Hollywood Costume exhibition in Melbourne

Its times like these I wish I lived in Melbourne. The arts capital of Australia is playing host to an amazing collection of costumes cataloguing decades of film history. The ‘Hollywood Costume’ Exhibition from the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London and touring worldwide is on its final stretch closing August 18. It features a massive array of iconic pieces, such as De Givenchy’s famous LBD for Audrey Hepburn in ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ (1961) and Vivian Leigh’s green curtain dress in ‘Gone With the Wind’ (1939).

The exhibition, housed in the ‘Australian Centre for Moving Image’ (ACMI), also includes other components of the costume making process including scripts, sketches and costume fitting photographs as well as film clips, montages and interviews to accompany the pieces. In addition to the exhibition, the ACMI is running a number of events focusing on key figures and designers; such as, Australian-born Orry Kelly programs on his creations in ‘Some Like it Hot’ (1959) for Marilyn Monroe and ‘Gypsy’ (1962), and special showings of ‘The Addams Family’ (1991), ‘The Wizard of Oz’ (1939) and ‘102 Dalmatians’ (2000). Some other costumes featured in the exhibition were featured in: Titanic (1997), Ben-Hur (1959), Casino Royale (2006), ‘Superman’ (1978), ‘The Iron Lady’ (2011) and many more. I encourage any film loving Australian to go see it as I probably won’t be able to make the trek from Brisbane to Melbourne before it moves overseas. 

Below is a few pictures from the exhibition mostly from its original home at the V&A:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The clip below features the exhibitions curator, Academy Award nominated film costume designer and historian, Professor Deborah Nadoolman Landis, discussing the exhibition and its importance in film history.