Inspiration From London's "Hollywood Costume" Exhibit

We couldn’t resist posting about this gem of an exhibit on the morning of The Red Party…

“Hollywood Costumes,” a collection of 130 of Hollywood’s most iconic costumes, opened this month at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum. Alongside Scarlett O’Hara’s green velvet dress, Givenchy’s impeccable number for Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and Batman’s high tech suit, is, of course, Dorothy’s blue and white gingham dress from The Wizard of Oz (reunited for the first time since filming with her ruby red slippers).

As a designer from the South, I’d beeline for Margaret Mitchell’s green velvet “curtain” dress. Fashioned in a moment of resourceful brilliance, the dress is central to Scarlett’s plucky resolve and femininity… just as there’s something so incredibly spot-on about the sweet simplicity of Judy Garland’s humble blue and white gingham pinafore to the role of Dorothy; her naïveté, her country roots, elevated by those ruby red slippers to forever Hollywood costume icon status.

We love the parallel of how good costume design is about the character as much as it about the clothes, in the same way that good design tells a story as much as it showcases a stunning fabric or priceless antique.

And is it just me or are you finding inspiration everywhere you look for tonight's Red Party?