From Mr Darcy’s iconic tailoring to the romance of A Room with a View and the regal splendour of Elizabeth, Cosprop’s costumes have helped bring some of cinema and television’s most memorable characters to life. Opening next month at Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh, Costume Couture: Sixty Years of Cosprop offers a rare opportunity to see these extraordinary creations up close and discover the craftsmanship, research and artistry behind them.
To celebrate the upcoming exhibition, we have selected five standout costumes that showcase the remarkable breadth of Cosprop’s work and its enduring influence on screen costume design.
A ROOM WITH A VIEW (1985)
Costume Designers: Jenny Beavan and John Bright
Oscar and BAFTA for Best Costume Design
Bright and Beavan’s design process involved selecting original period clothing from the Cosprop stock. This was called ‘a dress-up session’. The designers would then dress each actor and evaluate what suited them, and what would be appropriate for the narrative and scene. Clothing would then be dyed, altered to fit, and remade, with original elements used to create a new outfit.
1906 ensemble for Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham Carter)
Cream cotton and linen skirt and blouse
This costume is worn during the picnic scene near Fiesole when Lucy and George Emerson (Julian Sands) first kiss on the hill overlooking Florence. The scene is regarded as one of the most romantic moments in British cinema. Lucy wears the costume again when she, her mother (Rosemary Leach) and fiancé (Daniel Day-Lewis) discover her brother Freddie (Rupert Graves), George and the Reverend Beebe (Simon Callow) bathing nude. Bright wanted the group to look like ‘the avenging angels’ confronting the naked merrymakers.
ONEGIN (1999)
Costume Designers: John Bright and Chloé Obolensky
Martha Fiennes’s version of Alexander Pushkin’s novel united John Bright and Chloé Obolensky as costume co-designers.
‘John understands costume because he has the sensitivity of an actor and he understands it not as the outside envelope, but what is coming from within and therefore all the possibilities that are there.’ – Chloé Obolensky
1830s evening dress for Tatyana Larina (Liv Tyler)
Red satin and shot-silk dress
For Tatyana’s key ballroom dress, Bright found some original sleeve cushions, which he inserted into the sleeves to give the dress more presence in the scene.
PRIDE & PREJUDICE (1995)
Costume Designer: Dinah Collin
Emmy Award for Best Costume Design
This Jane Austen adaptation remains one of the most enduring. Dinah Collin worked closely with fabric producers to recreate period fabrics, all of which were then constructed into costumes in the Cosprop workrooms. Watched by an audience of around 10 million people, it remains one of the BBC’s most successful adaptations.
1810s suit for Fitzwilliam Darcy (Colin Firth)
Olive-green wool tailcoat, navy and beige wool waistcoat, white linen shirt, camel moleskin breeches and black leather boots
‘It was vital to think about how costumes would look to modern eyes, while bearing in mind period accuracy. This was particularly important for Mr Darcy. As the romantic lead, he had to have costumes that emphasised his masculinity and made it easy to fall in love with him. I also wanted his wardrobe to feel like jeans and a T-shirt, although it’s breeches and boots.’ – Dinah Collin
ELIZABETH (1998)
Costume Designer: Alexandra Byrne
Oscar and BAFTA nomination for Best Costume Design
The popularity of films set in the Tudor period expanded the skills of the Cosprop staff and added to their stock collection.
‘When we began making Tudor clothes, we referred to Janet Arnold’s books, Patterns of Fashion – they really helped build up our ideas of how to construct the clothes.’ – John Bright
1550s dress for Princess Elizabeth (Cate Blanchett)
Sage-green velvet dress and bodice, gauze sleeves with cream silk undersleeves featuring pink and green embroidery, and a deep salmon-pink flowing sash.
‘My aim was to reflect the freedom and innocence of youth. Elizabeth was a young woman, free in the company of her circle of friends, all young women. She is well educated and has an independent spirit. I tried to reflect all these qualities in her style of dress, creating a credible world whilst not being bound by historical accuracy.’ – Alexandra Byrne
OUT OF AFRICA (1985)
Costume Designer: Milena Canonero
The epic romance covered 20 years in the life of the writer Karen Blixen, from Danish aristocrat to plantation owner in Africa. Cosprop created over 60 costumes for Meryl Streep. Bright and Canonero spent 48 hours in New York fitting Streep into her costumes.
1914 wedding suit for Karen Blixen (Meryl Streep)
Two-piece cream silk ensemble comprising a high-waisted jacket with a high collar and pleated net trimmed in black piping, worn over an ankle-length hobble skirt and a hat with a peaked crown trimmed with floral embroidery.
‘Karen Blixen said in one letter [in her archive] that she wore a simple white suit to her wedding. I decided to make it very French à la mode.’ – Milena Canonero
The costume became an inspiration for several fashion designers, including Yves Saint Laurent, Ralph Lauren and Donna Karan.
These five costumes offer just a glimpse into the world of Costume Couture: Sixty Years of Cosprop. Featuring more than six decades of award-winning costume design, the exhibition reveals how fabric, cut and craftsmanship have helped define some of the most beloved characters in film and television history.
Book your tickets now and enjoy our advance booking rates before the exhibition opens.
All images: © Cosprop - Jon Stokes, Julia Buckmiller