I went to see an exhibit on costuming in historical movies the other day. The costumes were certainly more than I had expected. In this era of green screens and animation and the like, it seems that movies’ elements are constructed entirely onscreen, and contain few traces of real-world intricacy. Not so for the costuming on display. Rich fabric, spot-on undergarments and minute detail work made the costumes as beautiful—and authentic-looking—on-display as they were on-screen. The exhibit, Cut! Costume and Cinema, will be touring the country, exhibiting costumes worn by the likes of Drew Barrymore, Keira Knightley and Daniel Craig.

One of the most popular costumes on display was Johnny Depp’s from Pirates of the Caribbean. The costume is very apparently hand-stitched, and the delicate fabrics of lace and cotton have been died to show that the clothes have been worn for quite a while by Captain Jack Sparrow. The designer paid attention to the types of materials available during the time period when the movie was made, specifically the types of materials available for a pirate captain.

Particularly interesting was a series of leather jackets that had to be aged differently depending on the conditions or length of time the movie intended to portray. The costume designers had to create six identical leather jackets and age them according to how long the actor wearing them was going to be in the movie. The aging process of costumes helps the viewer gauge length of time in movies that don’t offer a lot of time specificities. Designers may also have to create their own fabrics, if they are not often put on the racks at modern fabric stores. 

Costume designers often use the British costume design studio Cosprop Limited if it needs to costume huge dance or party scenes, but the designers for the movie cannot spend that much time on designer extras’ costumes. Perhaps the most surprising section of the exhibit was the undergarments required for authentic looks for each historical costume. Despite the availability of new materials, historical costume designers still use skirt petticoats and cages, bustles and other paddings to support their historical-accurate costumes. Occasionally aspects of these undergarments are changed for the sake of ease of movement and comfort, but often, the correct look cannot be achieved without the historically-correct underthings.  

Are you interested in historical costuming for movies? Which are your favorite historical flicks?