The costume vault

In the first part of my detailed analysis of the evolving design for the crown in BBC's The Hollow Crown ( here ), I covered the whole first season and the designs for Richard II, Henry IV, and Henry V. In this second part, therefore, I'll continue this analysis by covering the second and last season of this Shakespearean adaptation, which includes the plays of Henry VI Part I , Part II and Part III and Richard III . So, without further ado, let's dive in. 4. Henry VI The second season covers the infamous chain of events known as the Wars of the Roses and it begins with Henry's infant son all grown up. Shakespeare's work covers, throughout three plays (which are condensed to two in the show), the tumultuous civil unrest throughout Henry VI's reign and his eventual fall from grace. Henry, as portrayed by the Bard, is a meek young man that despises conflict and prefers to pray than to rule. He is this naive, childlike man who is so pure in his inno...

If there is an element of the Art Department often overlooked by audiences when regarding filmmaking, it's the Prop.              PROP (noun) (IN FILM/THEATRE)               An object used by the actors performing in a play or film:               The only props used in the show are a table, a chair, and a glass of water . But why am I speaking about the prop when this is a Costume Design focused blog? It is true that the prop can be something as far removed from costume as a chair or a plate. But it also can be something that easily and naturally intersects with the Costume Design: a piece of jewelry, a shield or a handbag. It's in those cases when a great prop design can bring a lot of narrative meaning in a similar fashion as Costume Design itself. And it's those cases that I am going to be looking at in here. I am going to dedicate this series to spread the virtues ...

"Beautiful things are fragile" - Lucille Sharpe - Opposite Lucille stands our main character in the movie: Edith Cushing, a young and naive American with ambitions to become a writer. She meets and falls in love with a handsome and charming, but impoverished, English baronet: Sir Thomas Sharpe. They eventually marry and return to England, to the Sharpe's dilapidated mansion: Allerdale Hall. There they live with Thomas's sister: Lucille. The deadly apparitions that haunt the house will force Edith to slowly uncover the buried secrets of Crimson Peak. And so, Edith is to become a fragile butterfly caught in a moth's trap. PART II: THE BUTTERFLY Edith has considerably more frocks and gowns than Lucille does. It's only logical. Edith is our protagonist and, as such, has a bigger emotional arc throughout the movie, and she undergoes bigger changes. These are, in part, expressed through the costumes she wears and how these change throughout the mo...