Bridge Across A River Gorge
The motif on this extremely exuberant outer kimono is a theatrical one relating to the Chinese legend of Shakkyo . This refers to a bridge over a steep gorge near the summit of Mount Seiryo which is reputed to lead to the Buddhist paradise and which is guarded by shishi . The kabuki play adapted from this story culminates in a dramatic shakkyomono, or lion dance. The figure on the bridge is a kabuki actor who embodies the spirit of the shishi, while below actual shishi are depicted with other figures surrounded by peonies. Costumes worn on stage certainly needed to be flamboyant and eye-catching, but the motifs were not normally so literal. It is more likely, therefore, that this kimono belonged instead to a high-ranking courtesan.
Recreation Of Louis Xivs Apollo Costume 1969
This may not jump out and scream ballet!!, but it is actually a recreation of one of the first ballet costumes. As I chatted about in my Origins of Ballet post, Louis XIVs love of dance is largely responsible for the formalisation of ballet. Under Louis, ballet was codified, and productions became more elaborate. Apollo is one of his more infamous roles- as the Sun King, it seems only appropriate that he would also be Apollo in Ballet de la Nuit. Obviously this is not Louiss actual costume- it was recreated for the Royal Ballet to use in their Ballet for All education program. Made with twentieth century materials like gold lurex, it is incredibly eye-catching in person. I must say, while the dancing may not be quite as difficult as we have come to expect, I would love to see one of these productions for the costumes and sets.
Evening Dress 1912 By Lady Duff
This Evening Dress is a graceful satin gown by Lady Duff Gordon in a reasonably restrained mood. The long slit skirt is an attractive feature, although its draped construction is not too revealing.
Lady Duff Gordons claim that she had:
loosed upon a startled London . . . draped skirts that opened to reveal the legs.
Lady Duff-Gordon was a leading British fashion designer for centuries who worked under Luciles professional name.
She was the first British-based designer to achieve international acclaim. She was also a widely acknowledged innovator in couture styles.
She originated the mannequin parade, a precursor to the modern fashion show, and trained the first professional models.
She launched slit skirts and low necklines, popularized less restrictive corsets, and promoted alluring and pared-down lingerie.
Duff-Gordon is also remembered as a survivor of the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912.
She wrote in 1932:
For me, there was a positive intoxication in taking yards of shimmering silks,laces airy as gossamer and lengths of ribbons, delicate and rainbow-colored,and fashioning of them garments so lovely that some princess might have worn them in a fairy tale.
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Rabbits Playing Among Flowers And Grasses
This beautiful kimono is decorated with an autumnal motif of rabbits playing among flowers and grasses by the light of a moon which shines softly down from the shoulder of the garment. The design has been created using a free-hand resist dyeing technique with special touches, such as the faces and ears of the rabbits, in silk embroidery. The ground fabric has been woven with a motif of clouds to suggest a night sky. Geisha may have worn this kimono.
Because rabbits only drive on forward and dont step back, people considered them lucky as a symbol of advancement. Also, the rabbit as a symbol of cleverness and self-devotion appears in myths. In the old days, it was a symbol of spring.
Theatre & Performance Archives
The Theatre & Performance Archives are the national collection documenting current practice and the history of the performing arts across the UK. The collection includes archives from notable theatre companies and other organisations as well as individuals such as performers, designers, directors and private collectors.
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Years Of Fashion Anatomy Of A Collection
A film about the Dress Collection of
the V& A Museum, London
This 52 minute film takes viewers behind the scenes explaining the functions of the Collections departments and how it operates through its dedicated curators and staff.
Our guide is Susan North, Senior Curator of Fashion. We meet Professor Ribeiro of the Courtauld Institute, Jenny Tiramani of Shakespeares Globe, fashion designers Ozwald Boateng, Paul Smith and many more.
Susan North, Senior Curator of Fashion with Madeleine Marsh. Shakespeares Globe Staff Working with Doublets.
Shakespeares Globe Staff Working with Doublets.
We learn about acquisition, exhibitions, and the Collections role as reference and resource for theatre, film and contemporary fashion designers.
An extremely important activity is conservation. The film shows work on the famous Paquin dress which featured in the V& As Art Deco exhibition. The conservation of this dress took over 300 hours!
Conservation at the Victoria and Albert Museum
Conservation at the Victoria and Albert Museum
Conservation at the Victoria and Albert Museum, wardrobe assistants inspecting a coat.
The film also illustrates the Collections importance and relevance in the field of education, and how its revered by designers, students and teachers alike. The film is a must for all fashion aficionados. Available here
A 52 minute film available on video, in PAL and NTSC format.
£18.99 inc VAT, plus P& P.
An Artsview Production in association with the V& A Museum, London.
