{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O11215"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O11215/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2009BY2074/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2009BY2074/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2009BY2074","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2009BY2073","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2009BY2072","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2009BY2070","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006BD7390","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AH3911","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O11215","accessionNumber":"S.1443&B-1984","objectType":"Theatre costume","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"The role of Paola in <i>Duel of Angels</i> was created by the noted French actress Edwige Feuillère, for whom the celebrated couturier Christian Dior created the costumes.  By 1958, when the play was presented in London, with Vivien Leigh as Paola, Dior was dead and so the costume was recreated by the London costume firm Bermans without the benefit of Dior's overseeing.  \r\nDior cleverly retained the characteristics of the period in which the play was set - 1859 - while reinventing the period style in terms of his own New Look and the 1950s.  There were indeed similarities between the looks, the fitted bodices and wide full skirts, but Dior incorporates touches that could only be of the 1950s - like box pleats in the skirt.  Rather than create the tightwaisted look by full-length corseting or Dior's 'waspie' corset, the shaping structure is built into the jacket itself, using interlined seaming and some light boning, so that the illusion of the corseting is maintained while leaving the actress in relative comfort.","physicalDescription":"","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"M. Berman Ltd","id":"A1791"},"association":{"text":"costume maker (theatre)","id":"x30531"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"","categories":[{"text":"Entertainment & Leisure","id":"THES48959"},{"text":"Theatre costume","id":"THES268477"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&P","id":"THES48602"},"images":["2009BY2074","2009BY2073","2009BY2072","2009BY2070","2006BD7390","2006AH3911"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES343240"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES343240"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES343317"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Theatre costume","id":""}],[{"text":"Jacket","id":""}],[{"text":"Theatre costume","id":""}],[{"text":"Skirt","id":""}],[{"text":"Theatre costume","id":""}],[{"text":"Hats","id":"AAT46106"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1958","earliest":"1958-01-01","latest":"1958-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by the British Theatre Museum Association","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"200","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"150","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"150","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Whole costume measured on mannequin. Includes train","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Christian Dior designed the costumes for the original Paris production of Jean Giraudoux's play <i> Pour Lucrèce </i>, which was produced at the Apollo Theatre, London in 1958 as <i>Duel of Angels</i> in a translation by Christopher Fry.  The costumes were recreated by Bermans after Dior's sketches.\r\n\r\nGiven to the British Theatre Museum Association by Dorothy Langley Moore in April 1965.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Costume worn by Vivien Leigh as Paola in the play <i>Duel of Angels</i>, Apollo Theatre, London, 1958","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Costume for Paola in Duel of Angels\r\n1958\n\r\nChristian Dior designed this elegant costume for Vivien\r\nLeigh in the style of his New Look, which revolutionised\r\nfashion in the 1940s and 1950s. While the costume suggests\r\na 19th-century style, the tightly fitted and boned\r\njacket, emphasising the waist, has all the trademarks of\r\nthe New Look.\n\r\nPlay by Jean Giraudoux, 1953\r\nApollo Theatre, London\n\r\nSilk, net, wool and lace\r\nDesigned by Christian Dior (1905–57)\n\r\nGiven by the British Theatre Museum Association\r\nMuseum no. S.1443&A, B-1984\n","date":{"text":"March 2009","earliest":"2009-03-01","latest":"2009-03-31"}}],"partNumbers":["S.1443-1984","S.1443A-1984","S.1443B-1984"],"accessionNumberNum":"1443","accessionNumberPrefix":"S","accessionYear":1984,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"BTMA accession number","id":"THES51752"},"number":"1965/A/33/A"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Theatre costume [1]","Theatre costume [2]","Theatre costume [3]"],"assets":["2019LR5738","2019LT8616","2019LX0621","2019LW4315","2023NL8995"],"recordModificationDate":"2026-02-24","recordCreationDate":"1999-06-15","availableToBook":true}}