There are few things in life I enjoy more than spending time
in an art gallery. Probably eating which is closely followed by aimlessly
wandering around beautiful art galleries. It’s something I don’t get to do
nearly enough. I miss the life of gallery luxury I was living while traveling
Europe, I would be exploring a new gallery every three to four days. Bliss!
So when ACMI announced that they were bringing Hollywood Costume from the Victoria and
Albert Museum in London I was just a little EXCITED! The V&A has curated
some of the world’s best exhibitions, Victoria has been lucky enough to play
host to some of these wonderful exhibitions. The Bendigo Art Gallery has presented a few
V&A exhibits in the past few years, Grace Kelly: Style Icon and The White Wedding Dress. Now it’s
Melbourne’s turn with Hollywood Costume.
A whole exhibition on costumes. I get excited enough over a
good costume at the movies, but in real life? Eeeeeeeeee! It is amazing, I
don’t use that word lightly either. Curated perfectly, interactive, interesting
and beautiful all in one. The Hollywood
Costume exhibition brings together famous cult films along with their famous
characters costumes. From Fight Club to Marie Antoinette, Kill Bill to Dreamgirls, Gangs of New York to
Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
I lost the plot a little seeing Audrey Hepburn’s infamous Givenchy
dress from Breakfast at Tiffany’s, she was tiny. Seeing that dress in real life
and being so close to it, pretty rad to say the least. Renee Zellweger’s
sparkly crystal embellished number from Chicago. There was a little Hogwarts
and Gryffindor with Daniel Radcliffe’s costume from Harry Potter and the Half
Blood Prince, wand, glasses, cape and all.
The section of the exhibition I loved the most was Scene 2,
where they had the costume designers and directors of The Birds, Gangs of New
York, Sweeny Todd and Closer talking about where the ideas, inspiration and concepts for the
costumes came from. The whole creative process behind creating costumes that
reflected the characters and their stories. They talked about how important the
costumes were in creating the character and how much research and time goes in
to creating these costumes.
Open until the 18th of August, I highly recommend
a visit. Even if you are not one to frequent galleries, I promise there is
something you will enjoy. I mean who wouldn’t get a little excited over seeing
Spiderman, Captain Jack Sparrow or The Blues Brothers?! A little something for
everyone who enjoys a good movie.
Photo: Vanity Fair
Photo: Source Unknown
Photo: Source Unknown
