although we suggest you don`t. These costumes represent the

EXHIBITION DESCRIPTION
Walk through five centuries of cinematic couture. Experience the history of style and history itself. Breathe
in the sumptuous fabrics. Step into the shoes of famous film stars. An experience like no other awaits visitors
to the exhibition CUT! Costume and the Cinema.
Visitors to your museum will be transported from Elizabethan England (Cate Blanchett , Elizabeth) . . . to
17th-century Virginia (Colin Farrell, The New World) . . . to the 18th-century England of the aristocracy
(Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes, The Duchess) . . . to 19th-century Paris, fantastic and opulent, (Emmy,
Rossum, The Phantom of the Opera) . . . and into the 20th century – to Colonial Africa (Meryl Streep, Out of
Africa) . . . to Édith Piaf ’s Paris (Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose) . . . to the forests of Belarus in World War
II (Daniel Craig, Defiance). More than 30 actors will be represented from some 25 films known in the trade
and appreciated by the public for the unequaled quality of the construction and faithfulness to the period
of the costumes represented. There will be 40 costumes in all – all made by the renowned British costumer,
Cosprop Ltd.
Many of the costumes in this beautiful selection have won major film awards including Oscars from the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and BAFTA Awards from the British Association of Film
and Television Awards. As these awards testify, costume is the essential ingredient to the authenticity of a
period film. Costumes set the scene, providing information about where and when the drama is taking place,
and introducing characters by giving clues about their status, age, class and wealth as well as their position in
the story. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Venetian upper class 18th-century silk brocade coat of
Heath Ledger (Casanova) verses the distressed leather jacket worn by Daniel Craig (Defiance) while hiding
from the Nazis in World War II.
Costumes created for period films must not only stand the test of time, but also the test of scrutiny. When
a camera zooms in for a close-up every hand-created detail must look authentic and perfectly executed. This
exhibition allows us to get closer to the stories portrayed on screen and to appreciate the quality of the costumes up close, sometimes only fleetingly glanced on the screen.
EXHIBITION SPECIFICATIONS
EXHIBITION INCLUDES
40 period costumes (16th – 20th centuries) made
expressly for motion pictures, mannequins, costume
accessories and period-based backdrops
Photography
Gallery guide
Extensive wall labels and text panels on disc
Insurance
Packing
Special crates in which to ship the mannequins already dressed
Trans-Atlantic shipping
On-site Cosprop specialist to assist with conditioning and
installing the costumes,
and to be available for exhibition openings, docent training
and press interviews
REQUIREMENTS FOR HOSTING INSTITUTION
3,500 – 5,000 square feet
Pro-rated shipping costs
VENUE LENGTH
About 3 months
TOUR SCHEDULE
February 2010 – February 2012
AVAILABLE DISC
PowerPoint presentation including:
Exhibition description
Cosprop history
Tour schedule
Complete set of images
Illustrated object list
Press reviews
FOR EXHIBITION BOOKINGS
please contact Elisabeth Johnson Holod
at +1 651-222-1121
[email protected]
FOR CURATORIAL QUESTIONS
please contact Diane C. Salisbury
at +1 202-719-8073
[email protected]
COSPROP
PRESS REVIEWS
The amazing costumes in this exhibition come
from a stock of more than 100,000 costumes
and accessories made by the renowned British
costumer, Cosprop Ltd. Founded in 1965 by
John Bright, an award-winning costume designer in his own right, Cosprop specializes in creating costumes for film, television and theater
pieces set from the 15th century to the swinging
60s. Cosprop has a staff of 40 experts in designing, tailoring, cutting, fitting, millinery, jewelry
making and repair, and dyeing and printing.
Reference for their work comes from an extensive library and a collection of original garments
thus ensuring that any production undertaken
by Cosprop is “correctly dressed”.
Media quotes during the time another exhibition of Cosprop’s costumes opened at
the Winterthur Museum:
The detail and artisanship of the collection
is astounding. . . Historical techniques and
sometimes even historical textiles are often
used by Cosprop designers. Cosprop founder
Bright feels it is important for actors to be
dressed historically accurate – right down
to their shoes and their underwear – so they
can inhabit a role.
--Delawareonline, October 10, 2006
. . . unlike actual period clothing, which must
be preserved behind glass cases when displayed, visitors can get close enough to touch
these exquisitely dressed forms – although we
suggest you don’t. These costumes represent
the epitome of high fashion of that time,” said
Nancy Lawson, the curator of the traveling
show. “They are the couture of the era.”
--The Philadelphia Inquirer, October 6, 2006
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