Kent State University Museum
Kent, OH
The Kent State University Museum welcomes students and the general public to view, study and research from its collection of historic, contemporary, and world fashions. The collection goes beyond clothing and textiles to also include American glass, furniture, paintings and other decorative arts. The Museum also houses a library of books and historic periodicals dedicated to fashion and decorative arts.
*This list does not include collections focused on individual designers or types of accessories, even if they are very popular you can search separately for this, or for more fashion museums by region or type of collection.
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Bfi Transfers Film Costume Collection To V& a
Seven hundred film costumes, assembled by the British Film Institute over 20 years, are to be transferred to the Victoria and Albert Museum .
The announcement was made to coincide with the opening of the V& A’s Hollywood Costume exhibition, in which more than 130 classic outfits are displayed.
They include a Superman costume worn by Christopher Reeve and a dress Marilyn Monroe wore in Some Like It Hot. Both were previously held by the BFI.
Hollywood Costume opens on 20 October.
At a press launch on Wednesday, guest curator Professor Sir Christopher Frayling said the BFI’s “generous” donation meant the V& A was now the home of “the national collection of film costume”.
The media event followed a gala launch on Tuesday attended by actor Simon Pegg, actress Helena Bonham Carter and the exhibition’s senior guest curator, Professor Deborah Nadoolman Landis.
Costumes designed by Professor Nadoolman Landis are among those featured in the exhibition, which spans three ground-floor galleries at the V& A’s South Kensington home.
They include those worn by Harrison Ford in his role as daredevil archaeologist Indiana Jones and the black suits sported by the title characters of The Blues Brothers, directed by her husband John Landis.
Other items on display include comic-book superhero outfits worn by Batman star Christian Bale, Spider-Man actor Tobey Maguire and Michelle Pfeiffer, in her guise as Catwoman.
Cranes Under Blossoms And Pines
The design of this kimono illustrates the close connection between painting and textile arts in Japan. The surface of the garment has acted as a kind of hanging scroll for the creation of a hand-painted and dyed image of cranes among pines and plum blossoms. Touches of embroidery highlight the crests of the birds and parts of the pine boughs.
The red-crowned crane, also called the Manchurian crane or Japanese crane, is a large East Asian crane among the rarest cranes in the world. In some parts of its range, it is a symbol of luck, longevity, and fidelity.
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Coronation Gown For Boris Godunov 1910
I am rather new to opera myself, and have yet to see it in person. However, between seeing these gorgeous costumes at the Royal Opera House and here at the V& A, and the Royal Opera clips, Ive been won over. This particular costume caught my eye immediately. It is the coronation gown of the titular character of Boris Godunov, and it looks exactly like you would think a coronation gown would look. This particular costume was made in 1910 by Alexander Golovin, a costumer and set designer who would turn to painting after the 1917 revolution. Boris Godunov was produced for Sergei Diaghilevs Russian Opera, during their 1909 season in Paris. Diaghilev was a notable figure in Russian artistic circles, as he would go on to found the Ballet Russes company. But back to Golovin and the costume! It was worn by singer Feodor Chaliapin in the coronation scene, and is still in amazing condition. And if you are looking for your London connection, Chaliapin also appeared in Boris Godunov in 1913 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane!
Blossoms Fans Tasseled And Ribboned Flower Bouquets
This elegantly patterned kimono celebrates the beauty of textiles through its decoration- which depicts lengths of fabric hung on an elaborate stand and gently fluttering in the breeze surrounded by clouds, fans and falling cherry blossoms. The design was created using a technique called yuzen. This involves drawing the pattern on the cloth with rice paste extruded through the metal tip of a cloth bag. The paste forms a protective coat that prevents the color penetrating when the dyes are applied. Here the skills of the dyer have been enhanced by those of the embroider, who has highlighted the stand and the edges of the fabrics in gold and added flowers, blossoms, and elaborate ties and tassels in pink, white, and green.
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Pine Trees And Clouds
The elegant design of pine trees on this kimono was created using a technique called yuzen. This involves drawing the pattern on the cloth with rice paste extruded through the metal tip of a cloth bag. The paste forms a protective coat that prevents the dye penetrating. The large pattern areas were then completely blocked with paste before the background color was applied. The cloudy areas have been created using gold leaf, and tiny parts of the design have been highlighted with touches of embroidery.
In Japanese culture, the pine tree represents longevity, good fortune, and steadfastness. It is commonly linked with virtue and long life, even immortality. The pine tree is iconic of the Japanese New Year: as a symbol of rebirth, renewal, and a bright future.
Costumes From The Lion King Donated To V& a Museum Permanent Collection
The Walt Disney Company today donated two complete costumes from its Tony and Olivier Award-winning musical THE LION KING to the Permanent Collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum . The elaborate stage costumes and masks for the characters of Scar’ and Sarabi’ will join the V& A’s Theatre and Performance Collections, alongside over 3,500 stage costumes and accessories dating from the mid-18th century to today.
