El tiempo entre costuras(tv series, 21 October 2013-20 January 2014)

21/12/2019

“Me llamo Sira Quiroga y soy costurera…nunca imaginé que mi destino sería jugarme la vida cruzando la ciudad de un país extranjero con un traje de pistolas sobre mi piel. Pero ahora sé que el destino es la suma de todas las decisiones que tomamos en nuestra vida…incluso las que en su momento nos parecen insignificantes. En mi caso, por lejano que me parezca ahora todo comenzó con algo tan pequño como aprender a enhebrar una aguja.”

“My Name is Sira Quiroga and I am a seamstress…I would have never imagined my destiny would involve risking my life while crossing a foreign city with a gun frock over my skin. But I know now that our destiny is the sum of all those decision we take in our life…including those that seem meaningless at the time. As for me, though it seems so far away now, it all started with something so small as learning how to thread a needle.”

Thus starts the book and the tv série: el tiempo entre costuras, and an extraordinary story of an extraordinary woman......

Elegant Personage

Sira Quiroga by Adriana Ugarte

It's her story, the story of love, loss, deception, the story of survival, but most importantly, the story of transformation of a woman, not of cinderella to princess, but rather the transformation of an ordinary girl from a humble family background into a woman of class and courage, both because of fate, and her own choice. And as a costurera (Spanish: seamstress), Sira Quiroga's transformation is best told by the evolution of her wardrobe: in the 11 episodes, Sira dressed more than 230 outfits(it's said she wore 34 outfits just in the first episode alone), from the shapeless flowered patterned cotton dresses to the much more fitting and sofisticated suits and dresses, all well made, almost always transmitted the sense of elegance Sira acquired along her adventure.

Sira Quiroga by Adriana Ugarte

Rosalinad Fox by Hannah New

Rosalinad Fox by Hannah New

The real Rosalinda Powell Fox came from a British aristocratic family, when she was young, she liked to drive a small red Austin car along the beach in North Africa, and when she was old, she had to keep a red Coco Chanel lipstick with her in South Spain.

Beautiful, elegant, intelligent, strong willed, well read, well traveled, she is like a prototype of femme fatale spy. Her character took her to North Africa, and fate made her meet the love of her life, the Spaniard Juan Luis Beigbeder, and lived the life of a permanent exile.

The actress Hannah New with her sweet clean look and impeccable Spanish with a very charming accent revived this English upper class woman who made the first prime minister of Franco government willing to sacrifice his career for love.

Book cover: The Grass and the Asphalt, written by Rosalinda Powell Fox

Biography of Rosalinda Powell Fox in Spanish written by Domingo del Pino:

Marcus Logan by Peter Vives

Marcus Logan by Peter Vives

In another popular Spanish TV Series Velvet, Peter Vives had the misfortune of playing the bad guy Carlos who was trying everything to get Ana Ribera(played by Paula Echevarria), the girl forever in love with her boss Albert Marquez(played by Miguel Angel Silvestre), and it seems Peter Vives acted somewhat awkwardly, perhaps he is one of those actors who can only play heroes, so in the serie el tiempo entre costuras, he not only did much a better job playing Marcus Logan, the James Bond like character, and also made a much more pleasing pair with Sira. He looks suitably elegant in the epoque outfits, such as suspenders, and the bigote(Spansish for moustache) does not kill it.

Manuel da Silva by Filipe Duarte

Manuel de Silva by Filipe Duarte

The most engaging and tragic character in the serie, the Portugese entrepreneur Manuel da Silva, who wanted to take advantage of the war to multiply his wealth and ended losing his own life. But he did enjoy the most elegant wardrobe among the men in the serie, and unlike Marcus Logan who was supposed to be on the run and travel light, Manuel da Silva as a Portugese wealthy business man had more varied outfits: from single breast navy suit to double breast grey coat, from wide lapeled black dinner jacket to the also wide lapeled dark grey business suit, in the short time he appeared in the serie and in Sira's life, he shined.

Claudio Vazquez by Francesco Garrido

Claudio Vazquez by Francesco Garrido

He is always in control, even when he slowly fell in love with Sira. Only when he said farewell to Sira for the last time, his hands on the staircase railing said everything. It was still a time when a chief police officer dressed well, and Claudio carried those conservative and well matching 3 piece suits very naturally.

