, and patched with what I think is gauze (?), but we know for a fact they were worn on stage in the 1930s. As part of their Noureev collections, they also have a "1770 robe à l'Anglaise" that is very clearly 18th century floral silk, and while the back and the sleeves look pretty much like the real thing, the front has probably been remodelled three times because it is *very* weird. It's likely also been shortened, unless it was already a stage dress to start with, which would be amazing to know. This dress was worn in 1987 for a production of Atys which, yeah, was written in 1676, but let's say an 18th century dress is close enough !

Throwing axes at her and they stick IN STONE? For the rest, I give you 10 LONGBOATS! Though I agree about Antonio!

Whoa, now! Who is this baby-faced creature before me?? Also, that info on the Secret of N.I.H.M. swordfight is *super cool* !

The 13th Warrior deserves ten longships for the cast and crew having viking spirit and surviving the shoot. It was one of the most troubled productions in movie history.

You're just a gem, you know? This was a treat.

That was interesting! It was really neat seeing how the bad costume tropes come from Victorian opera costumes, because bad 18th century costumes are pretty similar. The shiny white wigs and shitty stacked lace jabots are straight out of Victorian fancy dress party/theatre costumes & rococo inspired fantasy paintings and are somehow STILL showing up in films to this day. I do not like all the leather things with no linen underneath them :( It looks so uncomfortable.

Oh my god. Historical movie costuming snark that recognizes when attempts are made and also very much gay energy... I love this. (I've done film costume work and dear lord, those good attempts were probably stuffed in there last minute so the director/producer who wanted the actress in a bikini or a chiffon GoT handmaid number wouldn't see)

Starting the week off with Scalding Commentary from you and Abby Cox. February is going great!

Draug is the most accurate Viking movie I've seen to date. EDIT: The boat in the '58 movie The Vikings was supposedly a reproduction of an archaeological dig boat. Apparently the people who used it were much shorter than the cast of the movie, and the cast had to sit every other seat to fit.

Those leather lamellar armours, I wonder if the designers saw pictures of stave churches and concluded "the vikings wore stave churches!"

John hurt is the person who indirectly got me in to sewing because of the patch work outfit he wore in Jim Hensons The storyteller

You are FAR too kind to give ANY longboats to a film where not one man wore a thing on his legs in the Viking era! 😂😂😂 I kept thinking, “whaaaat?” I would be laughing through out the entire film! And the women’s attire reminded me of the first Star Trek’s mini skirts and form fitting clothes! It’s fun to watch you be so kind, though!

I bet the background extras in Outlander look decent bc they put out a casting call for the local reenactors 😂 I would love to see a video on how you would improve costuming, please and thank you. 🖤

What's with the bondage braids?? Going to have to check out the Secret of Nimh fight scene again. I adore Monty Python. If Antonio Bandera hadn't been wearing pants, I'm guessing the long boats would have gone up to an 11. Thanks for the fun, Jimmy. There's a Star Trek Voyager episode based on Beowulf (called Heroes and Demons) that has some interesting "Viking" costumes.

There's a weird tradition of showing the movie Ivanhoe from 1982 on New Years Day in Sweden. So I'm very nostalgic about it and when I hear you speak of knitted chainmail all I can think of is the sparkly sequinlooking chainmail. I would love it to bits if you made video of some sort or other commenting on the costumes in the beautiful mess that is Ivanhoe!

Not that it's bad content, but as someone who doesn't watch film or television, I am not invested in these types of videos and mostly just watching because Jimmy is amusing even when I'm completely lost

33:22 The vest... I usually associate wicker with furniture, not fashion ^.^ Thanks for the video :) I haven't seen any of these, but at least I know to ignore the costumes if I watch them.

There’s every chance that the background extras in decent kit are historical re-enactors. Often hired *because* they’ll have their own gear and save the costume budget a fortune.

I'll go dive and find that longship if you can find me authentic period scuba gear :P

It would be spectacular to see you get to the root of the issue- fix Wagner's Ring Cycle costumes!!

You would think that due to vast the cost of making these films and tv series that they would spend some of the budget on hiring someone with knowledge of the costumes and weapons of the period. I am enjoying watching your videos.

Please, please, please take even deeper dives into analyzing anachronisms in Viking-themed television and films. As a visual artist trying to represent period clothing in my work (and often hearing things like "why don't your viking have horned helmets?"), it is so helpful to have sources I can direct people to for an education of the subject.

Also, from the early 1900's to the 1950's and early 1960's, we're talking about the old Hollywood studio sysem. They would've reused costumes and even sets from earlier movies. Actors were on contracts, similar to the contemporary British theater, where you took the roles you were given, not the roles you wanted. ;)

As much as I enjoyed Eaters of The Dead, and 13th Warrior as good fun I really was hoping that someone would call out the Gladiator Murmillo style helmet used by one of the warriors in the movie. When I first saw it I blurted "oh seriously!?!?!" , like whyyyyyy!!!!!!

