This is a
wonderful exhibition and hits the right spot on audio, music and
simulated movie making. The exhibition
covers what it says “on the tin” how it works and what makes it work. http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/exhibition-hollywood-costume/
I was part of
a visually impaired group and we had early access to the exhibition. We gathered in the Exhibition Road entrance
and were welcomed by Barry Ginley and Suzana Skrbic with a team of volunteers. The V&A has an excellent team of
volunteers who will both guide, read labels and describe some items and engage
in discourse. For this morning’s viewing, I was teamed up with Marcia
Drury. We also had the time of the
assistant curator Keith Lodwick.
The
exhibition is divided into three sections and before we entered the show Keith
explained the layout, what we could expect, how we could interact with some of
the exhibits and how we would walk past an iconic showing of characters ending
up with Judy Garland’s blue gingham outfit and ruby slippers.
Photograph of Prof Whitestick next to poster for Hollywood Costumes
(This has Judy Garland in the blue gingham dress for The Wizard of Oz)
Novemeber 2012
The V&A
has made so much accessible in pdf format on its webpage.
These are so accessible they opened and my screenreader read them out to
me straight away. The links to these
pdf files are as follows:
More
information on the exhibition can be found on:
http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/exhibition-hollywood-costume/about-the-exhibition/
I am afraid
some jaws dropped when I said I had mixed drinks for Charlie Chaplin in 1972,
had seen Marlene Dietrich at Edinburgh Airport in 1962 and that Glenda Jackson
was my MP at Westminster.
In the first
room, there are a variety of iconic pieces and Keith spent some time discussing
the detail of how the costume was designed in tandem with the script screenplay
and director meetings. Unlike a theatre
costume, which is designed to be exhibited in 3-D, a Hollywood costume was
designed from the outset to appear as a 2 dimensional image within film. Keith also mentioned that at no time were
performances of films silent. In other
words, silent movies always had music played in the background. When talking movies came into production,
costume designs had to be completely re-thought to take account of noises from
the movement of the costume and likely interference from a microphone on the
set.
We discussed
at length the dress of Scarlett O’Hara which had been made from old
curtains. Although we couldn’t see much
of the dress – in my case only the silhouette – we enjoyed the discussion on
about how the dress would have been made, the sewing techniques in the book and
the fading of the dress itself, with the addition of parts of the curtains
incorporated into the outfit. I
mentioned that the curtains theme may have been copied by The Sound of Music,
where Julie Andrews kits the von Trapp clan in costumes made from curtains of
the mansion. (There is an interesting
curtain transfer to a chintz dress in the EF Benson Miss Mapp, available on
talking books.)
Charlie
Chaplin’s outfit was discussed - hence my remark above. We then moved on to discuss the assembly of
monarchs such as Queen Christina, played by Greta Garbo; various Queen
Elisabeths, played by Bette Davis, Glenda Jackson and Judi Dench; Mary Queen of
Scots was there as was Joe Fiennes’s costume from Shakespeare in Love.
We also
discussed Harrison Ford’s outfit in Indiana Jones and how the worn jacket and
hat became part of the image of the character in the mind of the audience. This is also a key part of the costume design
in ensuring that the character is instantly recognisable wherever they appear
in the film. In the case of Harrison
Ford, costumes had to be designed for both body doubles and stunt men with
appropriate continuity of aging processes.
All these had to be factored into the planning of the costume with
actors and directors as well as others involved in the production.
We spent some
time discussing the denim jeans used in Brokeback Mountain. Rodeo competition cowboys wore Wranglers,
while ranch hands wore Levis. (I bought
my first pair of Levis - costing £2 19s 11d in 1968 - and the fashion at the
time was to ‘age’ them with the aid of bleach, including the use of either Vim
or Ajax!) Brokeback Mountain by Annie
Proux is available on Talking Books; and Proux discusses life in Wyoming in
great detail, including descriptions of the costumes of the time – though, of
course, the transfer to film requires a visual content, rather than a
descriptive one.
At this
point, we also discussed the contents of Meryl Streep’s handbag in her portrayal
of Mrs Thatcher. The contents of the
handbags of Mrs Thatcher, the Queen and the late Princess Margaret were often
‘revealed’ in various satirical magazines.
For the next
stage in the exhibition, we could wander around and ‘engage’ with a variety of
stars by sitting in chairs within discussions.
There are many montages, audio clips and a commissioned set of
interviews with Meryl Streep and Robert de Niro. With Marcia’s help, I was able to negotiate
the various exhibits and sit down in a script meeting.
We then
reassembled and had a walk through the final gallery with many of the heroines
and villains on display with many costumes.
I haven’t been to the cinema since 2001, though have seen the odd DVD on
a laptop. I had seen quite a few of the
films for which costumes were on show up to 2000, as I could remember many of
the Hollywood classics which were broadcast on black and white television, then
on colour and often on very long aeroplane journeys. I had only seen The Last Emperor on a DVD in
the 1990s and it was amazing to hear of the number of costumes which had been
made for this production. New techniques
such as CGI have changed the material of the costume, though not necessarily
the material culture.
Among the
memorable costumes on display include John Travolta’s white suit for Saturday
Night Fever, Edith Head’s design for Ginger Rogers in Lady in the Dark
and Meryl Streep’s Cruella de Vil costume, the two outfits for the two Hepburns
– Audrey and Kathreen; Superman and Spiderman. There was a large installation for Star Wars
characters as well. (I can still say
I’ve never seen Star Wars!)
The early
entry had allowed us to avoid an initial bottleneck in the first Act and we
were able to stay a little ahead. Susan
helped me in the shop to find some postcards.
I considered briefly buying a Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones) hat but
settled for a postcard of Dick Tracey’s hat. Postcards bought are as follows:
Hat from the
costume for Dick Tracy
Dick Tracy,
2007Costume designer: Milena Canonero
The collection of Motion Picture Costume Design
Costume for
The Tramp
Costume
designer: Charles ChaplinCharles Chaplin TM
Replica of
Ruby Slippers
Victoria and
Albert Museum
Green
“Curtain” Dress
Gone with the
Wind, 1939Costume designer: Walter Plunkett
Dacid O. Selznicj Collection
Harry Ransom Humanities Research Centre
The University of Texas, Austin
Lighting
Levels: I asked about the lighting levels in the exhibition and Keith said that
they were at 50 lux. Care is taken to ensure that the fabric of the costumes is
not faded further. Lighting levels and
large displays allow some tricks on the eye. There is a little rollercoaster
effect on walking through from time to time.
I found this particularly enjoyable with my peripheral vision.
