Lapse in costume detail

W

wstol

Dedicated Member
Keeping the costumes the same throughout the series has always tried to be the policy for whichever trio is appearing.

In an Apple a Day, Clegg is seen without his cardigan - which may seem perfectly normal in real life, though maybe out of character for Clegg.

Possibly a bit hot for Peter Sallis in the studio.
 
dick said:
Foggy through the series seemed to have two shades of his favourite jacket! :30:
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Yes, hasn't it been suggested here that it might be because of indoor/outdoor shots? One set was kept for studio, the other for location. I think one of his pockets especially shows the difference. Funny that this topic came up . . I was wondering about Compos jacket, how much repair might've had to be done on it. When you really look at Compo's wardrobe, I think he ( of all people ) had more different costumes than the other two. Take his green striped jacket in The Last Place Unexplored By Man, for instance. Weddings. Funerals.
 
Elmc said:
Yes, hasn't it been suggested here that it might be because of indoor/outdoor shots? One set was kept for studio, the other for location. I think one of his pockets especially shows the difference. Funny that this topic came up . . I was wondering about Compos jacket, how much repair might've had to be done on it. When you really look at Compo's wardrobe, I think he ( of all people ) had more different costumes than the other two. Take his green striped jacket in The Last Place Unexplored By Man, for instance. Weddings. Funerals.
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He had to "borrow" suits from time to time though, the one from Eli for Gough and Jessie's 50th anniversary and Old Jonesy's suit for Jones'ys funeral in The Day of the Welsh Ferret. One from Howard in Desperate for a Duffield as well. Those 3 spring to mind. ;)
 
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Yes, Dick . . . and so we saw him in something different more often than the others.
 
I always thought it was interesting that in the early years Clegg is often wearing or carrying his plastic raincoat, but then it disappeared. Only to come back later with Compo wearing it (or something similar) regularly for several later series.
 
Elmc said:
Yes, Dick . . . and so we saw him in something different more often than the others.
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We are doing what I've always been scared of, Analysing the heart out of the show are we not??
If we get too critical we may end up just watching to spot the faults and nitpick . :13: :12:
 
dick said:
We are doing what I've always been scared of, Analysing the heart out of the show are we not??
If we get too critical we may end up just watching to spot the faults and nitpick . :13: :12:
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lol . . . yes, tis true, but it will never make me go off it.
 
Did it not say in the book that Compos jacket was new for every series and was distressed Bill always thought this was a waste probably the same applied for the others.
 
Sarkus said:
I always thought it was interesting that in the early years Clegg is often wearing or carrying his plastic raincoat, but then it disappeared. Only to come back later with Compo wearing it (or something similar) regularly for several later series.
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I always thought that Bill Owen wore the raincoat because it happened to be chilly and not due to any costume or episode requirements. It was always fastened to give maximum coverage at the neck.
 
chris said:
Did it not say in the book that Compos jacket was new for every series and was distressed Bill always thought this was a waste probably the same applied for the others.
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They did buy new jackets for Compo and then distress them. But I don't think they were necessarily new each season.
I don't know where they got costumes for other cast members, but Jean Ferguson said they shopped Thrift Stores for Marina's outfits.
 
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me2 said:
They did by new jackets for Compo and then distress them. But I don't think they were necessarily new each season.
I don't know where they got costumes for other cast members, but Jean Ferguson said they shopped Thrift Stores for Marina's outfits.
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lol . . . and some of Marina's might've been in the teen section . . boy some of those skirts were short.
 
Alan Bell has several examples in his book of where he thought the BBC spent unnecessary money over the years on props and costumes, etc. One that stands out is the boat in Das Welly Boot. Bell had found an inexpensive used boat but the BBC insisted on buying a much more expensive one, even though in the end they ruin it with the scene where Compo falls through the floor. I don't know if Compo's costumes fit that bill, but in one of the anniversary specials Peter Sallis talks about how they replaced his standard "Clegg" suit over time. It was an old suit of Sallis' and when they went to replace it they ended up paying to have a mill make the cloth from scratch and then had their tailors create several new copies.
 
onyx(John) said:
Barry wore the same tie always too, for years it seemed. I always thought that a bit strange???
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Yes it was/is an M & S one (I had a very similar one slightly different colourway) and most men would have been bought a new one at some time!

I had noticed that - but I do know some men who only have two or three ties and always wear the same. In fact - he would wear it for several weeks for filming and then it would be stored away until next time. So it would last. My version of it was discarded when it became too worn and lost its appeal - I tend to go for bolder ones these days, and also never wear the same tie two days running (helps the fabric recover from tieing) but then I do have a number now in stock, not actually sure how many to be truthful! :42::42::42:
 
chris said:
Did it not say in the book that Compos jacket was new for every series and was distressed Bill always thought this was a waste probably the same applied for the others.
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The wastefulness was the original quality (three I think were ordered - two for Bill and one for the stunt double to allow them to be dried/cleaned) which were then distressed. I seem to recall reading about £600 or so per jacket.
 
dick said:
He had to "borrow" suits from time to time though, the one from Eli for Gough and Jessie's 50th anniversary and Old Jonesy's suit for Jones'ys funeral in The Day of the Welsh Ferret. One from Howard in Desperate for a Duffield as well. Those 3 spring to mind. ;)
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Also borrowed suits from Clegg - including the one for his own funeral, as Clegg noted "he might as well, he's worn it more than me anyway".
 
And one other quite glaring anomaly is Clegg's jacket.

The original was an old one of Peter Sallis' own which he thought suited the character. They eventually had to replace it and the cloth had to be woven to replicate it! That would be expensive (by the way my first career was in the menswear trade) however they made a fundamental error.

Peter's original jacket had a single centre vent, common enough in the late 190s and 1950s (double breasted of that era tended to have no vents) but the replacement one had side vents which to me is a very obvious piece of poor continuity.

However not crucial but illustrates that they wasted money and then failed to get a detail right which would have cost nothing more. Double vents take longer than a single vent so could be argued to be cheaper!!:16: :35: :35: :32: :32: :16:
 
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