Hollywood Costume

This year saw the Victoria & Albert museum unveil Hollywood Costume, a display spanning three massive rooms filled with countless costumes from much-loved movies.  I've always been intrigued by costume design and how it portrays and adds to a character, because, after all, you are what you wear. For every costume on display, there's a titbit of information from the costume designer or actor, giving us an insight into why they had to wear that pair of jeans, of why the jacket had to be that specific shade of read. Whether it's period dramas (A Room With A View, Elizabeth, etc), action movies (Indiana Jones), or cult classics (Fight Club, Taxi Driver, etc), this exhibition has left no memorable movie out. Take a look below for some interesting insights with quotes from the costume designers.

Marit Allen on Brokeback Mountain:

"Cowboys wear Wrangler jeans (they're much tighter) and ranchers wear looser Levi's. Even the shape and heel height on a cowboy boot tells a tale. So does the height, colour, brim and shape of a hat, which also varies from state to state."

Michael Kaplan on Fight Club:

"Tyler (Brad Pitt) was like the male of many animal species: brilliant, cocky and more colourful than the female. Tyler had no income and his wardrobe came from thrift shops. Brad's favourite was a 1970's leather jacket that I designed and dyed the colour of dried blood, which said a lot about the character and the film's title"

The legendary Edith Head on The Birds:

"Hitchcock preferred that the audience did not notice her (Tippi Hedren's) clothes. He didn't want any distractions from the terror and virtually restricted me to two colours, blue and green.... I was aware that he didn't like anything bright unless it made a story point."

Ann Roth on Natalie Portman in Closer:

"I was in Greece and I saw this girl sleeping on two or three chairs pushed together, and I literally copied her costume. It was that blue coat. You had the feeling it had been somebody else's first. Perhaps she shared a youth hostel in Istanbul somewhere, and the thing was rolled up and somebody was sleeping on it - this coat had a history."

Hollywood Costume is on display until January 27th 2013.