Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty

Matthew Bourne's interpretation of Sleeping Beauty played at Sadler's Wells. This production was a ballet with gothic  with influences. It started in a Edwardian era setting and then processed to modern day after Aurora's 100 year sleep.  This is the first ballet I have seen and it was quiet enjoyable. I liked the use of moving floors in order to make the movements more magical and too create the appearance of the dancers floating. I also liked the set and was surprised at how quick it could be changed.
Though I would have liked more visual costume, they was numerous garments I liked. I was also able to roughly identify the era it was set from the costumes. I liked the costumes worn by the fairies the most due to the embellishments and the wings that were attached.
Visit their website at:

http://www.sadlerswells.com/whats-on/2015/matthew-bournes-sleeping-beauty/

http://new-adventures.net/sleeping-beauty

Sadler's Wells

Madame Tussauds

Today's visit to Madame Tussauds was fantastic. It is amazing how realistic the wax figures look. I enjoyed looking at the costumes the figures were wearing. Madame Tussauds had different sections so I was able to view modern, historical and fantasy/sifi figures and their clothing which was really interesting.
Visit their website at:

https://www.madametussauds.co.uk/london/en/

Emma Watson Wax Figure

Henry VII Wax Figure

Captain America Wax Figure

Princess Leia and Jabba the Hutt Wax Figure

Angels Costumiers

Today's tour of Angels costumiers was a great chance to learn about the inner workings of a costume house as well as a bit of Angels history 
I found out that the making department is constantly working on projects and that the client's wishes are always followed even if the changes they want to make aren't fully accurate for the time period.
Angels has different departments: stock, fancy dress, altering, tailoring and dress making. The stock section is split into various different sections including: military, uniform, religious wear, ethnic clothing, etc. There is also various different ways to build up a costume stock including donation,  buying items and making.
I also had a chance to look at some of the costumes they have produced for films, TV and Theatre. Dresses worn by the actors who played Queen Elizabeth in some films were also on show including a reproduction of our current Queen's coronation gown, which I loved.
I really enjoyed this tour and it made me consider work experience or working when I finish my course at a costume house.
Visit their website at:
http://www.angels.uk.com/

Angels' recreation of the Queen coronation

gown.

Angel's Elizabeth I dress

                                           

 

Angels' costume rails.

Angels' has eight miles of costume rails.

  

Harry Potter Studios

Harry Potter Studio

Todays tour of the Harry Potter Studios was amazing. We were able to see numerous original sets, props and costumes used in the production. I learnt how the production was filmed and what kind of special effects were used in order to create the magical elements in the film. It was also really interesting to find out that a large amount of robotics was used to create some of the characters.

A large amount of work went into the making of the films so it was fun to be able to view and read about the different elements used.

We also had a costume workshop where we got to look at the costumes, designs and moodboards created for the production. As well as this we learnt about how the character's personality has been reflected in the material texture, colour and design such as rough, worn materials for a poor character and velvets for the rich. It was very interesting to learnt that even the tone of a colour could change how the character is viewed.
Visit their website at:

https://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/  

Model of Hogwarts school

The actors were filmed on a green screen then inserted into a video made using this model when outside.

Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes

This is Fred and George's shop on Diagon Alley

Mannequins wearing Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione costumes from the final scene of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows part 2 

Matilda

The production Matilda was playing at Cambridge Theatre and I went to watch it. This was a fantastic performance full of energy. The amount of effort and rehearsal that must have been put into the production really shows in the performance. The timing was done really well and the set was amazing with multiple moving parts that were brilliantly included into the action made by the performers.
Due to a large focus being on the amazing set, there wasn't any large scale or heavily embellished costumes but I really enjoyed this production and would recommend it to anyone who loves theatre and physical performance.
Visit their website at:

http://uk.matildathemusical.com/?_ga=1.38840099.1805077302.1449013991

Cambridge Theatre

Kensington Palace

Kensington Palace

At Kensington Palace there is a exhibit called Fashion Rules showing dresses worn by royalty in the 1900s. I loved the embellishments on the dresses! They sparkled brilliantly in the lighting.
They are also some dresses worn by Queen Victoria on display. Throughout the palace there were these amazing 18th century dresses and men's suits that seemed to be made out of paper and these represented some of the people who visited the palace.
They was also an amazing 18th century dress heavily embellished worn by Queen Caroline that I think was the best dress I have seen today.  I think these will be great elements to add to my design research.
The added projection seen on the walls made the experience even more exciting.
Visit their website at:
http://www.hrp.org.uk/kensington-palace/

Paper Dress

 

 

                  Paper Suit                                           Formal Gown                                                Close up detail-

                                                                     This dress is made from Duchesse                              Rockington Mantua

                                                                     satin by Norman Hartnell in 1963.

                                                                        It is embellished with beading.

The Rockington Mantua

This was made in England from French brocade silk in 1765. It was worn by Lady Mary W. The Prime Minister's Wife

The fan is from 1750

Close up detail of the Formal Gown

Victoria and Albert Muesum

Iolanthe- The Queen of the Fairies.

Today I visited the V and A to look at the Shoes: Pleasure and Pain Exhibition and the other costumes they have in their collection.
In the shoes exhibit there was a wide variety of shoes from different time periods and it also featured modern shoes that have used technology such as 3D printing to create them. How the shoes are constructed is also explored and it was really interesting to see how the technique for making shoes has developed.
The fashion costumes were set out in a circle starting from the 1700 to the 2000, this made the development and changing of the clothing throughout 300 years clear to see. The V&A had some really beautiful period costumes and structured undergarments on show. Some of the costume were placed open so I could see inside them so it was interesting to have a look at how they might have been constructed.
Upstairs was a variety of set, prop and costumes from multiple different theatre productions which were amazing to see. I especially loved the Queen of the Fairies dress because of all the embellishments that decorate it. The dress was made in 1977 for the production Iolanthe by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. It was made by David Garrett and designed by Bruno Santini. In order to create it: cotton, netting, Lurex, lacing, wire, cording, Velcro, lame and diamante and sequin embellishment was used.
Visit their website at:

http://www.vam.ac.uk/

1835-1838 Day Dress

This is a day dress made in England in

1835 to 1838 from wool.

 

       

1895- Bodice

        This bodice was made by Mlle L. Guiquin in 1895. It was made in New York.

  Silk Satin with beads and sequins were used to create this bodice.

1890-1900 Fan

This fan was painted by Ronot-Tutin in 1890 to 1900. It was made in France.

It has a structure made from pearl and the main part of the fan is silk.