Iconic Hollywood

Some of the most iconic Hollywood costumes went on a short vacation to the UK last year and became one of the hits of London. Part of the extremely popular exhibit "Hollywood Costume," these costumes were on display in the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum in London. If anyone had gone to the Smithsonian last winter and was disappointed not to see the Ruby Slippers at the National Museum of American History, they were hanging out in London for a while.

I first wanted to see this exhibit last year when I was in London, but I couldn't really justify spending the pounds to see American costumes. Instead, my travel companion and I explored the V&A's permanent collections (one of my first blog posts http://exhibitlife.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-v.html). I hoped that I would be able to see it back in the States. So when I heard that it was making a stop in Richmond, I couldn't wait to go. 

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) is hosting the exhibit this winter. While the museum itself is free, visitors need to purchase tickets for this special exhibit (although it is free for members). The tickets are time stamped to ensure that the exhibit does not get over crowded. I was lucky and was able to pick up a ticket for immediate entrance.

As I made my way towards the exhibit, I was guided by images of Batman and Spiderman.

And as I turned the corner, Rose and Austin Powers were waiting to greet me.

Because of the nature of this exhibit and the copyrights associated with films the costumes are associated with, photography is not allowed within the exhibit itself. But the VMFA was kind enough to grant me access to their media shots. So, this blog post will be a combination of their media shots and pictures I took outside of the exhibit. 

The exhibit starts with some well know costumes from fairly recent films: Matt Damon's non-descript gray outfit from The Bourne Ultimatum, Helen Mirren's Barbour jacket and scarf from The Queen, Beyoncé's  glittery stage outfit from Dreamgirls, and Edward Norton and Brad Pitt's outfits from Fight Club. These costumes start the exhibit off with an explanation of the costume design, how everything that goes into an outfit, from cut and color to buttons, is deliberate, to make the audience see the characters as authentic. 

Fight Club, 1999 ©20th Century Fox/The Kobal Collection/Merrick Morton.

Photo courtesy of the VMFA

The exhibit then examines how different costume approaches can create alternative personas for the same characters. By placing two different Cleopatra costumes side by side - Claudette Colbert's green gown from 1934 and Elizabeth Taylor's embroidered overlay from 1963. I loved seeing how the choices of two different costume designers affected the overall perception of the chapter. 

Being a child of the 90's, one of my favorite costumes in the exhibit is Kate Winslet's costume from Titanic. It is an iconic costume, from when the audience first meets Rose. The exhibit walks the visitor through the extreme details that went into the outfit. I couldn't get over the fact that the bow on the hat looks even bigger in person than it did in the film! It is positioned right next to the costume that Jack (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) wore for much of the movie. This provides an interesting juxtaposition between the presentation of the upper and lower classes. From the impeccable tailoring of Rose's suit to the detailed mending of Jack's breast pocket, these two costumes really are great examples of how the details add to the authenticity. 

Titanic (Kate Winslet),1997 ©20th Century Fox/Paramount/The Kobal Collection.

Photo courtesy of the VMFA

The next segment of the exhibit delves into the relationship between directors and costume designers. While costumes are used to highlight aspects of this relationship, the main focus of this section are interviews with certain directors, their costume designers, and lead actors. This section highlights The Birds, Closer, Gangs of New York (loved this interview!), and Sweeney Todd. 

Photo courtesy of the VMFA

Directly across from these interviews, the exhibit addresses Hollywood's long obsession with royalty. From different perceptions of Elizabeth the First, to a fanciful take on Marie Antoinette, to an amazingly detailed vision of Guinevere of Camelot, this section of the exhibit is sure to awe visitors, if simply because of the amazing craftsmanship that went into each costume. 

The last part of the first section of the exhibit takes a detailed look at multiple characters that Meryl Streep and Robert De Niro have played over their careers and the costumes that defined them. Again, the draw of this section is not necessarily the costumes, but the interviews with the actors about their work with the costume designers. 

Iron Lady, 2011 ©Film 4/The Kobal Collection.

Photo courtesy of the VMFA

From there, you enter a hallway that is meant to reasonable a sound stage, where parts of costumes from Gone with the Wind are housed in traditional museum cases. And at the end of the hall, is perhaps the most iconic Hollywood costume of all time: Marilyn Monroe's white dress from The Seven Year Itch. And it really is amazing!

The next few rooms focus on different genre's of movies: from action and suspense, to sci-fi and fantasy, and ending with femme fatals, musicals, and comedies. My favorite room was the middle one, which seemed to focus on sci-fi/ fantasy.

Photo courtesy of the VMFA

 The spotlight in this room was on the iconic Indian Jones outfit: the leather jacket, the fedora, and the whip (which I happened to get to just as the Indian Jones theme song began playing). It was amazing to watch video explaining the origins of each piece, from the whip to the pants. Behind the costume was the movie poster from Indian Jones and the Temple of Doom, along with quotes from the movie and the actors. My absolute favoirte was a quote from Harrison Ford which said:

"It's a very bizarre costume. It's this guy sporting a whip, whose usually off someplace really hot in a leather jacket."  

The exhibit ends with a focus on the Wizard of Oz, complete with a mock set of that includes the yellow brick road. I had a small issue with the placement of this section, because it was suppose to be the final piece of the exhibit, but with the way most people were moving around the room, it was in the middle. I would have liked to see it as the true end of the exhibit. Another disapointment: although the V&A had the original ruby slippers in their exhibit, the VMFA appears to have a reproduction pair. I guess the Smithsonian wanted the original pair back a bit sooner. 

Photo courtesy of the VMFA

My favorite find from the gift shop this time was a picture book of Audrey Hepburn's life. It was just so cute!

Overall, it was a fun exhibit. I highly recommend it to anyone who is in the Richmond area. But you have to hurry, because "Hollywood Costume" is only on exhibit through February 17th. 

And if you do go, I also suggest checking out the cafe. I found this amazingly cute ruby slipper cake pop that I just had to try.

 And it was both delicious and cute!