Stars of the smash-hit West End musical along with Thomas Schumacher, Producer of THE LION KING and President of Disney Theatrical Productions and Geoffrey Marsh, Director, V& A Theatre Collections, gathered at the V& A as THE LION KING costumes were unveiled to the public. The specially-created exhibit in the Theatre and Performance Galleries includes a video featuring highlights from this landmark musical and an interview with director , filmed during her visit to the V& A last year. This marks the first time costumes from THE LION KING have been exhibited in the UK, and they are also the first new costumes to be added to the Galleries since opening at the V& A.
The costumes were designed by acclaimed director and hand-made using a variety of materials. They were donated along with the distinctive stylised masks, co-designed by Taymor and Michael Curry, which have become iconic since their creation for the original Broadway production of THE LION KING in 1997.
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The Victoria And Albert Museum
The V& A has been exhibiting fashion for over a hundred years. These dedicated exhibitions have celebrated the artistry, design and story of fashion and clothing, from high-end couture to inspired ready-to-wear to innovative street style.
Bfis Film Costume Archive To Transfer To The V& a
On the eve of the V& As major exhibition, , the BFI and V& A are delighted to announce that the BFIs collection of over 500 film costumes is being transferred to the V& A. This will establish a new area of collecting for the Museum and a closer working relationship between the two organisations. The archive of costumes will transfer to the V& A in Summer 2013.
The BFI collection is one of the largest public collections of film costumes in the world and represents the work of many major costume designers such as Edith Head, Ellen Mirojnick, John Mollo and Sandy Powell. Highlights in the collection include a silk satin wedding dress and train designed by Travis Banton for Mae West as Tira in Im No Angel , the sequinned and beaded gown with mink trimmed train designed by Edith Head for Ginger Rogers as Liza Elliot in the 1944 film Lady in the Dark, the black tasselled dress designed by Orry-Kelly for Marilyn Monroe as Sugar Kane Kowalczyk in Some Like it Hot , and John Bloomfields 1987 Superman costume worn by Christopher Reeve in Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.
Sequinned and beaded gown with mink trimmed train designed by Edith Head for Ginger Rogers as Liza Elliot in the 1944 film Lady in the Dark
Amanda Neville, BFI Director, said:
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Kiyohara Tama Or Eleonora Ragusa: An Amazing Story About A Japanese Female Painter In Sicily
The Victoria and Albert Museum in London is one of the leading museums focusing on art and design. Its special for me due to the vast range of their collection, excluding no material or technique. V& A collects everything from ancient Chinese ceramics to Japanese kimono to Alexander McQueen haute couture dresses. What is more, the vast portion of the collection that is not on display is made available for browsing online.
Whenever online shopping becomes dangerous for my wallet, or may result in slow starvation until the next payday, I go for the safer option. No less fun, though. Pick a word, color, thing or technique and explore V& As collection. I usually start with the featured ones and then dig deeper into the complete catalog. I get to see beautiful things- in a way not much different from online shopping- but I cannot buy them, which is probably for the best and on top of that, I usually learn something new. Today well look at the beautiful kimono from V& A collection.
Victoria & Albert Museum
Spanning four centuries, the V& As Fashion collection is the largest and most comprehensive collection of dress in the world. Key items in the collection include rare 17th-century gowns, 18th-century mantua dresses, 1930s eveningwear, 1960s daywear and post-war couture. Plus a growing number of pieces from 21st-century designers.
Since: 1840s 1957
Size: 14,000 + accessories
Yearly visitors: 3,230,700
Staff: Christopher Wilk Edwina Ehrman Lesley Miller Oriole Cullin
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Costume For The Seagull 1994
This is quite a new costume, at just 25 years old. However, it still has an incredible grandeur and presence. The Seagull is an Anton Chekhov play, written in 1895 and first performed in 1896. Like The Nutcracker, The Seagull was originally a flop and a failure. Chekhov continued to work on the play though, and it slowly became a fan favourite. This particular costume was created for the 1994 National Theatre production of The Seagull, for the character Irina Arkadina. She is an actress on holiday with her lover on her family estate. As you can see from the back , it is a rather elaborate costume. According to the V& A, it is an
Edwardian-style evening gown of heavy black panne velvet, the front and back with full-length inserted panels of metal thread gold lace with at waist to front a large oval artificial gem within gold braid. At each side of the front panel two narrower hanging panels studded with artificial gemstones, artificial pearls and sequins, each ending in a point with a tassel of plaited braid. The leg of mutton sleeves with deep cuffs decorated with the same metal thread lace and gems. The wide collar of three layers of pleated gauze, the inner layer wired and edged with artificial pearls.
The only downfall of this room for me is that it can be hard to see the front and back of a piece. There is typically another item on the other side, blocking it. However, I will stick with adoring the back of this gown for now.
