There are two things I like to do when Wes & I go on vacation: 1. eat 🍣☕🍖🌽🍤🍸(we did plenty of that here (https://ragsreborn.blogspot.com/2024/12/wes-ericas-vacation-photo-album-dfw-tx.html), and 2. go to a fashion or sewing themed museum.
The Arlington Art Museum hosted a special costume exhibit from the Disney archives (okay, not hosted, past tense; I think the exhibit is open until March 2025). 👗 The first part is a gigantic room filled with costumes and accompanying pictures of the actors in scenes wearing the costume and a note from the designer about their process or the inspiration for the piece. The second part is a series of rooms with more costumes (but no photos or design notes 😔), jewelry and other props used in various movies. I'm not a big Disney fan so I haven't seen a lot of the movies, but it was still really neat to read about the costumes and props. I kind of want to go watch all the movies now! LOL The Heroes & Villians costume room was a lot better than the Crown Jewels prop/jewelry section, in my opinion.
The polka dotted outfits in the top left were worn by Cinderella's step-sisters, who are loud and tacky, and that is what the dresses are supposed to reflect. I LOVE those outfits... I guess I'm loud & tacky, too 😂
I spent ages in the first room. I read each & every design note and examined the tailoring on every piece. 🤓 I wish I had the creative mind and skill of a costume designer (aside- the most prolific designer for Disney has got to be Colleen Atwood; I think every other dress was hers!). I loved that a lot of the unique elements in the pieces came from specific requests from the actors. Since the costumes were actually worn on screen, it was neat to see the height and build of the actors (James Franco is very tall and Danny DeVito is very short.) A majority of the dresses were like a size 000, but they did pad out the mannequins for some of the more average sized actresses. It was weird that they only padded the mannequins for the dresses. None of the male costumes were on larger mannequin's so some of them looked baggy & ill-fitting.
The only normal sized dresses in the entire exhibit. The Sanderson sisters and the women in A Wrinkle in Time. The mannequins looked so overweight (even though they're not) after seeing all the really skinny dresses.
I took a ton of pictures so the rest of this will be my pictures and what I learned about each costume. 📷 First up - the dress H.E.R wore for Beauty and the Beast. 💛 She is half Filipina and wanted her culture reflected in the costume. The red decorative edging around the apron is actually Filipino script. I don't remember what it read. The traditional yellow ballgown that Emma Watson wore in her Beauty and the Beast adaptation was also very beautiful.
My absolute favorite dress in the entire exhibit was Regina's Evil Queen from Once Upon a Time. I love the collar and the sleeves and the color! 💓 The designer wanted to dye it black but the fabric didn't take to the ink so it turned pink. Captain Hook's outfit is pretty cool, too.
My second favorite is the jacket Emily Blunt wore in Mary Poppins. Nothing fancy or special about it (that I can remember, but I'm sure the designer's note mentioned something), its just a coat I would totally wear. 😊 It looks simple enough that I could probably sew it, but when you look closer, it has so many cute design elements like the pockets, ruffled shoulders and belt.
I live for those ruffled shoulders ! *swoon*
How cool are those shoes!! I've seen Into the Woods but I do not remember this awesome suit.
Also for the Witch dress, the designer knew that the character would be hunched over throughout the movie, so she designed the dress to be worn in a crouched position. Most people think rules & restrictions are bad, and garments should be designed without abandon [maybe for some designers that is true], but I actually really like rules. I think they make you think outside of the box; more creatively. That's why I love my sewing club's monthly challenges so much. 💗 Almost every one of them is something that I would never do in my regular sewing, but it makes me try new things and think differently.
The following are dresses I really liked but I don't remember anything interesting about them. LOL
Mila Kunis was a witch in this movie. The witch rides in on a fireball and is supposed to be rock n' roll so this was the designer's interpretation of a "rock n' roll witch". I adore the sleeves!
The Evil Queen from Enchanted.
These were the main focal point costumes placed in the center of the exhibit, but I wasn't super impressed with them. I think it's because they actually look like costumes (aka Halloween and gimmicky).
From The Prince of Persia. I saw the movie but I don't remember this- there were a lot of fight scenes that zoomed in on the footwork. To distinguish the characters, the designer made Prince Dastan's shoes different.
Helena Bonham Carter's Fairy Godmother. I don't remember who played Cinderella. This is one of the movies I haven't seen.
Glenn Close's Cruella de Vil. I love the sketches and wish more of her costumes from the movie were on display.
Emma Stone's Cruella. I thought I would really like that movie, since it is a fashion heavy film, but I sadly didn't. I do love this half leather, half fur checkered pattern ❤
After the first room, there was a hallway with more costumes (but no design notes), that lead into the second part with all the props and jewelry.
It could be because I spent sooooo much time in the first part of the exhibit that my attention span was waning, but I couldn't really get into the second half. Its crazy because I love accessories. 💍 I think any other time, I would have enjoyed reading about jewelry and how its made, but I was just too overwhelmed and fatigued. 😫 A cool thing I did learn - each piece is made a bunch of times and each replica has a different purpose. The one worn by the stunt double is lighter than the actual piece. Some pieces get weathered or broken throughout the movie, so they need to create a more worn looking version.
The Disney Archives: Heroes & Villains and Crown Jewels costume exhibit is totally worth going to. The ticket prices are a bit hefty ($37/adult) but there is so much stuff jam packed into the galleries that you'll get your money's worth. The museum attendants are super nice, so I would suggest looking at the Heroes & Villians part first, then taking a break to get a coffee or lunch, then coming back for Crown Jewels (the attendants will give you a stamp if you ask... they'll also show you a secret door to the bathroom if you're too engrossed in the exhibit and forget that you have to pee and have been holding it for hours. 😅). There is a scavenger hunt that goes along with the jewelry/props. I saw a bunch of teens running around with paper and yelling, I found Troy's class ring!, but we didn't know what they were doing. The attendant asked us if we wanted to do the hunt as we were leaving but we declined. She still gave us the prize (a Prince and Princess sticker) for finishing it.
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