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The designer was Oliver Messel and he stunned audiences with his daring use of white - often considered a 'forbidden' colour on stage because it can flare under stage lights and wash out the performer's face.  Messel got round the problem in this costume by using strong textures and shades of off white.  \r\n\r\nThe plot centred on the abduction of Helen by Paris and the subsequent siege of Troy by her husband, Meneleus.  The costume would appear to be that worn in the original production by Bruce Carfax as Paris in the final scene outside the walls of Troy, when he is rescued from Menelaus by Venus.  Fancy dress balls were quite common in the 1920s and 1930s, and Messel may have worn it on such an occasion - certainly a photograph exists of him wearing the costume, or another made to the same design.  It was later worn by actor and director Peter Glenville to Lady Jersey's ball at Osterley House in 1939, the last of the great fashionable costume balls before World War II.","physicalDescription":"","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"","categories":[{"text":"Entertainment & Leisure","id":"THES48959"},{"text":"Theatre costume","id":"THES268477"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&P","id":"THES48602"},"images":["2014HA3571","2014HA3572","2014HA3573","2014HA3574","2014HA3575","2014HA3576","2014HA3577","2014HA3578","2014HA3579","2014HA3580","2014HA3581","2014HA3582","2014HA3583","2014HA3584","2014HA3585","2014HA3586","2014HA3587","2014HA3588","2014HA3589","2014HA3590","2014HA3630","2014HA3631","2014HA3632","2014HA3633","2014HA3634","2014HA3635","2014HA3636","2014HA3637","2014HA3638","2014HA3639","2014HA3640","2014HA3641","2014HA3642","2014HA3643","2014HA3644"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"003","id":"THES366735"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"003","id":"THES366735"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Theatre costume","id":""}],[{"text":"tunic","id":""}],[{"text":"cloaks","id":"AAT46142"}],[{"text":"theatre costumes","id":"x47007"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[],"productionDates":[],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Acquired with the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Art Fund and the Friends of the V&A","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Length","value":"83.4","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Tunic","note":"At its longest"},{"dimension":"Width","value":"66.3","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Tunic","note":"At its widest"}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"The costume was designed by Oliver Messel for C B Cochran's <i>Helen!</i>, an adaptation of Offenbach's operetta La belle Hélène, produced at the Adelphi Theatre in 1932.  A studio photograph exists of Messel wearing it and he possibly wore it to a fancy dress ball; Peter Glenville also later wore the same design to Lady Jersey's Osterley Ball in 1939.    \r\nLord Snowdon, Oliver Messel's nephew, inherited Messel's theatre designs and other designs and artefacts.  The designs were briefly stored in a disused chapel in Kensington Palace before being housed at the V&A from 1981 on indefinite loan.  The V&A Theatre Museum purchased the Oliver Messel collection from Lord Snowdon in 2005.\n\nHistorical significance: <i>Helen!</i> consolidated Oliver Messel's reputation as Britain's leading theatrical designer.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Costume designed by Oliver Messel for Paris in Act III scene III of <i>Helen!</i>, based on Offenbach's <i>La Belle Hélène</i>, 1932.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"Pinkham, Roger (ed.) <i>Oliver Messel</i>, London, V&A, 1983","id":"AUTH353280"},"details":"34b, fig.13","free":""}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["S.493:1-2006","S.493:2-2006"],"accessionNumberNum":"493","accessionNumberPrefix":"S","accessionYear":2006,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Tunic","Cloak"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-05-11","recordCreationDate":"2007-03-28","availableToBook":true}}