You said five and a half longships and I was like “but, Jimmy, that’s only five ships. The half a ship would sink”. I’d take myself home, but I’m there already.

I'm glad you watched these so we don't have to.

I think you were MUCH kinder than I was during that ;)

I'd really like to hear your take on what the MCU has done with Thor, Loki, Odin, and the rest of the Norse pantheon.

Phew! Thor: The Dark Lord, slips by without a mention. lol

Roasting costumes ft occasional thirsting? Hell yeah I am here for this

I only recently discovered your channel, so busy working through your videos. I found this one especially interesting for a couple of reasons. Firstly because I grew up watching films such as 'The Vikings' and The Long Ships'. And of course to some extent that influenced my ideas of what a Viking looked like. Secondly, something like thirty (or more) years ago I was asked to do a couple of illustrations for posters/flyers for a London stage version of Erik the Viking. I had no time at all for research, I just had to set-to and quickly come up with something eye catching and by that time the Victorian ideas of how a Viking looked were being updated, which I wasn't aware of. So you would probably sigh if you saw them!

I've seen some people reference websites where costumes used in films are cataloged, so you can see certain dresses and things used over and over through the years and sometimes even in different time periods. It's really interesting! It also makes me wonder where they're stored and how they're laundered. If you've got the time, what's your take on the outfits in animated movies? Like How to Train Your Dragon, etc.

You missed Island At the Top of the World (1974) --- about a lost Norse colony in the Arctic who are still wearing their Viking costumes in 1907. And The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent (1957). Also, could it be that the characters in The Long Ships were Viking Public School boys dressed in short pants for that reason?

It has become my life's work to point out inaccurate costumes in films and TV shows 😂😂😂 Also what do you think will happen first, historical accurate costumes or people wearing corsets in movies without complaining?

My Anglo-Saxon tutor at university was an advisor on The Vikings - maybe why the Anglo-Saxon costumes aren't too bad.

Honestly hadn't heard of a lot of the early movies in this video but they're crazy. Definitely will have to look them up just to check them out. Really enjoyed this video as always!

I would pay real, good money-dollars to see you roast the costumes in The Last Kingdom, especially the Welsh characters in season 4. I think they were in season 4.

My favourite costuming choice in The 13th Warrior is the Roman gladiator helmet.

The Vikings was one of my favorites for a long time. I have the DVD and the extras had an interview with the production design people and they based their costumes and set off research from Sweden, or so they claim.

Particularly since Vikings was on the History Channel here in the US, it is depressing how unhistorical accurate their costumes were! This was a highly entertaining video.

I never thought I'd hear my favorite childhood movie, The Secret of NIMH, mentioned in my adult life in a Viking costuming accuracy video, but here we are! Phenomenal reference! You are a fountain of knowledge. Great video all around. I also loved the bit about some "bad" (historically inaccurate) Viking costuming being because of theater history. How interesting! And at the time, I'm sure they were probably quite proud of it (and in a way, should've been. It was "historically" accurate in a weird sort of way. I mean, it wasn't... but it sort of was.) How interesting. Another wonderful video! I've been enjoying these so much. I don't find many videos on this somewhat niche interest of ours. How fun!

That's a lot of no-pants shenanigans...

Sometimes "extras" in these movies are from local reenactment societies like the SCA or the Empire of Adria. When I did reenactment years ago, I had friends who were extras in historical movies, and their main complaint was that the lead actor's costumes were less period correct than their own. I think this may be why some of the background actors in these scenes have better clothing than the leads.

Oh this looks good! (Abandons plans for a run, pours a pint of Jar, and puts feet up...... )

Would love to see how you would do a costume fix on The Last Kingdom. Thanks for the content 🖤

The way we conceive of previous eras is as interesting as the eras themselves! Can't wait to hear your fixes.

Low key rewatching for a Welshman thirsting over Banderas

The horny hats in the Lee Majors film almost looking like earmuffs! 😂

the moorish looks like turkic mirror armor 15th cent ottoman period.

Jimmy's crush on Antonio Banderas is the greatest thing I've seen on KZfaq xD

Excellent stuff, as always! This was very inspiring...for fantasy clothes. In fact, I'm pretty sure all of your reference pictures have been used as inspiration for various fantasy-themed video games. xD

I appreciate you for putting yourself through this, all for us. Respect.

First I was a bit scheptical, then I stayed for the Antonio Banders comments and after your rant I pressed subscribe. Keep doing your thing, its great! =)

13th Warrior was based off a book written by Michael Crichton called Eaters of the Dead and if memory serves me was written for a bet to make Beowulf more interesting. I highly recommend a read it is fun

Really enjoyed the video. Keep them coming.

Jimmy you're a bloody star! Love this. Having been in a couple of big budget period dramas (not early medieval or viking) there is definitely a move towards more authenticity but of course it still has to mesh with the overall production design.

