CINDERELLA 

Recently the new Cinderella movie graced the cinema screen and Sandy Powell had the most important job (in my opinion) as costume designer. The costumes were definitely not a disappointment even with the hard job of competing with Disney's classic animation. Cinderella's main dress stayed the iconic blue however was even more breath taking than the original. The dress begins with a vaguely 19th century corset, with the skirt built on top of a crinoline which a wire collapsible cage. This cage is extremely big holding up the voluminous skirt.  Frills were added to the edges of the petticoats as Powell wanted frills to be seen everywhere!

It is clear that the costume illustrations are almost as beautiful as the actual costumes!

My favourite costumes are the step mothers and her evil daughters. I love the colours used for the step mother especially the sinister yellow/green a perfect contrast to the sickly floral's used for the ugly sisters costumes shown below. It is as if the costumes are made to look as pretty as possible but the personalities of the girls mean that the costumes are ugly and sickly. 

The fabric manipulation throughout the film is absolutely amazing and is very inspiring as I am currently completing an embellishment module at university which includes fabric manipulation as a topic. This element is particularly inspiring on the step mothers costume above. Embellishment is a key element used throughout,  making the costumes even more aesthetically pleasing. Below is some detailed gold embroidery on one of the costumes which I also love! Embroidery seemed to be a main decorative technique shown on the costumes throughout, mainly the male costumes. 

MILENA CANONERO #1 

Milena Canonero is one of my absolute favourite costume designers ever! She recently won an academy award for Costume Design for her work on The Grand Budapest hotel. She has also won the award previously for her work on the film Marie Antoinette, which is one of my favourite films of all time because of the stunning costume and set design. 

The costumes for the Marie Antoinette film were beautiful remakes of the fashions from the 18th century with almost a modern twist. The mix of vibrant and soft colours along with the exquisite embellishment ensured that the film was aesthetically perfect. Milena Canonero stated: “Sophia [Coppola] gave me a box of macaroons from Ladurée. We looked at them and the beautiful colours and they became a guideline in a way. We didn't do everything based off of them, but they were definitely an inspiration." A few years ago I came across a website named the costumers guide which includes full length and up close photographs from various famous films. The website is an amazing resource and it is where i found the photos for this post, below is the link: 

http://www.costumersguide.com/cr_ma.shtml

I also love Canonero's quirky work on the more recent film The Grand Budapest Hotel which is based on the 1930s period with a vibrant injection of colour thanks to Canonero. Every costume complements the other and I particularly love the rich daring purple that Canonero chose shown below: 

 My favourite character of the movie costume wise is Tilda Swinton's character Madame D. It is suggested that the inspiration for the costumes came from the work of GKlimt, I love this concept and I love his work. Below are the computer aided designs of one of Madame D's costumes.

 Canonero says of being a costume designer, “You're not like a fashion designer who is just free to design your collection. Sometimes the director wants to spend a lot of time with you. Sometimes you have more room. You work really closely with the hair and makeup team so you can put together a total look.”

PREVIOUS WORK BEFORE STARTING UNIVERSITY

Before starting University I had experience in making costume through studying textiles at A level. I was able to create my own brief by choosing something I was interested in and researching the topic. I then went on to making a garment at the end of the research. My chosen theme focused on Marie Antoinette and adding a modern element to a costume designed and made for her. I researched Chanel's resort collection 2013 and formed my research from this gaining inspiration as I went.

I used a damask fabric to create the main dress with a satin gold lining. I also used voile ribbon to create a pleated trim. I used an embroidery machine to add a motif to the central panel and highlighted detail with slight beading work. Beneath the main dress was a mini skirt in a matching fabric to add a modern twist to the garment. I loved the time period that I looked at ( late 1700's) and I enjoyed revisiting it in my Material Culture lectures. I am looking forward to delving back into this era and finding out more interesting factors about costume at this time.

BOWES MUSEUM VISIT

images taken whilst visiting  The Bowes Museum : link found below
http://www.thebowesmuseum.org.uk/

Last week i visited Bowes Museum for the first time, and it certainly wont be the last. I was impressed from the beginning with the beautiful French chateau like design of the building and could not wait to get inside and explore. I made my way straight to the Fashion and Textile gallery which is now a permanent collection for the museum. My favourite thing about this exhibition was the patterns and embellishment i saw throughout. The image above of a vestment shows beautiful florals and fruit imagery through the technique of couching, where by layering threads onto the surface and holding down with stitches, a silver ground is produced. The embroidery appears metallic as precious silver threads were used in the weaving to create the imagery. Although before visiting Bowes Museum i had never heard of this, I love how the colours appear shimmery because of this technique.

Again here is another pattern that caught my eye whilst visiting The Bowes Museum.

I love the contrast between the bright green and soft pink. Not only did i see beautiful detailed patterns on the textiles and clothing, but also in the interior of the Museum. Below shows some inspiring patterns. 

I absolutely love the interior of the over the top style and beauty of literally every object in each room an how it leaves me in awe! I think it is amazing that at one point in history everything was made to be so beautiful. I love trying to incorporate some of this luxurious style into my own bedroom but a lot more minimalist than this; only because the full frontal over the top style would not be socially acceptable in my room. I think that interior can be a great source of inspiration for costume. The beautiful fabrics are always inspiration for new patterns and the architecture is inspiration for new shapes within costume. 

Overall the visit was extremely helpful and definitely inspiring for future projects in costume design.