Juan Luis Beigbeder by Tristan Ulloa

Juan Luis Beigbeder by Tristan Ulloa

It was not obvious. He was not tall, not handsome, he worn those boring black eyeglasses which made him look more like the last Chinese Emperor than a Spanish prime minister, and he did not have a distinguished voice, but Juan Luis Beigbeder(31 March 1888-6 June 1957), the romantic high ranking official whose sentiments carry more weight than his political career played by Tristan Ulloa, has a sutble elegance to him, in the way he spoke and carried himself.

Alan Hillbarth by Ben Tample

Alan Hillbarth by Ben Tample

Alan Hillbarth(7 June 1899-28 February 1979) is one of the main characters not created by Maria Dueñas but existed in the real history and figured prominently during the Spanish Civil War, the most important period in Sira's life in the serie. Like Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, Alan Hillbarth also worked for British Naval Intelligence and was an author, though he ranked much higher than Ian Fleming and played more significant role.

In his book Men of War, Hillgarth wrote that "adventure was once a noble appellation borne proudly by men such as Raleigh and Drake . . . [but is now] reserved for the better-dressed members of the criminal classes.", interestingly, it can almost serves as footnote for the wardrobe of this MI6 like British intelligence officer in the serie played excellently by Ben Temple: it seemed containing just one suit, a conservative dark grey striped suit of wide lapels, with a few different colored ties, with or without a white pocket square, neatly tucked.

Félix Aranda by Carlos Santos

He is as campy as it is possible, but yet funny, intelligent, understanding. He is guardian angel of Sira.

The costumes

"Llena de vitalidad, fuerza, color y glamour"(full of vitality, force, color and glamor). This is how Bina Daigeler imagined Sira's wardrobe would be, and how we have seen in the serie. And they were made by Maison Cornejo in Madrid.

Bina Daigeler

For Sira

For Rosalinda

The false Delphos dress made by Sira for Rosalinda Fox

a red sleeveless delphos dress created by Mariano Fortuny in 1936

Delpho dress of Mariano Fortuny(1871-1949): Delphoe dress or Delpho Gown is a pleated silk dress created by Spanish designer Mariano Fortuny in his studio in Venice, Italy, inspired by and named after a classic greek statue, the charioteer of delphi. This type of dress was first created by him in about 1907 until his death, when his widow destroyed both the formula of fabric dyeing and pleating technique.

The story

The serie is based on novel of same name written by Spanish writer María Dueñas

The story begins in 1934. Sira Quiroga is a young and attractive seamstress living a humble life in Madrid with her single mother Dolores. During a festival she meets Ignacio, an aspiring gentleman applying for a position in the Spanish civil service who encourages her to learn skills like typing to secure a better future in the unstable time they are living in.

At the typewriter shop, she falls in love with the handsome salesman Ramiro Arribas and lives with him. Meanwhile, Gonzalo Alvarez, one of the wealthiest men in Madrid, decides to recognize Sira as his lawful daughter by giving her money and jewels before abandoning Madrid.

Ramiro persuades Sira to elope with her with her new fortune to look for a better future in Tangier, Morocco, where he spends her money willfully and abandons her when she is pregnant, taking all her money, leaving all bills unpaid.

With the help of a police officer, Sira is given a year to pay the hotel before she is sent to prison and is given shelter in the guesthouse of Candelaria Matutera, a woman loves her and helps her building a new life in Morocco by becoming a seamstress again.

As the war goes on, Sira, a very successful seamstress is now also a woman of value for Spain who wants to keep neutral. Sira return to Madrid, where she takes on a new identity to embark upon the most dangerous undertaking of her career. As the couturier of choice for an eager clientele of Nazi officers' wives and mistresses, Sira becomes embroiled in a twilight world of espionage and political conspiracy rife with love, intrigue, and betrayal.

Sira and Rosalinad in tv serie El tiempo entre costuras

The ambience

Time: 1930s-1940s
Places: Tangier and Tetuan Morocco, Madrid, Spain, Estoril and Lisboa Portugal

Morocco

Madrid Spain

Estoril, Portugal

The music

The music of the serie is composed by Cesar Benito who was born in Granada and grew up in Marbella, in Southern Spain.

“The theme is Spanish, but I do not want it to be outdated Spanish, but rather modern Spanish. Thus said the composer Cesar Benito about theme of Sira: It will be played almost always when Sira appears in a scene or when she is sewing, and I try to make some variations for times like when Sira is in hospital...” - Cesar Benito.

Further interest

Articles

Interview with John Mansell in English on July 31, 2013

Books

Videos
View the full episodes of el tiempo entre costuras, please go to:

Websites

Official website of María Dueñas: http://www.mariaduenas.es/

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