Costume Gala:Flapper Fab: Academy Award-nominated "The Artist" Costumes by Costume Designer Mark Bridges, 20th Annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design Exhibition FIDM Museum & Galleries
In 1993,
FIDM Museum & Galleries launched an exhibition that would evolve into an institution.
The Art of Motion Picture Costume Design Exhibition has become the largest annual curated exhibition dedicated to the presentation of film costumes in the world!
This past Saturday was the
Opening Night Party to celebrate the
20th Annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design Exhibition at the
Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising and
FIDM Museum & Galleries honoring this past year in Motion Picture Costumes. I was honored to have been invited to this "Gala" and join in for an exclusive peak at this wondrous exhibit, which features over 100 costumes from 20+ films, including
"The Help",
"Captain America",
"Thor",
"Immortals" and of course, the five Academy Award Nominees for Best Costume Design:
"Anonymous", "The Artist", "Hugo", Jane Eyre" and "W.E.". The Exhibit opened officially on Valentine's Day, Tuesday February 14th, it's FREE and will be going on until April 28th.
Here is a "Taste" of those 5 Academy Award-nominated Costumes on display:Photo courtesy of abimages.com
"Anonymous" Costumes designed by Lisy Christl--The film is set in the 16th century Elizabethan era and revolves around the question "Was William Shakespeare a Fraud?" with the backdrop of the tempestuous reign of
Queen Elizabeth I. Five costumes from the movie are on display including two dresses for the character of "Queen Elizabeth I" worn by actresses
Vanessa Redgrave and her daughter
Joely Richardson.
I did a fun "Costume Piece blog" for Lifetime.com for the "Anonymous" costumes which you can read HERE.Photo courtesy of abimages.com
"The Artist" Costumes designed by Mark Bridges--We all know
"The Artist" is a black and white film--so it is a great surprise to come to this Exhibition and see COLOR! Notice the dress on the far left of the photograph above and its bright orange-coral color. This is how the dress looked in the film:
Yep, medium-gray! Well, in addition to being surprised by the "pop" of color in these costumes, it's also great to see the delicate gold jacquard, brocade and jeweled sequined dresses in this
"The Artist" tableaux. And did I mention those cloche hats are especially FAB when you're standing 5 feet away from them?!
The costume designer told me that while most of the dresses were made just for the film, those hats were all vintage.Photo courtesy of abimages.com
"Hugo" Costumes designed by Sandy Powell--Costume Designer
Sandy Powell said she had over 1,000 costumes to oversee for the Martin Scorsese film
"Hugo". There are five at the 20th Annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design Exhibition, including the "Station Inspector" worn by actor
Sacha Baron Cohen; an olive Shakespearean-inspired costume worn by
Ben Kinsley and a jacket-sweater and shorts ensemble worn by young actor
Asa Butterfield who played "Hugo".
Photo courtesy of abimages.com
"Jane Eyre" Costumes designed by Michael O'Connor: The book was originally written and set in the 1830's but according to the Costume Designer and the Director of the film, they both really disliked that time period in terms of women's fashions (they were big and unflattering "puff cake" gowns), therefore they changed the time to a decade later, the 1840's. The costumes for
"Jane Eyre" are both restrained yet very intricate. You HAVE to go to the
FIDM Museum to really appreciate the minute details, intricate laces, the seaming and pleating that one might miss on the "big screen".
And Finally...
Photo courtesy of abimages.com
"W.E." Costumes designed by Arianne Phillips--The Madonna-directed film,
"W.E." tells the love story between American divorcee Wallis (W) Simpson and Edward (E), Prince of Wales , who eventually abdicated the throne of England in exchange for marrying the one love of his life. Wallis was fashion-obsessed and loved wearing
designs from all the top Paris Couture Houses. Costume Designer
Arianne Phillips collaborated with the Houses of
Dior,
Vionnet and others to have them recreate dresses and gowns that Wallis Simpson had ordered from them--and worn.
Arianne Phillips, 20th Annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design Exhibition FIDM Museum & Galleries (Photo courtesy of abimages.com)
Phillips was in attendance, giving press and party guests alike bountiful "insider information" on the beautiful costumes she designed for the film-as well as how she got
Cartier to make reproductions of
Wallis Simpson's fabulous jewels. It was wonderful seeing her and congratulating her in person for the GORGEOUS Costumes and for getting the Academy Award Best Costume Design nomination.
Oh, and yes, PS: Arianne looked FABULOUS! You can read a little more background on the costumes and comparing them to the actual photographs of Wallis Simpson and Edward which I wrote HERE last April.
Guest Chic: Also looking fabulous were (Left to Right)
Rose Apodaca (loving the turban!), co-founder of
A+R, fashion journalist, former West Coast Editor of
WWD, author of
"A to Zoe: The Art of Fashion, Beauty and Everything Glamour" and most recently, the
"Fred Hayman: The Extraordinary Difference" and
N. Jayne Seward (loving the shoes!), fashion editor of the
California Apparel News and
Very Very Chic diva.
LA Designer Twosome: Nick Verreos with Kevan Hall, 20th Annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design Exhibition, FIDM Museum & Galleries (Photo courtesy of abimages.com)
Here is all the Information on the Exhibition:
*WHAT: 20th Annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design Exhibition
*WHERE: FIDM Museum & Galleries
Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising
919 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90015
*WHEN: February 14-April 28
*HOURS/Phone No.: Tuesday through Saturday 10AM-4PM, 213-623-5821
Click Below for a great video from KABC 7 showcasing the 20th Annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design Exhibition at FIDM Museum & Galleries:
Museum Twosome: Nick Verreos and KTLA's Gayle Anderson, 20th Annual "Art of Motion Picture Costume Design" Exhibition, FIDM Museum & Galleries 
Gayle (or "Miss Gayle as I now like to call her!) came to the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising/FIDM to do a entire morning full of segments on the just-opened 20th Annual "Art of Motion Picture Costume Design" Exhibition".
Costume Fab: 20th Annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design Exhibition, FIDM Museum & Galleries
Gayle Anderson and Nick Verreos, "Reel Steel" Costume Tableaux, 20th Annual "Art of Motion Picture Costume Design" Exhibition, FIDM Museum & Galleries
This one in particular you might recognize (if you're as old as MOI!) because it's from Thierry Mugler and was featured in the UBER FAB George Michael "Too Funky" music video.
Here's another we both LOVED: a costume worn by actress Vanessa Redgrave in the film "Anonymous", costumes designed by Lisy Christl. Redgrave played the elder Queen Elizabeth I. All in all, I had such an amazing time filming my segments with Gayle. She was OUTSTANDING, such a professional---I was in awe of her stamina and how she ran the entire thing!!! She is ONE of a KIND!!!! Can't wait for the next time we get to film another TV segment!
