Style inspirations – President Servalan

Here’s one of my stranger style inspirations: the charactor of Servalan in Blake’s Seven. If you don’t remember the TV series, it was a BBC science fiction drama that ran in the late 70s and early 80s. It was meant to be serious and the plotlines were usually quite dark and depressing, but the costumes…not so much.

The series is set in the future where much of the galaxy is run by the corrupt and authoritarian Terran Federation. Servalan is the major villain. She starts off running the Federation military but eventually rises to President via a coup during an intergalactic war. And she does it all while wearing glamorous evening wear and high heels. All images are from Lisa’s Video Frame Capture Library -if you want more Blake’s Seven nostalgia I highly recommend a visit.

In season one and two Servalan almost always wears white. At first her outfits are relatively restrained. You could almost wear this one to work (well, perhaps not in white satin)

They get steadily more dramatic as the series goes on. I’ll spare you the one with the giant silver lizard attached to the front from season two. Halfway through season three she switches to black:

But my all time favourite has to be the red sequinned number from the episode Gambit in season two:


I am pretty sure this is the only time Servalan wears a colour when she is wearing her own clothes. She’s seen in lilac at the start of season three, but the dress is borrowed from another character. She describes it as ‘unsophisticated’.

Hmm, where’s my ray gun?

3 thoughts on “Style inspirations – President Servalan”

  1. I seem to live most of my life wearing inappropriate clothes and high heels. I can relate to her (though I’m not nearly as evil).

    I remember Blake’s Seven as being terribly exciting but I can’t remember why. Was that the prog where you had to be killed off once you reached a certain age, or was that Logan’s Run? Oh dear, I really don’t know which was which. Actually, I don’t know how you can remember it at all, since you’re quite a bit younder than I am, and I’m having trouble. It must have really made an impression on you.

    I can see you in that red number! You have such an understated look about you, you could carry off such an extreme style.

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