Maja Meschede says that she treats every project “like a painting,” and each new production as a blank canvas. Having worked on period dramas like HBO’s “Catherine the Great,” Simon Curtis’ “Downton Abbey: A New Era,” and David Ayer’s WWII-set “Fury,” the Costume Designers Guild Award nominee is now turning her attention to 1880s London with Hulu’s “A Thousand Blows.” On period drama, Meschede uses fashion to contrast the boxing scenes of the gritty East End and the glamorous West End.
As he did on “Peaky Blinders,” series creator Steven Knight drew inspiration from historical figures of the era. The story follows Hezekiah Moscow (Malachi Kirby), a Jamaican man who immigrates to London in search of fame and fortune and quickly finds himself thrust into the city’s bare-knuckle boxing world. Hezekiah’s talent catches the attention of Mary Carr (Erin Doherty), the ruthless leader of the real-life all-female crime syndicate the Forty Elephants, as well as fearsome boxing legend Henry “Sugar” Goodson (Stephen Graham).
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To put together the costumes, Meschede drew from images of Victorian garments and her own archive of antique clothing. Though fashion was strictly dictated by the etiquette of the time, she incorporated some surprising masculine elements into Mary’s wardrobe, such as wearing pants beneath her skirts. “I’m interested in the evolution of the human perception of beauty,” the designer says.
On the series, the Forty Elephants wear bold, jewel-tone attire to aid in their pickpocketing schemes, whether it’s to blend into the crowd or distract their targets. They proudly wear their spoils and sell the rest.
To pull off the looks for the sprawling ensemble, Meschede says she utilized “up to three workrooms at a time and about 60 costume makers.” Here, she discusses her inspirations and methods for filling the “A Thousand Blows” clothing racks.
Your sketches of the Forty Elephants’ costumes have so much texture. Did your research affect your design choices? What motivated you to use such bold colors and patterns?
I went to Paris to meet an art dealer who has an amazing collection of Victorian pieces and fabrics, including the lace of the time. If we think about that time, the first color that comes to my mind is black because [of the dresses] Queen Victoria wore when she was mourning her husband’s death. But the period wasn’t like that. There were amazing, beautiful, jewel-tone colors that were really bright. It was important to me not just to design everything authentically, but to express the vibrancy of the Forty Elephant ladies, but also to express that they are rebellious and make them look quite luminous.
This is why I use a lot of reds and blues for Mary Carr. Blue is a regal tone. That’s part of her story, and her clothes get more and more blue as the story evolves. There’s also a lot of red. In moments when she’s desperate and very frightened, not sure whether she will be killed, I undressed her; she was just in undergarments and lace, looking very fragile. I think colors and textures say so much, even subconsciously, about a character.
Was everything custom-built, or did you rent some garments from costume houses?
I’ve used quite a lot of original pieces where possible—pieces that were not too fragile to use, because I didn’t want to destroy them. All the lace is original. Details like buttons, hooks, and bars are all elements that make or break a costume if you want to look and feel authentic.
I collected Civil War–era buttons from the States, especially for Hezekiah, which were made of horn and bone; they’re beautiful, and they’re all original. Lots of fabrics are original, or we printed them and copied them. For the main cast, all the costumes are made from scratch. We had up to three workrooms at a time and about 60 costume makers.
It’s so much fun to start everything from scratch, like making petticoats. We made the shoes in Canada and England. A very talented milliner, Jemima Dawson, is part of my team, and she made the most beautiful headdresses. For the supporting artists, we hired from Cosprop and Angels Costumes.
To pull off her cons, Mary navigates both East End gang life and West End high society. What was it like collaborating with Erin to create that character through costume?
We started with color tests to determine which colors suit Erin’s portrayal of Mary Carr and what would enhance her feeling of becoming Mary Carr. Something transformational happened when I put her in the corset; it made her walk differently when she was trying to walk fast, and with purpose. She developed the Mary Carr walk because of the corset. I love that we created that walk with Erin.
Everything Mary wore, even day-to-day in the East End, is something she has found or stolen. It was important that it never looked new, nice, or pretty, because she wore it every day. Even when she and the other Forty Elephant women dressed up to go to the West End to pretend they were ladies, even these clothes looked worn and stained because the streets were muddy in London; it wasn’t clean like it is nowadays. I wanted to make sure that even when they dressed up, the dresses did not fit properly: The waistline was too high, or the sleeves were too short or too long. It was important to me and Erin and all the other ladies to make it look real.
Was it a challenge to find fabrics similar to the material of the trousers that 19th century boxers wore in the ring?
It might not seem like it, but the boxing shoes, gloves, and trousers were the most challenging part. There’s limited historical documentation that proves what these boxing trousers were made of, even with the help of this amazing historian we worked with who knows everything about boxing. It was important that Stephen, Malachi, and all the other gentlemen who were boxing were able to move and lift their knees. If you put them in a tight-fitting cotton garment, they wouldn’t be able to move; the seams would rip, and it would be a disaster. We decided to find a cotton jersey, which was also not easy. We found it in a factory in Lake Como, Italy. The boxing trousers were all made from scratch, based on research.
What equipment can’t you do your job without?
Three items: a tape measure and safety pins—I’d be lost without them—and a camera. I take photos wherever I go.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
This story originally appeared in the May 1 issue of Backstage Magazine.