“Cinema is art,” says Julie Armel, Director of Marketing and Public Relations at Museum of the Shenandoah Valley in Winchester, Va. Now through the end of February, the art of making costumes for period films gets top billing at the museum. It’s an exhibit for people of varied interests. Celebrity stargazers, historians, literary aficionados, followers of fashion, seamstresses – all will find it breathtaking.
Featuring 43 costumes depicting five centuries of style, “Cut! Costume and the Cinema” is on view for the first time in the mid-Atlantic region. Costumes in the exhibition are borrowed from the renowned British costume house Cosprop Ltd. Six of the films featured in this selection have received Academy Award nominations for Best Costume Design. The costumes have been worn by film stars like Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Heath Ledger, Emma Thompson, Robert Downey Jr. and Angelica Huston.
Also on display are the “underpinnings” – a euphemism for women’s undergarments – which can be as important to the authentic period look of a costume as the clothes worn over them. Corsets, petticoats, panniers (side hoops), bump pads and crinoline cages were worn to support the shape of the clothing, but also as a sign of class distinction and sometimes as a subtle erotic gesture.
“I would really like people to try to imagine how profoundly different your life would be if you wore something like this everyday,” says Nancy Lawson, Co-curator and Installer representing Cosprop. Although modern women might be mortified at the thought of the discomfort these undergarments must have caused, Lawson reminds us that “changing our shape for fashion really hasn’t changed.” She points to the shape changers contemporary women use: high heels, “Spanx,” push-up bras – and the most extreme method: body enhancements through surgery.
Along with displaying the incredible detail of the works of some of the world’s best costume designers, “CUT!” details the research and creative process critical to developing a costume appropriate to the goals of the film. Visitors will have a chance to closely examine the fine points of costumes that may have only appeared for a few fleeting seconds on screen.
The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley is located at 901 Amherst Street in Winchester, Va. The museum complex includes galleries, the historic Glen Burnie House and six acres of gardens. The galleries are open year-round; the house and gardens are open April through October. Admission is $10 or $8 for seniors and youth ages 13 to 18. General admission is free to youth ages 12 and under, and to MSV members. Additional details and information about programming are available at www.theMSV.org or by calling 540-662-1473, ext. 235.
