curiouswombat | Hamlet to Hollywood.

One thing that I promised myself I would do on the short visit to York to pick up D-d’s possessions was to visit the current exhibition at Barley Hall - Hamlet to Hollywood – a history of fashion from film.

D-d also wanted to see it – and so we went together on Monday and had plenty of time to look at everything with very few other people around.

I took a lot of pictures – if you are interested in history, film/TV, Colin Firth or costume generally (looking at

gillo,

kortirion and

ningloreth amongst others) then do click for

The costumes covered the period from Elizabeth to WW2; there was a lot of information about clothing of the period, and good source material – as I have come to expect from Barley Hall. The costumes were used to illustrate, and also there were comments about why the costume looked as it did, or where ‘short-cuts’ had been taken to achieve the right look as long as one didn’t look too closely.

I didn’t take pictures of everything, and took them using natural light, so some could be sharper, to be honest. Also I probably should have taken more close-ups – but if you have an interest in this subject and live within reasonable travelling distance of central York I would really recommend going.

Before we get to the specialist exhibition, here is a family group of medieval costumes which are part of the permanent exhibition –

Anyway – here goes – this is a dress made for Cate Blanchett as the young Elizabeth 1st. It is not really historically accurate – Shekhar Kapur’s Indian background influenced the costumes – he wanted floaty and dreamlike.

There were other a couple of other costumes of the Tudor and early Stuart period – including a ‘white wedding’ dress which the info pointed out was pretty inaccurate as wedding dresses as such did not really exist at the time, and a bride would wear her most sumptuous dress – usually not white. Film-makers however use the ‘white dress’ as a recognisable symbol. I didn’t take a picture of the dress – but this is the Headdress that went with it – just because I liked it.

D-d has been interested in the Civil War and Restoration period for a long time. She had avidly watched ‘The Power and the Passion’ – and so was thrilled to get this close to Rufus Sewell’s costume.

Nearby, showing a more continental touch, was one worn by Heath Ledger as Casanova – she wasn’t bothered about this one at all.

Now we move around the corner to Keira Knightley playing Georgiana duchess of Devonshire. We had some insider knowledge on this costume – one of D-d’s History lecturers from York had been an advisor and said it had been very difficult to keep them historically accurate as Miss Knightley wanted the dresses altering to a more Keira-friendly look. We wondered which of them won with this one.

I only took a medium close-up – but you can see the dress on KK if you scroll down this page, and the back of it in the Casanova picture above. What fascinated us most was that the trim appeared to have been, to quote D-d, attacked by a horde of rabid hamsters. We wondered if this was to give a particular effect in the film – but it is less obvious there – so perhaps the fabric has just frayed badly since? Anyone know?

There was a nice selection of wigs, too.

I’m sure there were a couple of other things before this next display – but if so I’ve forgotten what they were! Because this really is what it looks like –

Probably as close to Colin Firth’s crotch as one is likely to get… The information pointed out that the fabric of Jennifer Ehle’s dress is actually a quite bright modern patterned cotton – made up inside out so that what we see is the paler ‘back’ of the fabric.

Still in Jane Austen mode – this was worn by Emma Thompson in Sense and Sensibility –

And this rather glorious hat is from the 1995 film of Persuasion.

There were some other rather glorious hats, too. Including some that are not part of the film costumes and were there for us to play with – but you’ll just have to use your imagination to help you visualise what either of us might have looked like in a Tudor ‘box’ type headdress.

Now - a little closer again to the current day. Judi Dench as Miss Matty in Cranford –

Both D-d and I thought this gives a real sense of Dame Judi herself.

Nicole Kidman in Portrait of a Lady – very clearly taller than Dame Judi! And corseted down to a 19” waist.

I think the one in the background is from Larkrise to Candleford. Same area – this time costumes for Sweeney Todd.

kortirion - I saw the blood stains in the second picture and thought of you!

These are Maggie Smith’s, from Downton Abbey –

With a close-up of the hat;

And a couple from House of Elliot – remember that?

Finally – another chance to get up close and personal with Colin Firth – sort of. Costumes from The King’s Speech.

D-d and I concluded that he was not a great deal bigger than he had been in P&P.

Helena Bonham Carter’s fur-trimmed coat was there too – but I didn’t notice that I’d wobbled a bit, so the picture was blurred. Here is a close-up of part of her costume though –

And a dress worn by ‘Queen Mary’ –

We spent well over an hour looking at them all at our leisure. There were also books etc – and some illustrations for stage costumes. This was for a production of Midsummer’s Night Dream in the 1880s.