Period Costumes for the Screen: From the Collection of Cosprop, London
October 5th, 2007 by Andre Soares
Thirty-six movie costumes, including Oscar-nominated designs created for Meryl Streep in Out of Africa (below), Gwyneth Paltrow in Emma (above), Nicole Kidman in The Portrait of a Lady and Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth, will be presented in the upcoming exhibition, “Period Costumes for the Screen: From the Collection of Cosprop, London,” opening on Friday, October 19, in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences‘ Fourth Floor Gallery in Beverly Hills. Admission is free.
As per the Academy’s press release, the exhibition “will highlight the collaboration between motion picture costume designers — including Milena Canonero, Ruth Myers, Janet Patterson, and Alexandra Byrne, each of whose creations are mentioned above — and costume houses by featuring an impressive sampling from Great Britain’s Cosprop. Costume houses such as Cosprop provide offices, research facilities, historic and modern costume stock, and expert manufacturing facilities, thereby acting as the creative hub of the costume design community.
“Showcasing dozens of costumes, photo murals and film clips that put the costumes into their cinematic context, the exhibition will highlight designs created for motion pictures set in the 16th through mid-20th centuries. While period authenticity can contribute greatly to the believability of a story, the first creative challenge is for the costumes to fit the overall design of the film.”
Founded in 1965 by costume designer John Bright, Cosprop was involved in the creation of Bright’s and Jenny Beavan’s Academy Award-nominated costumes for Sense and Sensibility and their Oscar-winning designs for A Room with a View. Cosprop also collaborated with three-time Academy Award winner James Acheson on his Oscar-winning designs for Dangerous
Liaisons, and with Deborah L. Scott’s Oscar-winning work on Titanic. (Right: Drew Barrymore wearing a Jenny Beavan costume in Ever After.)
This exhibition is organized by the Trust for Museum Exhibitions, Washington, D.C., in cooperation with Cosprop Ltd., London, England.
“Period Costumes for the Screen: From the Collection of Cosprop, London” will be on display through Sunday, December 16. The Academy’s galleries, located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, are open Tuesdays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and weekends, noon to 6 p.m. The Academy will be closed during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend — Thursday, November 22 through Sunday, November 25. For more information call (310) 247-3600 or visit www.oscars.org.
Photos: Courtesy of the Margaret Herrick Library (all three photos), also Stephen F. Morley (Ever After) and David Appleby (Emma)
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