Holy Hollywood Costume

"Nothing that appears on screen is casual or accidental"

On a recent Melbourne trip I decided to take a break from shopping on all the fabulous alleyways and enjoy the latest fashion related exhibition in Melbourne, The Hollywood Costume exhibition at the Australian Center for the Moving Images (ACMI). A delightful and decadent collection of the most iconic and pivotal customers worn in Hollywood movies.

Descend the darkened stairs to encounter an enormous screen playing scenes from famous movies. Actors like Audrey Hepburn from Breakfast at Tiffany's fill the screen, Daniel Craig from Casino Royal and Charlie Chaplin entice you into the exhibition. 

There are three areas in the exhibition, each delicately leads onto the next with writing on the wall to describe what each section represents. 

The first is about breaking down what costume design really is. A witty video on loop illustrates a costume in the wrong setting. In this section you see Scarlet O'Hara in an exquisite green velvet gown, for a lover of green I could have stayed looking at it for hours. Kirsten Dunst's costume for Marie Antoinette is as amazing in real life as on screen. The ship which perches precariously on the mannequins head appears to be sailing in a sea of hair.

As you round the corner into the second area you discover a myriad of tables containing projections of costume sketches, notes, textile samples and photos relating to each costume. There are TV screens with interviews from actors, directors and costume designers. Costumes like Johnny Depp's Sweeney Todd and Melanie Griffith from The Bird (an Alfred Hitchcock movie) illustrate the aim of this section.  Which is to help the audience understand the creative context between movie and costume.  A nearby video on the making of avatars provides insight into how characters like Gollum from Lord of the Rings are made.  A  couch in front of the video provides a much needed stopping point.  In fact a fellow exhibition go-er told me this section could be only be made more perfect if there was a coffee machine nearby to get you ready for the rest of the exhibition.

The last section is a spectacular collection of the most celebrated characters throughout film. Arnold Schwarzenegger dominates as the Terminator with bullet holes riddling his jacket, The Matrix's Neo (played by Keanu Reeves) is positioned dodging bullets and Reese Witherspoon's black sequinned dress from Chicago flairs delicately around her calf.

The iconic red slippers worn in the Wizard of Oz and Marylyn Monroe's white halter neck dress are captivating in both their detailing and significance in movie history. Quotes from actors lay in front of many costumes, bringing a feeling of intimacy between the viewer and the costume. Like Keira Knightley’s comment about her green dress worn in Atonement, said that until she wore it she'd "always thought of green as temptation." 

Overall this was the most special, well informed and rich exhibit I have been to. It does needs several hours to look though as it's heavy reading. It is well work the entry fee.  This exhibition was a visual feast and opened my eyes to the work and planning that goes into everything portrayed in a Hollywood movie.

"We have the magic" - Edith Head, famous American Hollywood customer designer

Grab the book to the exhibition and you can see all those beautiful designs any time and learn more about what you saw in the exhibition. Or how about use it to draw inspiration from costumes over an era and reinvent them to your current style?!

(Review of the book coming soon)