
If you’ve followed this site long enough, you’ve probably noticed disclaimers…oh, I don’t know, practically everywhere? I try to cover my bases with various warnings here and there, but there is one thing I wanted to talk about in a bit more detail, because it is something people occasionally leave a comment about, and I’ll be honest, it is something that keeps me up at night.
The Hollywood of the past was, to put it mildly, pretty racist. And sexist. All the “ists,” really. Hollywood today? Honestly, while it claims to be better, it’s…uh, complicated. Any progress it has made in some areas, it’s gotten worse in others – namely in the arenas of violence and sex.
Now, I’m not suggesting going back to the days of the Hays code. If violence or sex doesn’t bother you, that’s absolutely your prerogative. I’m not here to tell you what you can and cannot enjoy. But it does put some people off, and I totally understand that too.
In addition, due to the nature of costumes, this website focuses heavily on period dramas, and that means that there are often portrayals of past societies and social norms that may be disconcerting to the modern viewer. I remember when Mad Men was all the rage how deeply uncomfortable many viewers were. The costumes, acting and production values were great, but the sexism and misogyny…not so much.
In Anne of the Thousand Days, Anne’s father uses his daughters essentially as bargaining chips to gain social standing. It’s icky, but it did very much happen. In The Buccaneers, The Duchess, and many other films, a husband forces himself on his wife. It’s awful. And to those who deal with trauma, PTSD, etc, it may even be triggering.
Game of Thrones is well known for being both horrifically violent and sexually explicit. It may not be a problem for you, but for some, it may ruin their enjoyment. Am I a prude, you ask? Yeah…yeah, I am. I’ll take a slight finger touch over a cup of tea over a heavy make out session any day. But that’s me, man.

This is to say nothing of the racism in Gone with the Wind, the yellow-face in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, or the brown face in Arabian Nights as late as the year 2000! What were they thinking? But all of these movies are featured on this website due to their costumes, not their content. The inclusion of costume sightings doesn’t always mean a film will have no issues whatsoever.
I am not here to comment on these movies and their content much beyond the costumes, their reuse, and the people who designed them. Many of the movies and television shows featured I’ve never even seen, so I have a difficult time speaking to how problematic they may or may not be. Some of the movies on this site are amazing. And honestly, there are many movies with a problematic scene or character that are still good despite said content.

But I’m not about to tell you what works for you, and just because I am showing you a costume from a film that wound up getting used in another film, it isn’t necessarily an endorsement, and it doesn’t mean that I think either of those pieces of media are for you. They might be. And honestly, if you’re here regularly…they probably are, because you’re my core demographic, you’ve been watching costume dramas long enough that you know just about what you’re getting. I know if I’m watching an adaptation of a novel by a Brontë sister, I’m gonna get a big house on the moors somewhere, a brooding man, some fog, and maybe a thunderstorm if I’m lucky. And by God, I’m here for it.

But this is a reminder that you need to look out for you. If you know that certain scenes may trigger or anger you – please use viewer discretion. I’m not here to judge, I’m just here to warn. I’d also like to help you if you do have some issues with certain kinds of content. So here are some websites I use that I’d like to recommend:
Movie Guide
This is a website that writes reviews of films based on the content that they contain. It will allow you to look over a title in advance to see if there are any scenes that may be troublesome to you. They have basic ratings, in depth content call outs and a review of the film.

Charity’s Place
Very similar to Movie Guide. Charity’s Place has a really large collection of costume drama reviews as well. And because Recycled Movie Costumes comprises of content that’s like… 90% costume dramas, obviously these reviews come in handy. Each movie has a normal review, but content that may be problematic is listed in a paragraph at the end.

Vid Angel
This is an app that hooks up to your various streaming platforms and allows you to filter out content you don’t want to see in the television shows and films that you’re watching.

It has settings that are very customizable, so if you want to filter out heavy gore and violence, but you don’t mind seeing someone get punched in the nose…this is for you. It can filter out sex, profanity, and many other things at different levels to suit your own preferences. I highly recommend it.

The Story Graph
We have a few book covers that feature reused costumes, so I wanted to make sure that all of you have as much warning about those as possible as well, because in most cases, I’ve not read the books being shown. The Story Graph reviews various books and tags them with warnings such as “violence” so you know what you might want to skip.

Do any of you have any other websites that you find helpful for figuring out what you will and won’t watch or read? Please leave us a comment below and let us know.
Costume Commentary
Does The Dog Die is super helpful too! It’ll tell you if a dog dies but also lots of other triggers some other sites don’t cover.
Thanks! This is a great idea!
Cool blog!