{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O101965"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O101965/"}},"images":null,"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O101965","accessionNumber":"S.14:1/3-2004","objectType":"Theatre costume","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"Historical costume on stage is never an 'authentic' reproduction; theatre designers adapt historical dress to make it acceptable to a contemporary theatre audience.  Thus the fabrics, cut and style of a theatre costume are at once recognisable as historical period and yet bear the signs of the age in which the production is being staged.  If the play was produced twenty years before or twenty years later, the costumes would be treated quite differently.  \r\nA costume may look historically correct, but the era in which it is created can often be told from the fabrics and the way it is made.  Fabrics are very typical of a period and when a costume is remade the same materials and trimmings may no longer be available. This costume for Queen Elizabeth from a production of Benjamin Britten's opera Gloriana in the 1960s, uses typical materials of the time, notably gold lurex and 'gunk' a composite made of the various new substances and adhesives that were being developed at that time.  Crin, a form of horsehair, and gold foil paper are hang-overs  from costume making techniques of the 1950s.  Close up the effect looks crude and messy, but at a distance, under stage lights, the individual elements would meld into an effect of regal sumptuousness.   The costume was remade in the 1970s (see S.15-2004) and the total effect was much more glitzy.","physicalDescription":"","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Stone, Alix","id":"A5363"},"association":{"text":"costume designer","id":"AAT163428"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"","categories":[{"text":"Theatre costume","id":"THES268477"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&P","id":"THES48602"},"images":[],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"013","id":"THES309135"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"013","id":"THES309135"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"013","id":"THES309135"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Theatre costume","id":""}],[{"text":"Opera costume","id":""}],[{"text":"dress","id":"x47499"}],[{"text":"Theatre costume","id":""}],[{"text":"Opera costume","id":""}],[{"text":"Underskirt","id":""}],[{"text":"theatre costumes","id":"x47007"}],[{"text":"cuffs (costume components)","id":"AAT210488"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Great Britain","id":"x32019"},"association":{"text":"designed","id":"x29338"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1965","earliest":"1965-01-01","latest":"1965-12-31"},"association":{"text":"designed","id":"x29338"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Length","value":"165","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"07/11/2017","earliest":"2017-11-07","latest":"2017-11-07"},"part":"Dress, neck to hem","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"72","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"07/11/2017","earliest":"2017-11-07","latest":"2017-11-07"},"part":"Dress, across shoulders","note":""},{"dimension":"Length","value":"178","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"07/11/2017","earliest":"2017-11-07","latest":"2017-11-07"},"part":"Underskirt, waist to hem","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"36","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"07/11/2017","earliest":"2017-11-07","latest":"2017-11-07"},"part":"Underskirt, waist ","note":""},{"dimension":"","value":"","unit":"","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Length","value":"22","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"07/11/2017","earliest":"2017-11-07","latest":"2017-11-07"},"part":"Cuff","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"20","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"07/11/2017","earliest":"2017-11-07","latest":"2017-11-07"},"part":"Cuff","note":""},{"dimension":"Weight","value":"7.5","unit":"kg","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"07/11/2017","earliest":"2017-11-07","latest":"2017-11-07"},"part":"Total boxed weight of costume","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"The costume is for Frances Countess of Essex in Benjamin Britten's opera Gloriana, designed by Alix Stone for Sadler's Wells Opera in 1965.  The dress was worn by Shirley Chapman and the petticoat by Ava June.\n\nHistorical significance: The execution of Alix Stone's design mixes costume-making techniques from the 1950s, in the use of furnishing fabric, crin and gold foil, with 'gunk' which makes use of composite substances and adhesives that were developed in the 1960s.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Costume designed by Alix Stone for Frances Countess of Essex in Benjamin Britten's opera Gloriana, Sadler's Wells Opera, 1965","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["S.14:1-2004","S.14:2-2004","S.14:3-2004"],"accessionNumberNum":"14","accessionNumberPrefix":"S","accessionYear":2004,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Theatre costume [1]","Theatre costume [2]","Theatre costume [3]"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-07-10","recordCreationDate":"2004-07-28","availableToBook":true}}