I appreciate you pointing out the good things and looking at the sources that was done better in the 50s than many of the later movies--I think a lot of costumers look at films with this view of "well as an amateur living anywhere it's easy to look up sources so the film industry should be improving at the same rate" when in fact they have always had access to the good sources but didn't always decide to refer to them. Also the costumes in Outlander were extremely reminiscent of what i was wearing in World of Warcraft in 2010, except even there we had our sleeves sewn into our armsceyes.

Erik the Viking only gets 3 longships when that first one got 5 1/2?! No way! I had a Viking professor that said that for all the silliness, a lot of the cultural stuff was spot on. She was getting her doctorate in Norse kinship structures and inheritance laws. Taught a class entirely in Norwegian one day because she was up late translating and didn't get enough sleep.

I’m sorry, but the Sidney Poitier costume gives me strong “wise masters of Yunkai” Game of Thrones vibes

Todd from Todd's Workshop is a movie armourer and he apologetically explains that movies and TV shows need visual shorthand. Some of the viking tropes from opera have become so ingrained that they are synonymous with vikings. A director doesn't need to take time to explain who or what a character is when you can simply put someone in clothes that people can just look at and think- ah, Viking! There's also a pressure to make opposing forces as visually different so Saxons and Vikings are depicted in vastly different styles when the actually differences are nuanced.

It's not Janet Leigh in the pillory. I wish I could come up with her name, but her character had a "fling" with Kirk Douglas' character, and her husband was to throw axes to cut her braids supposedly as Odin's test for unfaithful wives. I saw this movie in the theater when I was 11 years old.

Holy crap. That's not a reference I expected in a more historically oriented video. I'm a huge fan of Secret of NIMH and have a ton of cels from that movie and that was a piece of trivia I did not know. Not what I was expecting to learn from this video! I do know they used a good deal of rotoscope, particularly in the tractor sequence, so I wouldn't be at all surprised if the Justin/Jenner fight was done similarly. Edit: There's a couple shots that do seem copied, but I think shot-for-shot remake is generous.

Really enjoyed the video!

I must leave a comment to tell you how much I am entertained by all of your videos. You’re hilarious, 10/10 and I will be recommending it to friends

This was great fun! Thank you!

Thank you very much Jimmy for your very interesting and entertaining content! Ideas for historical / medieval dress / costume commentary! Beowulf and Grendel (2005) with Gerard Butler and Stellan Skarsgård The Storyteller (1988) Tv show with John Hurt Tristan and Isolde (2006) with Rufus Sewell and Sophia Myles A Knight’s Tale (2001) with Heath Ledger, Rufus Sewell, Paul Bettany, and everyone else (not sitting on a cushion)! King Arthur (2004) with Kiera Knightley - mostly to see if they got anything right. The historically inaccurate thing that particularly bothers me is one of the warriors riding around with a Harris’s Hawk on his fist. A popular species in modern falconry as they are highly intelligent and can hunt in groups, but is also from Mexico / Central American. So... I don’t know how this Brittonic warrior came upon one. No need to mention the leather strap bikini affair... AND... a bit different, but the Faeries folklore book by Alan Lee and Brian Froud. It’s a masterpiece and exquisite artwork, and Alan Lee is a beautiful human being (I had the privilege of going to one of his book signings and he looked through my sketchbook like the sweet and lovely man that he is) so be kind please! But it would be interesting to hear a historical breakdown of the imagery, and indeed of any Alan Lee artwork (Mabinogion illustrations!!). Bises de Breizh !

Since I'm an avid follower of history content in this platform, the algorithm recommended me this channel and I became an instant subscriber. Superb content! Can you do a video breaking down the anime "Viland Saga"? Coincidentally one of the most interesting characters in the anime is Welsh!

I did in fact pause the video to google “victorian viking opera costume” and I was not disappointed.

I may or may not have watched 'Vikings' solely because it inspired the Secret of NIMH swordfight. So don't worry, you're not the biggest nerd out here. Or at least, not the only one!

The woman that Kirk Douglas is throwing axes at in not Janet Leigh but one of the Viking women. I should know, this was one of my husband's favourite films and I could probably recite a lot of the script from memory. First saw it in the local cinema and the roar of disapproval that went up when Ernest Borgnine refers to Wales as " that slag heap " is something I will never forget. Can't believe you haven't watched The Vikings, its an absolute hoot, in fact you've made me feel all nostalgic so I shall probably dig it out and watch it AGAIN. Loved the programme but felt it would have benefitted from more illustrations on screen as you discussed them. As it was, we had a quick glimpse and then had to try and remember what you were talking about. I know there is not a test at the end but it would have helped. Thanks again for the video.

Fantastic. Lovely. Entertaining and delightful. Thank you

The word of the day is egregious.

Awesome video! Thank you. I really appreciate the distraction as we have a bushfire raging a few kms away. Eep. Looking forward to the costume doctoring.

Odin demands more roasting videos! Oh my (put your sentence enhancer here)....bloody brilliant Jimmy, absolutely bloody brilliant! I give you 10 out of 10 longships! 👍🏻👌🏻👏🏻

Thank you for enduring those films and videos for our sakes...and yeah, no long ships for the TV Vikings at all!